Writing
Cal's Graduation
I was invited to speak at my graduation at the UC Berkeley Transfer Student Center. I wrote and shared my short story to thank those who supported and advised me during my undergraduate studies at Cal. I felt grateful to them and deeply appreciated their guidance.
Fifteen years later, I revised that story and wrote it in a script and drew sketches. After taking a Storytelling in Animation class, I learned a new way to tell my story using multimedia.
Center Your Heart, Cultivate Your Spirit
One day a ten-year-old boy happened to take a different path to school early in the morning. He saw an old woman sitting on a small wooden stool outside her wooden house near a pond. He approached her.
“Old woman? What are you doing?” the boy asked curiously, his sandals flipping the dirt on the ground.
“I am making this rusty junk metal into a sharp needle,” the old woman said, looking him straight in the eye while drawing up her banana sleeves. Her callused hands held the metal in the air that was two inches long; its diameter five inches. She ground it on the grinding stone until the rust started falling off. She then dipped the metal in a porcelain bowl of clean water. Drops of the rusty water dripping from her hands onto the dry dirt.
“That is impossible.” The boy eyed the junk metal, then the old woman.
“Why not? Be patient, boy. Grinding this junk takes some time.” She wiped the sweat on her forehead with her elbow.
“You are wasting your time, old woman.” Then he left.
But the next day the boy decided to take the same path again so he could see the old woman grind the metal. He was curious about why she was doing that. Curiosity was his middle name. He noticed the metal changed shape. So he decided to visit the old woman every day. And visiting her became his daily habit.
Five years passed.
One morning he skipped school because he couldn’t wait to see the final product of that junk metal. He watched the old woman attentively. Suddenly his eyes were wide open.
“This piece of junk has finally turned into a shiny and sharp needle,” she said, laughing like a duck. She stood up facing the boy and said: “Here.”
“Why are you giving this thing to me?” He was surprised and confused at the same time. His back to the woman, he thought of school. He had not been doing well, almost failing all his classes. When he turned around, the woman had disappeared. He yelled, “Old woman,” three times. He thought that he was dreaming. He rubbed his eyes, still not believing what he had just seen. The old woman was gone. But something was written on the ground. It said: “Center Your Heart, Cultivate Your Spirit.” His forehead furrowed. That needle in his hand, he asked himself: “What does it mean to center your heart, cultivate your spirit?” He stood there and thought about it and repeated those words for several hours. His brain was working extremely hard at this moment. Suddenly his mind’s eye opened. He knew what to do now.
“If I want something in life, I have to focus on what I love to do and put all my efforts into it. I get it now. Everything is possible. Yes! I can make it.”
Animatic
Script
FADE IN:
EXT. ECHO PARK - MORNING
A sunny April morning. At the Lady of the Lake stands an overall BOY(10), who ditched school that day. He adjusts his red cap, swinging his bamboo rod forward with a flick. The worm-bait jumps into the ripping water. The plastic white-red bubble float bobs on the shallow water.
The boy spits into the water. Fish emerges gulping his saliva. He glances at an OLD WOMAN (60) in a long garment who crouches nearby. He stabs his fish pole in the dirt and approaches her.
The boy waves at her.
BOY
What are you doing?
OLD WOMAN
Turning scrap into a needle.
The woman points at the piece of junk metal in her other hand. She pulls up her right sleeve, grabs the metal and dips it into a bowl of water. She places the metal above a pile of dirt.
Drops of the rusty water drip onto the dirt. His jaw drops open.
BOY
It's impossible! You're wasting your time, old woman.
He places his left hand against his chin. His right shoe kicks the dirt beneath. Dust particles floats in the air.
The woman taps her wrinkled forehead with her callous hand.
OLD WOMAN
Off course it's possible anyone can turn metal
into a needle. Be patient. It takes time.
The boy turns pacing back to his fishing spot, crouching. He raises his right palm.
BOY
Come see the old woman tomorrow?
Then his other palm.
BOY
Or go to school?
The boy gathers his gears and runs home.
EXT/INT. BOY'S APARTMENT - AFTERNOON
The boy opens the front door to the living room and enters.
He puts his fishing gears by the door.
The boy's father points at the report card on the table in the living room. The boy stands still. His father grabs the report card, tearing it in half, while clenching his teeth.
The boy fails math, science, and English.
The boy remains silent as his father seizes his arm and pulls him onto his lap to spank him.
FADE IN:
EXT. ECHO PARK - NEXT MORNING
The boy crumples his report card, tossing it into the trashcan at the Lady of the Lake. Tears run down his cheeks.
OLD WOMAN
What happened?
BOY
I hate going to school. School is too boring.
Reading books doesn't feed me. Fishing does.
But my father spanks me.
OLD WOMAN
A book holds gold.
He squeezes his stomach with both hands.
BOY
My belly is gold when it is full.
He giggles.
OLD WOMAN
Silly boy. I learned how to grind metal
by reading books. Look.
She shows the boy the needle. His hands cup his cheeks, his eyes popping out, his jaw dropping. She gives him the needle.
The old woman walks away, the boy staring at the needle in his hand.
Later, the boy looks up.
BOY
(looking around)
Where is the old woman?
He looks down and sees a scribbled message. It reads: "Center Your Heart, Cultivate Your Spirit." His forehead furrows.
BOY
What does "Center Your Heart, Cultivate Your Spirit" mean?
He stands there, confused, and repeats those words for a while. He shakes a few times his open palms between his confused face. Suddenly he flicks his index finger before him.
BOY
If I want something in life,
I must focus on what I love to do.
Put all my efforts into it. Got it.
Everything is possible. I can make it.
Aha!
The boy jumps, grinning, hands spreading wide open in the air.
FADE OUT.
THE END