Can you guess who has influenced me very much during the last few years? If you find out who affects me, you might be very surprised. It is my niece, Sun-ah, who is four years old. My younger sister got married nine years ago. She has three children, two girls and a boy. One of them is the child whom I want to talk about. Sometimes she makes me want to be a mother. She has more purity, understanding, patience, etc., in comparison with me. Even though Sun-ah is very young, she knows how to be patient and how to treat her little brother, Ho-jung, who is one year younger than she. He is quite dynamic, so he usually enjoys throwing things, such as toys, pens, empty milk cartons, and so on, and is into bothering her. He even seems to be fond of situations like this. But she always tries not to get angry and to understand his behavior.
        One day, Ho-jung pushed Sun-ah very hard. She fell down and cut her knees. All that she did was cry. Their mother worried that she would get scars on her knees, so she scolded him. "Why did you push her? She is weaker and smaller than you." He murmured and hesitated, because he couldn't speak Korean exactly and express his opinions well. "You must protect her, and shouldn't have pushed her."
        "Uh... well... ye-s," he replied, drooping his head.
        As soon as the little girl saw this situation, she calmed down, and hugged him wholeheartedly.
        "Please don't scold him. It's my fault," she said, smiling.
        "What are you talking about? He pushed you, so you got hurt."
        "I know, but he is younger than me. He only wanted me to play with him. He asked me to do it several times, but I refused every time," the little girl said.
        "But he should have tried to persuade you to play with him a little more."
        "Mom, please! I made him angry. That is the reason that he pushed me."
        "I warned him about it many times before. He must have known it was wrong, right?"
        "I know, but... please, please, Mom!"
        I was just looking at them, wondering what my niece would do. I was surprised on account of the little girl's generous attitude. At that moment, I found out from her that children can be adults' teachers. She showed me a good example about how to act toward other people when I get mad. It made me think she is my youngest teacher and reconsider my manner towards my students.
        My niece often seems like an adult, because she is generous. When there is something that she really wants to do, she first considers other people's situations around her. For instance, while her older sister who is more selfish and impatient than her is playing computer games, she waits quietly until she stops, not interrupting her. Occasionally her older sister, Jeong-ah, ignores and overprotects her because she thinks her younger sister cannot handle something as well as she can. Although Sun-ah would really like to do something, too, she yields to other people. She almost never insists on her opinions against others' will. Besides, when her mother gives her something to eat, she usually likes to divide her share with her sister or brother.
        It seems that Sun-ah's character comes from her mother, for when she was younger, I made fun of her very often, but she never got upset. She just walked away, or ignored the situation. Because my younger sister was very sociable, she had a lot of friends. But since I was very shy and passive, I had few friends. Whenever she visited her friends, I followed her. She did not really like it. She always requested me not to follow her. I promised, "I won't," but I didn't keep my word. At times, I hid behind a tree or a wall to follow her. I am wondering why I teased her so much. Frankly speaking, I must have wanted to have many friends like my sister, so I bothered and followed her. Strange to say, my older niece acts like me when I was a kid; on the other hand, Sun-ah conducts herself like her mother when she was little.
        Anyway, my niece teaches me how to treat people in trouble and how to forgive family members who make mistakes without selfishness through her behavior. I think nobody can become as good a teacher as she is. So I am proud of her. I hope that she will continue to teach me and keep her great attitude for the rest of her life. I know it is very difficult, but all the adults around her are trying to help her stay the way she is.