Growing up in New Zealand, English became my third but most used language. I speak it at school and at home. Although I can communicate, I still often make mistakes. I have never experienced labeling or judging because of my English abilities or that I am Chinese. However, one incident influenced me when I was thirteen, in ways that I felt embarrassed and self conscious, but also taught me learning and friendship from others perceptions of me.

When embarrassment comes upon us, it is hard to shrug off or forget. I was highly embarrassed when my friends noticed that I pronounce `yeast' as `east' during our yeast study in science. I was thirteen, and my face went tomato red every time I had to say `yeast.' Redder, when people laughed. Though my friends did not deliberately make fun of me or remind me, I could not over...