I know a very special woman. She was my high school dance teacher. She graduated from Ewha University. Her dream was to be a ballerina, but she injured her ankle during practice. So she had to give up her plans to be a ballerina. After she graduated from her university, she came to my high school in Masan. From then, another life began for her.
        She was about thirty-six when I met her. She was not married, but she had a son. Because she had the ability to raise a son, she adopted a boy from an orphanage. She loved him and she often talked about him. Maybe he is an elementary school student now. She wore a variety of clothes. For example, one day she wore very tight blue jeans, and on another day, she wore classic clothes, so we were interested in her style. Her hair was very short. She was not tall, but she seemed very confident and healthy.
        When I was in second grade, adolescence came to me, so I hated to do everything. That situation was very serious. One day at midnight, I told my parents, "Mom, Dad, I don't want to go to school. I don't know why I should study."
        Then my parents were shocked, but my father didn't tell me anything, but only said, "It's so late. Let's talk tomorrow morning."
        The next morning, I was very sick, so I couldn't go to school. I went to a hospital with my father. Then my father said, "If you really want to, meet your teacher and discuss your problems." So, I decided to meet her and to tell her my problems that I don't want to go to school and I don't know why I should study.
        After two days, when I went back to school, she didn't say anything to me, and I couldn't say anything either, because she knew everything that my father had told her. She took me to a plant market, and she bought a tomato plant. Giving it to me she said, "Take care of this tomato plant until it bears fruits."
        My classroom was on the first floor, and there was a small vacant lot outside. I took care of that tomato plant by giving it water every morning and supporting the branches with sticks. After a few weeks, it had fruit. Though I had seen many tomatoes before, these were different and very special for me because they were a result of my love. Then I could consider my parents, and I could conquer the slump.
        This teacher always tried to give hope to everyone. She often said, "Life is not long and very changeable. Don't accept anyone else's style; find your own life." I found out about real life more and more from her. Though life is not long, I must do many things--take exams to enter a school, keep good relations with friends, get married, raise children, etc. Some of these things I like and want to do, but other things I don't like and don't want to do. But now I know that I must do them because that is life. I can learn about real life, and I can smile later when I get over a difficulty. Finally I learned that mental health is more important than anything else, because a depressed mind can cause an illness. So I decided to live with a better outlook, and I am still trying to do so now. I often think about that time and how much I have respected this great woman until now.