The Label I Wore
Today, most of my friends will probably describe me as an out going and somewhat talkative girl, displaying her boldness in study as well as various social activities. But several years ago,when I was in middle school, things were quite the opposite. Despite my outstanding grade record, I once belonged to a group that demanded little notice due to my childhood personality. People around labeled me as "timid", and that label, regardless of the so much bitter feeling it aroused, has become something of a lifetime influence on me.
As a child, I took after my mother and was quiet, shy and somewhat clumsy at verbal expression. The problem, as I often reflected upon, was not that I was unsociable or eccentric, for all of my classmates and teachers mingled well with me. It was that I would blush and feel dizzy when many people looked at me at the same time. I was so uneasy in public that I am inclined to shut my mouth, which sadly resulted in my label "timidity".
Bearing such a label was anything but easy for me to tolerate. Every time I finally plucked up enough courage to raise my hand and tried to air my view, I stood there only to find the rest fifty pairs of eyes fixing on me, all with the same trace of surprise and doubt in them as if a quiet person like me were not supposed to talk in public. Distress immediately seized me and I began to stutter, swallowed up my well contrived speech and retreated into my seat. I felt abased and hurt.
Never had I found the label so annoying and detestable as on those occasions. An inner voice again and again clattered in my brain:You're not inferior or dull. Why can't you just talk freely like the talkative? If you wanna have a change, it's up to you yourself. The biggest obstacle lay inside me. As long as I could overcome my timidity, the rest would take care of itself.
And in those years, never had I stopped this painstaking yet extremely rewarding shift from speechlessness to verbal strength. At the beginning, I prompted myself to give simple yes or no questions. In a step by step fashion, I was then supposed to talk in long sentences, to discuss and to present. Urged by an inner drive, I took pains with the transition and witnessed with the utmost joy the change I was going through. For the first time, I didn't feel uneasy under public attention. For the first time, my response to teacher's question was applauded. I rejoiced in every bit of progress I made. Confidence began to set root in me and I, like a straying child who catches sight of home,was gradually led back to my mesmerized eloquence. I finally recovered what I had been craving for so long.
Now years have passed when the label of timidity no longer haunts me. I find this experience most valuable and interesting in retrospection. No doubt, labeling exerts profound influence on
individual's development and the common belief is that people will live up to their labels, implying that positive labels inspire and encourage us whereas negative ones only worsen the situation. But after all, no matter how disheartened or frustrated we feel about the prejudice, we are the sole masters of our own destinies. Why fall victims to the label? As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The point is to free ourselves from the fear for negative labels and cheer up inside us the unrelenting will to overthrow them. The label is something of a mirror. As long as we adjust ourselves, the reflections in the mirror will alter too. In this sense, negative labeling may as well become something extremely positive and rewarding, just as I've experienced.
簡 評
世界上最難戰勝的就是自我，在自我的軟弱面前是沉默，還是勇敢地去面對?挑戰自我，你會發現人生變得更有意義了。
第一、二、四段最後一句都出現了timidity一詞，緊扣主題。keyword的重復出現，加深讀者印象，增強文章的節奏感。
第三段的心理描繪，細膩真實，抓住一個細節進行放大，把筆者的心理表達得淋漓盡致。文章用詞準確，表達生動，如作者寫到嘗試在眾人面前說話時，“I finally plucked up enough courage to raise my hand and tried tO air my view...”可她卻發現此刻，“Distress immediately seized me and l began tO Stutter，swallowed up my well-contrived sveech and retreated into my seat.”面對這樣的挫敗，她並不氣餒，一段簡短的自白，道出了她的決心：“You're not inferior or dull.Why can't you just talk freely like the talkative?If you wanna have a chance，it's up to you yourself.”在戰勝怯懦的過程中，她曾經感到annoymg and detestable，可她所付出努力是painstaking yet extremely rewarding，戰勝怯懦後的感覺是most valuable and interesting。此外，作者的表達準確，用詞靈活、生動，駕馭語言的能力很強。
冒雯雯同學給我們留下了一個鼓舞人心又有啓迪意義的結論，借用美國總統Franklin的話告訴我們“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”並且，以一個淺顯的比喻，形象地講出了這個影響她一生性格的深刻道理。這個結尾是積極的，耐人尋味的。
(點評教師：盧愛華)