在这本故事集里，收集了十几位来自不同国家的学生写的故事和学习体会，十分精彩有趣。正如校长在序言里介绍我的习作里所言：“Lin (China), while telling the tale of his time as an ESL student in the United States, subtly enriches our minds with two concise, axiomatic truths: ”hard work brings a good harvest,” and “the ocean of knowledge is endless“。
To Our Readers In this year’s edition of Our Stories, twenty HCLS Project Literacy students offer us exciting glimpses into their lives and minds. Although these students are still learning English—and making heroic efforts to do so—their wisdom and experience shine through the words and pages of this review like the rising sun through the morning mist. For example, in “My Journey to a High School Diploma” (page 2), Bianca Bouknight (USA) wisely reminds us—with an effective use of repetition—“Never, never give up on your dreams!” Dhara Kalaria (India/USA), in her illuminating article about living in the Pandemic (page 4), gives us a crucial piece of perennial wisdom: “The simple truth is that we cannot copy anyone, as God gives us all a different question, and all answers are different from person to person.” Writing about the book Reminisce, The 25th Anniversary Collection, Kiwon Yu (South Korea/USA) edifies us with the profound (and beautifully composed) insight that “love is the greatest grace from the living God” (page 9). Using metaphor and repetition in her prose poem about the Autumn months (page 10-11), Natasha Udovichenko (Crimea, Russia) pierces through the language barrier with astonishing eloquence: “When we were kids, we threw [fallen leaves] up in the air, threw ourselves into huge heaps of leaves, as if into the depths of the sea.” In another part of her poem, Udovichenko observes what so many people never seem to notice: “This incredibly beautiful and picturesque time is also a source of impressions, feelings, and inspirations.” Zongling Yang (China), while telling the tale of his time as an ESL student in the United States, subtly enriches our minds with two concise, axiomatic truths: “hard work brings a good harvest,” and “the ocean of knowledge is endless” (page 13). As brilliant as they are, Bouknight, Kalaria, Yu, Udovichenko, and Yang are not the only students in this latest edition of Our Stories who have valuable thoughts and feelings to share. Indeed, every page of this edition contains at least one gem of wisdom and beauty. And so—without further ado— I encourage you to read all of the stories, essays, and poems presented below. You will be moved, and—perhaps like me—you will even be enlightened. Joel Wesley Kilpatrick Editor/HCLS Project Literacy
我的拙文： Studying English in America At the end of last year, I registered for English Classes online at Howard County library’s Project Literacy program. Over the past year, I have participated in four semesters of conversation and three semesters of Reading/Speaking/Listening. The four teachers who have taught me English are Flora, Kim, Emilie, and Melanie. I have been immersed in an interesting English-learning atmosphere. Our Stories 13
I have almost forgotten the English I learned decades ago. When I lived in China, I used to take part in the classes at Shanghai University for Elderly People. The textbooks were the older Family Album and New Concept English. Now that I have studied in America, I can compare several interesting characteristics of the classes I have taken at Project Literacy, with the classes I took in China. First, the students at Project Literacy come from all over the world, like a small United Nations. Besides China, my classmates come from South Korea, Iran, Egypt, Russia, and Honduras— and they are very mobile. Only two or three of them have been studying in the same class with me from the Winter semester until now. Second, there are more opportunities for interaction between students and teachers because classes are smaller. Compared with the 30 or 40 students per class in China, there are only about ten students in each Project Literacy class, so as long as we actively raise our hands, we will have sufficient opportunities to ask and answer questions. Teachers often separate us into several groups to discuss specific topics so that we can learn to express our thoughts through dialogue. This type of activity is especially popular with students. Everyone can communicate freely, even though students come from different countries and have different cultures. Third, the teachers are very dedicated, and they prepare fully for every class. There are preview assignments before class and homework assignments after class. In addition to teaching us new words and phrases, they include both American polite expressions and slang. A few minutes before and after each class, teachers encourage us to talk about various extracurricular topics. Even though I am an older student, and my memory may have deteriorated somewhat, I always try my best to be an active student and hope to make progress every day. I have never missed a class over the last four semesters. According to Project Literacy regulations, students should take a test after completing 40 hours of study. I took a test two weeks ago and was very happy that my score rose by 12 points compared with my June test. I have reached level 6, which is three levels higher than my pre-entry test last January. I think that hard work brings a good harvest. Even so, I realize my progress is so insignificant and the ocean of knowledge is endless. Still, I intend to study and try hard in my classes. Only by perseverance in learning can my life under the pandemic be more colorful. Zonglin Yang
昨天，我听到一个消息，我们英语阅读班的老师 Melanie 光荣退休了，作为一名老年老师，她每次上课都是兢兢业业，认真负责，而且从不迟到早退，给我留下了深刻的印象，这不仅让我想起了2021年底的一件事。
那是在圣诞节后， Melanie 给我发来邮件，除了送来热情洋溢的新年贺词外，她还高兴地通知我 “Our Stories 2021 has been published. Here is a copy for you”，我初次写的 essay 也被收录其中。
事情的原委是这样的，学校每年底都要发动学生写出自己的故事和学习体会，然后从中挑出合适的文章印刷出来，送给每个学生留作纪念，同时也可以借此展示社区学校的教学成果，在秋季班即将结束前，Melanie 呼吁大家积极参与，并承诺会替我们修改完善。
其实我的英语水平还完全达不到写作的水平，自己几斤几两自己最清楚：），所以我只是把我8月份写的一篇博文《我在美国学英语》稍作修改，然后借助于词典，写了一篇交差。Melanie 专门为我作了文字修改，其中还就某些措辞与我商讨，令我十分感动。
在这本故事集里，收集了十几位来自不同国家的学生写的故事和学习体会，十分精彩有趣。正如校长在序言里介绍我的习作里所言：“Lin (China), while telling the tale of his time as an ESL student in the United States, subtly enriches our minds with two concise, axiomatic truths: ”hard work brings a good harvest,” and “the ocean of knowledge is endless“。
这是我经常在博文里说的两句话”一份耕耘，一份收获“”学海无涯“，也许我写的英语词不达意，但能得到老师的赞许，我也是挺欣慰的。
如今 Melanie 退休了，但我学习英语的路仍在继续，我将不放弃每次宝贵的学习机会，争取十尺竿头更进一步（应该是百尺可我只有十尺：）！
PS: 第一次用炸锅烤虾干和开洋，取得圆满成功，操作简单，色香味俱佳，可以当零食又能下酒，还可以当佐料烹调，感觉好极了：）。
学校领导的评语：
To Our Readers
我的拙文： Studying English in AmericaIn this year’s edition of Our Stories, twenty HCLS Project Literacy students offer us exciting glimpses
into their lives and minds. Although these students are still learning English—and making heroic
efforts to do so—their wisdom and experience shine through the words and pages of this review like
the rising sun through the morning mist. For example, in “My Journey to a High School Diploma” (page
2), Bianca Bouknight (USA) wisely reminds us—with an effective use of repetition—“Never, never give
up on your dreams!” Dhara Kalaria (India/USA), in her illuminating article about living in the Pandemic
(page 4), gives us a crucial piece of perennial wisdom: “The simple truth is that we cannot copy
anyone, as God gives us all a different question, and all answers are different from person to person.”
Writing about the book Reminisce, The 25th Anniversary Collection, Kiwon Yu (South Korea/USA)
edifies us with the profound (and beautifully composed) insight that “love is the greatest grace from
the living God” (page 9). Using metaphor and repetition in her prose poem about the Autumn months
(page 10-11), Natasha Udovichenko (Crimea, Russia) pierces through the language barrier with
astonishing eloquence: “When we were kids, we threw [fallen leaves] up in the air, threw ourselves
into huge heaps of leaves, as if into the depths of the sea.” In another part of her poem, Udovichenko
observes what so many people never seem to notice: “This incredibly beautiful and picturesque time
is also a source of impressions, feelings, and inspirations.” Zongling Yang (China), while telling the tale
of his time as an ESL student in the United States, subtly enriches our minds with two concise,
axiomatic truths: “hard work brings a good harvest,” and “the ocean of knowledge is endless” (page
13). As brilliant as they are, Bouknight, Kalaria, Yu, Udovichenko, and Yang are not the only students
in this latest edition of Our Stories who have valuable thoughts and feelings to share. Indeed, every
page of this edition contains at least one gem of wisdom and beauty. And so—without further ado—
I encourage you to read all of the stories, essays, and poems presented below. You will be moved,
and—perhaps like me—you will even be enlightened.
Joel Wesley Kilpatrick
Editor/HCLS Project Literacy
At the end of last year, I registered for English
Classes online at Howard County library’s Project
Literacy program.
Over the past year, I have participated in four
semesters of conversation and three semesters of
Reading/Speaking/Listening. The four teachers
who have taught me English are Flora, Kim, Emilie,
and Melanie. I have been immersed in an
interesting English-learning atmosphere. Our Stories 13
I have almost forgotten the English I learned
decades ago. When I lived in China, I used to take
part in the classes at Shanghai University for
Elderly People. The textbooks were the older
Family Album and New Concept English. Now that
I have studied in America, I can compare several
interesting characteristics of the classes I have
taken at Project Literacy, with the classes I took in
China.
First, the students at Project Literacy come
from all over the world, like a small United
Nations. Besides China, my classmates come from
South Korea, Iran, Egypt, Russia, and Honduras—
and they are very mobile. Only two or three of
them have been studying in the same class with
me from the Winter semester until now.
Second, there are more opportunities for
interaction between students and teachers
because classes are smaller. Compared with the 30
or 40 students per class in China, there are only
about ten students in each Project Literacy class,
so as long as we actively raise our hands, we will
have sufficient opportunities to ask and answer
questions. Teachers often separate us into several
groups to discuss specific topics so that we can
learn to express our thoughts through dialogue.
This type of activity is especially popular with
students. Everyone can communicate freely, even
though students come from different countries
and have different cultures.
Third, the teachers are very dedicated, and
they prepare fully for every class. There are
preview assignments before class and homework
assignments after class. In addition to teaching us
new words and phrases, they include both
American polite expressions and slang. A few
minutes before and after each class, teachers
encourage us to talk about various extracurricular
topics.
Even though I am an older student, and my
memory may have deteriorated somewhat, I
always try my best to be an active student and
hope to make progress every day. I have never
missed a class over the last four semesters.
According to Project Literacy regulations,
students should take a test after completing 40
hours of study. I took a test two weeks ago and
was very happy that my score rose by 12 points
compared with my June test. I have reached level
6, which is three levels higher than my pre-entry
test last January. I think that hard work brings a
good harvest.
Even so, I realize my progress is so
insignificant and the ocean of knowledge is
endless. Still, I intend to study and try hard in my
classes. Only by perseverance in learning can my
life under the pandemic be more colorful.
Zonglin Yang
China