This term, the writing task was to write about a person, living or dead, who has been an influence on your life. You had to give examples and details to show how that person was important for you. We used the example of Rowan Atkinson's biography from Module 1 of Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate, which we are studying in Level 4.
This is, also, very similar to the personal preference writing task you get in the TOEFL. Here is an excellent essay written by Patipan Jinawong (Golf), who is an English Major at Chiang Mai University. You can also hear it in the podcast above. So, you can listen and read at the same time.
My Beloved Aunt
My aunt was a dependably selfless woman, who gave everything and did anything just for her family to be happy. Everyone around her would recognize her by the size of her body and the look of her cheerful face.
She was born in 1960, exactly five years after my mother was born. Her family was poor, and her native place was originally Lampang. In 1967, when she was 7, her mother decided to move to Mae Hong Son, because her father worked there. At that time, there was no airport in Lampang and even buses were hardly seen. Therefore, her family had to walk to Mae Hong Son, almost 300 kilometres, and it took them 3 months to get there. Tragically, her father passed away two years later.
She was the youngest in the family, so she got a lot of attention from her mother. In 1977, she was sent to Chiang Mai to further her education, but on one condition, she had to live on a low budget. After graduating college, she moved back to Mae Hong Son and became a teacher. Later in 1982, she got married to a man from a far away province. They said it was fate that brought them together.
As a teacher, she fulfilled her duties, but it seemed her income was never enough to support her family, neither was her husband's. So, she took an extra job selling jewelry. It went well for the first two years, but selling jewelry got her into a lot of debt. Therefore, she decided to do something else apart from selling jewelry. She came up with building a shop, but it was cancelled due to her family's financial position. Finally, she decided to sell Moo Yaw, Thai pork sausage.
In 2006, she decided to have a thorough medical check up, because she had had a terrible stomachache for a long time. The results showed she had stomach cancer, which was really rare. The doctor couldn't guarantee she would get better after surgery, but she was willing to take the risk. Therefore, she decided to have the surgery. The doctor successfully removed the cancer, but it had already spread to her whole stomach. So, her whole stomach was also removed. After the surgery she was continuously treated with chemotherapy. It was unimaginably painful for her, but she fought really hard to survive. She was truly a great fighter.
Later in 2007, her condition got even worse. There were no cures or remedies for her. Her body gradually turned black, due to a lack of "something or other" in her blood. Tubes were pushed down her throat, so she couldn't talk. Her hands shook when she tried to write. Her tears shed every time we came to visit her. It was a tremendously horrible moment. After three weeks of horrendous suffering, she passed away.
As I attended my aunt's funeral tears formed in my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. She was one of the greatest and most interesting people I've known in my entire life.
