※ 아래 스크립트는 발표자의 발표내용을 그대로 표기하였으므로 구어체 표현이 포함되어있고,
How would you define happiness? I had a tremendous chance to learn about
happiness in Sierra Leone in West Africa while growing up as a child. These are
the three events that taught me how to be happy.
First, I learned to value my education. I went to school in Sierra Leone where
education was not free. But people there were passionate about learning.
Sometimes my friends were driven away from school because they couldn't afford
their school fees. They roamed around on the street without going home because
going to school was a big deal for them. They still came to school the next day
although they knew that they would be sent away again. My friends really valued
education regardless of their grades. It was a blessing for them to have the
opportunity to go to school. Learning the value of education made me happy.
There is an interesting scene you can witness when it comes to electricity in Sierra
Leone. It is when you have power supplied in your house. Sometimes I couldn't
rarely count the days that we had electricity from the government. Once a month,
when you see the light bulb turn on, or you hear the voltage stabilizer suddenly
run, everyone in the whole neighborhood would shout running up and down the
street “lai don cam!” which means “There’s light.” It was a big celebration in town.
We didn’t know how long the electricity was going to last. Maybe for half a day,
or sometimes, even less than an hour. But still people were joyful. And being able
to appreciate electricity made me happy.
Last but not least, Sierra Leoneans taught me about morals. Once, at lunch time in
school, I saw a girl eating bread. I felt hungry and I stared at her. No sooner she
asked me if I wanted some and gave me a part of her bread. I was so happy to eat
the delicious food. A little later, another girl came and asked her to give her some,
so she broke her bread into two again and gave it to her. That meant she was only
left with a quarter of her bread. I thought it was stupid of her to share her food
with someone she barely knew. She was left with the least amount of food. But all
Sierra Leoneans were like that. They never hesitated to share. Being able to
appreciate and learning the joy of sharing made me happy.
These experiences taught me three things: to value, to appreciate, and to share.
I value education and cherish my time to invest in my goals and my loved ones.
I am grateful for not only the electricity but for each moment, and opportunity that
brightens up my life. Also, I learned to share. It doesn’t matter how much I have,
but it depends on my will and heart. Ever since I came back to Korea, I slowly
forgot these things and was constantly searching for happiness in superficial
things. But they were already there, the things I could be happy for. I just had to
remember, as my father always tells me to remember those days.