Gwendolyn Ting Qi Ci, 14

School: Presbyterian High School

Topic: An email to your teacher about your observations on your classmate.

Award: First Place, Junior Category, 2023

Dear Mr Tan

I am Gwendolyn Ting and I am writing to inform you about my observations of my friend who has been on dialysis, David. Additionally, I want to propose some ideas to bring a smile on David's face.

David used to be the mood lifter of our class and could lighten everyone’s mood in just a few seconds. He was friendly with everyone including the teachers and also had high expectations of himself and obtained good grades. However, ever since David has been on kidney dialysis and is on the deceased donor kidney transplant waiting list, he slowly started changing and he looks more depressed than usual. It seems like he has recently been feeling dispirited and has been isolating himself from others and his drastic decrease of weight is very visible. Furthermore, his grades started going downhill. Thus, I am feeling very concerned for both his mental and physical wellbeing.

I have done some research on kidney transplants and I found out that it takes about seven to eight years to find a suitable kidney donor. It has been proven that people on kidney dialysis may feel tired and moody and may develop anxiety or depression. Furthermore, they tend to desire being alone because they do not feel like socialising. Maybe it is because David is embarrassed about being on kidney dialysis, that he does not feel like talking to us. Being able to relate to this for David, it makes me very anxious as it must feel very scary to overcome all these challenges.

Therefore, I would like to request for class activities to be held to cheer up and lift David’s mood. I have some suggestions in mind, and I hope you do not mind me recommending activities for David. Firstly, we could ask students to teach our class instruments like the piano, guitar, et cetera. David has told me that he has been wanting to learn an instrument but has never gotten the chance to do so due to his lack of time. Thus, learning an instrument can be a suitable activity for David and the class. Secondly, drawing will help with de-stressing because artists can express and rant their feelings through drawing. Furthermore, drawing helps relax the mind and enables people to forget about their problems. We could make everyone draw in pairs. Moreover, planting also helps with enlivening someone’s spirit. Planting not only increases our serotonin levels in our brain, but it also reduces stress levels. We could ask someone to teach us the basics of planting plants and ask the class to do it. Lastly, I have another request of asking the class to write words of encouragement to David and make gifts for him to let him know that we care and are going to be walking through the struggles with him together.

In hopes of making David feel better, I wish you will take my suggestions into consideration. Thank you for reading this letter.

Yours sincerely,
Gwendolyn Ting

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the essays for the Live On Festival 2023 are those of the participants and are not endorsed by the National Organ Transplant Unit (Ministry of Health). To learn more about organ donation and organ transplantation in Singapore, please visit www.liveon.gov.sg