Lost Souls

Section 2

Carola Bravo
Camila Bustamante
Schlomit Duarte

My life

Camila was born in December thirteenth, 1993 in the city of Curicó, though she almost was born in Vichuquén, were she was conceived. She lived happily with her mother, grandparents and one of her uncles in her grandparents’ house until her mother married when she was five years old. Camila, her mother and her step-father moved away while she started elementary school in Instituto Santa Marta Curicó, an all-girls catholic school. She had some troubles there because she couldn’t focus very well (and she still can’t), but she managed to get good grades regardless.

 Most of the girls were very mean and liked to bully and make fun of Camila and her friends, but they were a tight-knit group and their friendship stayed strong through their school years and even after that.

While she was in school her two younger sisters were born. Javiera, the middle-sister, was born when Camila was seven years old and Michelle, the youngest, was born when Camila was about eleven years old. Her family moved a few times, finally settling at a house just across the street from her grandparents and her uncle. When she was in seventh grade her parents got a divorce.

In ninth grade one of her friend was hospitalized and almost died, she also started taking an interest in English. She decided to specialize in accounting at her school, which was a mistake because accounting is the most boring thing ever. Finally she decided to study English in the UCM in Talca.

Modals

This list of advices is based on my own experience with our first exams period, things that worked for me or that I wish I had done. You ought to listen to this if you want to survive.

If there is a time to respect the personal schedule we made at the beginning of the year, this is it. Respect your bed time. Being sleepy during the exams is a bad idea; it may make it harder for you to focus. Also don’t forget to eat even if you are in a hurry, you cannot be hungry or it will affect your concentration. You should eat something light though; the nerves might upset your stomach.

You mustn’t relax completely. Don’t get me wrong, being extremely nervous isn’t good either but a little bit of tension will keep you from being over-confident. You shouldn’t believe you are safe just because you can understand the classes. You have to practice as much as you can if you want to succeed.

And most important of all, you should not study at the last minute. If you didn’t study in the previous days, doing it at that moment isn’t going to save you. It will only wrack your nerves.

Expectations

My goal is to learn as many languages as I can, so after University I plan to work the three mandatory years of my scholarship (Vocación de Profesor) and then I’m going to study to be a translator. Eventually I want to travel around the world .

That’s different than what I imagined my life would be as a child. I wanted to do something related to the environment or animals. I started watching some anime series with English subtitles (because those didn’t have Spanish subtitles yet) and reading stories made by fans (in English) in Ninth Grade at school. At first I had to use a dictionary all the time but after a while I could understand many things without one. It wasn’t until Tenth Grade that I realized how much I improved in English. There was an English test in which I scored the highest and after that I started considering studying English.

Easter

Each year my younger sisters and I search for the chocolate eggs early in the morning (too early if you ask me), and afterwards we put them all together and deal them in equal parts. 

This year, we set some rules the day before Easter. We were supposed to start at the same time. But of course it didn’t work out.

My baby sister started without us, wish caused some troubles. After I made sure everyone got the same amount of eggs I retreated to my room to eat in peace. Next thing I know, I’ve already eaten all my eggs!

First month

My first month was better than I expected. I was scared at first, but everyone is very nice. The campus is beautiful, so many trees everywhere and so many different buildings. My classes are interesting and I’m very pleased that my teachers actually talk in English, unlike some of my previous teachers.