Ahmad Afiquddin Ahmad

Paper 1 Final Draft

Negin H. Goodrich
2/1/2015

A Journey That Never Ends

Art comes in many forms; through music, painting, sculpture and writing. Writing is, I
would say, the most beautiful form of art as it does not solely rely on human senses; rather it
relies on ones ability to imagine and play out a scene from a writing in his or her mind, thus,
making it also the most powerful form of art. Writing throughout the years has served as a
medium to propagate information, to invoke romance, to spur imagination, immersing the reader
into a world of fiction and wonder. And, that is why I love writing. I would not say I am a good
writer but I have an immense passion for writing. The joy of writing and the fulfilling feeling of
having completed a literary piece are priceless.
I spent most of my childhood years living in a small apartment in Milan, Italy. Having
moved to this beautiful city, which is also famous as a world-renown fashion city, at a tender age
of a year and a half, has deeply affected my development as a writer. Since most Italians do not
speak fluent English, and most of their local schools preferred using Italian as their preferred
medium of instruction, I was sent to a British school that goes by the name Sir James Henderson
School, in Milan. The school, being the only school that used English, boasted a community of
different nationalities that ranged from the local Italians to Koreans and Sri Lankans. I had
learned most of the basics in English there, and this helped greatly develop an important aspect
of my writing: grammar. Daily conversations in English helped me a lot in developing a sense of
detecting errors in grammar when it comes to writing.
The beauty of Italy also had affected me deeply in terms of my development as a writer.
Italy is a splendid country, where culture, tradition, art and architecture blend together to create a
setting that mesmerizes and leaves a deep impression on those who visit. If I could describe Italy
in one word, it would be bella in Italian, or beautiful. The cobbled streets of Milan, flanked on
the right and the left by small quaint buildings, with beautiful mini-gardens blooming with
colorful flowers give an air of peace and serenity, calming the mind and soul. Walking through
these streets, it is impossible for one not to notice the delicious smell of pizzas baking in
traditional clay ovens, wafting through the air. Long hot days of summer in Milan are best
enjoyed with a sweet serving of pistachio-flavored gelato, pleasuring ones parched throat.
Milans beauty is reflected through its streets, its buildings, its food, and most importantly its
people, who are passionate and proud of their home. These precious memories of the Italian city
left a deep impression on me; the beauty, serenity, pleasure and passion affected the way I write.
After an exciting five and a half years, my family and I moved back to our home country,
Malaysia, where I suffered a drawback in terms of my development as a writer. Having spent

most of my childhood fluently speaking and writing in English, moving back to Malaysia, where
English is not as preferred as Malay at an age of eight years old, my writing adventures were put
on a halt. Most of my friends at elementary school were not as well-versed in English as my
former schoolmates in Milan, and slowly after not having communicated in English for a long
time, I had trouble communicating in English fluently. My writing did not improve either as the
Malaysian syllabus for English was not as advanced.
Five years later, I was offered a place in a respected high school, famous as one of the top
schools in the city of Johor Bahru. The high school I attended had a more balanced mix of
students from different races, and I found myself speaking comfortably in English once more.
My style of writing changed massively during my three years at that school as I used a wider
lexicon of vocabulary and a more matured form of writing. The improvement, I believed was
hugely evoked by a sense of rivalry with my schoolmates as we struggled to top each other in
tests. I started reading more books to develop my skills and literary sense as a writer to beat one
particular friend in English tests. The books I read were mostly fictional, and having read a lot of
them, I took a liking to writing fictional essays.
Three years and a national exam later, I was offered a place in a prestigious boarding
school where most of the brightest minds in Malaysia were sent to study. Life in a boarding
school was tough as one required discipline and independence. Having proved myself worthy as
an English writer, I was chosen to be a member of the English Motivational Committee; tasks
include motivating other students to communicate more in English, and to help them improve on
their writing. Handed such a commitment, I strived to prove my worth as a member of the
committee. I felt that, being relied upon, I had a responsibility to make myself worthy in terms of
writing ability, in order to provide better help to others. Two years quickly passed by, and I aced
my national exams.
Having scored well in my third national exams, I was offered a scholarship to further my
studies in the United States. Before leaving the country, all the scholars had to go through a one
and a half year foundation program to prepare them for undergraduate studies overseas. During
the first semester, we were required to take an English course that was supervised by a certain
professor who graduated from UCLA, Professor Lim Ho Peng. Under his guidance, my writing
took a more serious tone as we wrote more informational essays. His years of experience and his
effective teaching method influenced me and my experience as a writer. He has helped me see
the joy in writing and has assisted me in further developing my maturity as a writer.
Looking back at the past 19 years of my life, I could say that the meaningful experiences
and memories created along the way has helped me in improving my maturity as a writer. While
still being a work in progress, I would say that I thoroughly enjoyed all of my writing adventures
thus far and hope that my development as a writer would continue.