contents - Gallatin School of Individualized Study - New York ...

situation. I felt sad.Mr. Baker noticed my preoccupation and said, “Don’t worry, Sandra.Do you want to have a second opinion?” “Yes!” I said. In the second place, therepairman checked my flute. I started to pray. Finally he said, “Okay,” and thecharge would be 100 dollars. One hundred dollars was still big money for me. ButI wanted to get it.When I got home, I opened my closet quickly. Inside a drawer, I had aplastic bottle with coins (pennies, nickels, dimes and some quarters). Each day, Iput some coins there. I started to count, coin by coin, and the total amount was .. . 110 dollars! I started laughing and crying. “I have enough money for it!”During the Thanksgiving show, at first I felt very nervous to play. Whenthe music came out, my flute started to have life. I played with Mr. Baker andhis band members. I played “Do-Re-Mi,” “Cielito Lindo,” and “Besame Mucho.”Beautiful music filled our classroom. My heart was dancing like a kid’s. My flutehad been waiting for this moment for a long time—15 years, in America.Finding Encouragement107sandra guzmanBorn in Peru, Sandra Guzman has lived in New York for nine years. She identifiesherself as “the mother of two beautiful children.” She is a student of WendyWen at the New York Department of Education’s School 2, OACE. “I’m a littleshy,” Sandra Guzman says, “but through writing I can express my feelings. Nowthat I’m improving more in my English class, I’ll continue learning.”