Always getting a score above 85 used to be impossible for me. Ever since I was young, both my parents really cared about my school grades. I lived a life full of expectations to fulfill. My parents were both high achievers in school, and they thought I could be one too. My dad was a math and science genius, and he thought I was one too, even though I used to hate those two subjects. He never tolerated scores below 90. If I showed him a score below 90 in Mathematics or Science, he would definitely get really mad, and I won't want to get him mad. He gets really scary when he did.

There were some days when I was too lazy to study, and I knew I really didn't do my best. Going home with badly marked exams in my hands was the toughest thing to do. When I came home from school, the only person at home was usually my mom, while my dad was still at the office. I directly went inside my room, trying to find a place to hid the papers, even though I knew my parents would find out somehow, like they always do. After "safely" hiding my papers, I went to my parents' room. My mom was lying on her bed and I greeted her.

"How was school?" she asked.

"Pretty much the usual." I replied. I stiffened, hoping that my mom won't bring up the exams topic. My shoulders fell when she asked me about the exams. I didn't try to make up lies, knowing she won't believe me. I showed her the papers and somewhat begged her not to show them to my dad. Even though my mom, like my dad always set high expectations for me, she was still not as scary as my dad when mad.

She flipped through my papers.
95 for English,
98 for Mathematics,
91 for Social Studies,
83 for Science.
I stood there, not saying a word. I knew that my Science score was horrible, and it was entirely my fault for watching TV the whole night before the test. She didn't say much after seeing the scores.

"You're grounded. No TV, laptop or even iPod for the whole week." she said. I just said yes and went back to my room, trying to think of ways so that my dad won't find out about it, even though I knew it's pretty much useless. I was also mad at my mom, for confiscating all my favorite things just because of an 83. I envied my friends whose parents still tolerated 80s and even 70s.

I took a bath and then decided to take a short nap. I didn't have anything else to do. When I woke up, I heard my dad's footsteps and he entered my room. I directly stiffened. I was so scared of him. I was so scared that I started trembling. He asked, "What's wrong? A bad mark?" I knew lying would get me in an even bigger trouble, so I showed him my Science paper.

"From now on, you're not allowed to watch the TV, play games and open your laptop except for school purposes in weekdays." he said.

"Then what am I supposed to do after school?" I boldly replied. I didn't mean to talk back to my dad, but I was so frustrated. After all, I was only eleven. He just left my room without saying a word. I was so angry that I started to hate my own dad. Since that day, I hadn't talk to my dad for a few weeks.

After school, I would directly sleep for the whole evening since I thought I have nothing else to do. I didn't realize that there was a bunch of other things I could do. One day, after I took a bath my mom came to my room. She didn't say much. She just said, "There are many better things you could do than this. Think of it, use this time as a way to find your true potential." As a kid, I didn't really understand what that means. But, I really wanted to find out. I knew the things my mom said are always true and useful for my life. I didn't know what came to me, but I grabbed a small notebook and started writing about my whole life. Without me realizing, it became a daily routine. After school, I would take a bath and definitely work on my small masterpiece. My mom saw me doing it and felt happy that I finally found my passion.

"This is what I meant by finding your potential." she said. She took the book and read through some of them. "You're a great author. I'm sure this is your true talent," she simply said. I stood there surprised. I never realized his before.

Ever since that day, I came to love writing. I've finally found one of my countless hidden secrets, and I wanted to develop my talent even more. I wanted to voice my thoughts to the world through writing, hoping that people would listen to them and try to make a difference.

My dad knew about this and he was happy for me. He told me to chase after whatever dreams I have without looking back. "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined." he said. I took his words seriously, and decided to work even harder. I knew that one day I could change this world through writing.