Nguyen 1
Thi Nguyen
Professor Dustin Hopkins
ENG 100 – Essay #2 – Final Paper
Apr 2nd, 2018
Nothing is Forever
In 1990, I am five years old and my parents send me to a preschool due to their jobs—my
mom gets a sewing job at a garment factory, and my father is a photographer who goes
everywhere to take pictures for events such as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, and funerals.
Going to school before age seven is not popular in my country. Usually, the women stay at home
to take care of their children until they go to first grade at age seven. I hear that the teacher is
very strict. I—a little five-year girl who is always shy and follows her mom like a tail—feels so
scared and sad. On the first day in class, I just sit on the stairs, cry, and hope my mom picks me
up. The second day is the same. On the third day, when I am crying, a pretty little girl sits near
me and gives me a candy. Her name is Lan. She looks like a princess stepping out from the
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” story that my mom tells me every night. She wears a pink
princess dress, her long black hair being tied with a sunflower hair clip, her pink cheeks and
white skin highlighting her lovely face. “Do you want to play dolls with me?” Of course, I nod
my head constantly. Simply, we become close friends from that time. Lan pulls me out of the
sadness. I feel more interested about going to school, for we have lots of the same hobbies:
playing dolls, playing house, playing princesses with our beautiful dresses and enjoy the same
favorite foods: candies, chocolate, and ice cream. From year to year, we grow up side by side
together. I always feel that I am a lucky girl because I have a true friend at my side to do
whatever we want together and share everything in life.
Nguyen 2
It is 2003 and I am eighteen, Lan and I graduate from high school, move to a new city
where lots of famous universities are located, rent a small and clean room at an affordable price
for both of us, and apply to the same university with the same major—Computer Science.
Initially, we are very excited about living together: able to do anything and go anywhere without
supervision from our parents. We are very happy and comfortable. However, living together in a
room is not as simple as I think, despite how many common hobbies we have. It is completely
different from the situation when we only meet in class every day. Between us misunderstands
and competitions begin to appear. One time, I ask Lan about how to do an assignment from
Database class that we need to submit tomorrow. “I do not know how to do this assignment,
maybe I will skip it.” That is her answer to my question. Because this assignment is very
difficult, finally I do not turn in it regretfully. I think Lan does so. However, once in a chat with
my classmate, I hear that Lan submited this assignment early and she gets a good grade. What?
Why does she do that? Why does she lie to me? I always help Lan whenever she gets any trouble
without competition, but why does she treats me like that. I hate anyone who tells a lie. I feel like
I have tripped on a curb. I meet Lan at our room; she is still behaving like a true friend,
concerning about my health with questions filled with caring, her attitude being as if nothing
happened. I do not know what is either real or fake. Action is opposite to speaking. I start to
confuse my belief for our friendship. It seems that the purity-of-childhood friendship will change
and the competition will appear when we grow up. After thinking for a long time, I finally decide
to ignore and forget the unhappy affair between us because I really appreciate this friendship.
Four years later, we are in the last semester at the university. All of the full-ofenthusiasm-to step-into-their-own-life students are very busy with all the projects that need to be
completed before we graduate at the end of this year, prepare a nice resume, and look for a good
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job. With the unemployment rate increasing, we are extremely anxious; everyone wishes to be
able to find a good job after graduation. Lan and I still share the room and go to school together.
I also forget what happened before. We continue to share great joys and difficulties of life
together. Sadly, she hurts me one more time. In a beautiful morning, my prime professor, who is
responsibile for our class during four years at university, calls me to his office and gives me good
news. “Our department needs a tutor in January next year. Do you want to work with us?” Is it
true? Can I become a tutor at the university that everyone is dreaming of? I do not believe what I
have just heard, my eyes widening as much as possible, my ears fluttering, my lips stammering
to repeat the sentence that he has just said. Nothing can express my happiness at that moment. I
run like the wind to find Lan; the person I want to share with first because we both go together
on this way. I think Lan is definitely happy for my success. I embrace Lan while she is studying
in our room, declaring to her my good news, her smiles being as light as the afternoon sun, her
voice being lower than normal but enough for me to hear “That’s good!” I do not think too much
because I am very happy. I realize that it is so wonderful to have a true friend who able to share
with you the important moments in life.
One month later, I still believe that I will work at school as promised. Lan still treats me
as well as ever. She helps me wash my clothes, cleans the room when I am busy with a final
project. I am dreaming of our future after we graduate; both of us will have a good job and stable
income; we will travel to beautiful places together, which now we can only see in the
newspapers with a desirable attitude and hope to be there in our dreams. On a sad Friday
morning, I ask Lan to go to the library as usual, but Lan refuses my suggestion because she has
to resolve her personal issue. This is the first time in seventeen years being friends that Lan uses
the words “personal issue” to talk to me. Really sad. We never kept secrets about anything
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before. Therefore, I go to the library alone with a bored feeling, and here I receive a making-mylife-change-to-other-road email from our professor—he refuses to have me work in the
Computer Science department as he promised before. For an only-twenty-two-year-old girl, that
is a big deal in my life; I do not know what to do besides cry, my tears pouring out like heavy
rain; I go home to find my best friend to be consoled, but she is not here. Only a small blue paper
is placed neatly on the desk with familiar handwriting: “I moved to my aunt’s house for a while.”
I am extremely confused. Our four years living together ends so simply. Just nine words for a
notification. Is our friendship gradually breaking up? I do not know what is really happening, but
I am intelligent enough to realize that this action only happens when a person no longer respects
you, so they decide to leave you without any explanation.
One week later, I meet Lan in our Data Structure class, but she looks at me as a stranger.
I don’t know if I did anything to make her upset. I always wonder why she changes her behavior
toward me. I really want to know the reason; however, my personal dignity prevents me from
asking her what is going on. Afterwards, I hear that Lan is appointed to a tutor position at our
school from a few classmates. Lan’s father is a close friend of our professor. Because of this
relationship, Lan will work at this position. Now I know the real reason. Again, I am so
disappointed, my heart being torn to hundred pieces; my affliction can burn everything around
me. I feel betrayed by the person I trust most. I am not sad from losing this job because I can find
another job by myself, but I feel lots of pain as if someone uses a knife to stab my heart. Finally,
our friendship ends due to a trivial thing. I always believe that there is nothing on this earth more
to be prized than true friendship. But now, the truth has proven that the friendship is just as
valuable as a job. It is so ridiculous.
Nguyen 5
I used to believe that friendship was something that represented for sincerity and eternity,
but now I realize that nothing exists forever, particularly friendship—no matter how sincere it
counted. Friendship is the purity-that-comes-from-the-heart emotion. It is very happy and lucky
for whom to have close friends in their lives; especially a true friend who reaches for your hands
and touches your heart. I used to have a true friend like that; we spent our colorful youth
together. I wish I would hold this friendship forever, but I could not. Once the belief is gone,
everything is just a bubble. Our friendship—a beautiful heart shape—has turned into another
shape when Lan—my childhood friend—put her own benefits and purposes above my sincerity
and my belief. My heart was shattered. If I did not put my faith in this sentiment absolutely, I
would not feel so much hurt; my view was completely changed at that moment. Belief is like a
paper; once it has been crumbled, it never gets flat again.
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