Hayley Tay Rui Zhen, 14

School: CHIJ Secondary

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

Award: Distinction, Junior Category, 2023

Dear Ms Lim,

I am writing to inform you about one of my classmates, James Ong, who is currently on dialysis. Lately, I have noticed that he has been feeling dejected and I hope to be able to do something to help him feel better.

I have been friends with James for the past three years and have always known him for his bubbly and extroverted personality. Although he has been on dialysis for the past two years, he continued to be friendly towards everybody. However, recently, I noticed that he appears withdrawn from the rest of the class and hardly participates actively in class activities as compared to previous years. Instead of being one of the first few people to step forward and provide ideas, he now sits at the back of the class, unwilling to participate.

In my opinion, James’s change in personality could be due to the fact that he has been on the deceased donor kidney transplant waiting list for a very long time and has started to give up hope that he would be able to receive a donated kidney. In the past, James had mentioned on many occasions about his excitement towards finally being able to stop his dialysis treatment. Therefore, for him to have waited for two years without any luck of getting a new kidney while struggling for a sustained period of time may have discouraged him, making him feel out of sorts. Another reason could be that some of our classmates have started to outcast him because of his constant need to head to the hospital for his dialysis and hence being unable to have the time to hang out with them.

Seeing James behave abnormally worries me and hence I have planned two class activities to cheer him up and hope to seek your approval for them. Firstly, we could bring back James’s love for drama by putting everybody into groups of three to four and get everybody to come up with a skit to perform in front of the class. To help James bond with the rest of the class, I would remind them beforehand to include James into the various groups. By doing this, James would be able to feel more connected with the rest of the class once again. Secondly, we can set up a scavenger hunt around the class with items that James has always wanted. Our class would prepare some handwritten notes to be put together with the gifts to encourage him to continue persevering and to show our support towards him. By carrying out these activities as a class, I hope that James will cheer up and become lively again.

These are the few ways that I have thought of to cheer James up and I hope that you will approve these ideas to help James. Thank you!

Yours truly,
Rachel Tan

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