What is your opinion about the importance of a person’s first day of school?

     Almost everyone has a significant memory, whether pleasant or terrible, about the first day of school! In the short story “The First Day”, the author Edward P. Jones narrates a little girl’s first day at school, and explores the impact of a mother’s dream for her daughter. The protagonist is a five-year-old girl from an unfortunate single family who gets registered by her mother to attend the kindergarten. An ancient Chinese saying goes that “well begun is half done.”, whereas I think this saying is all-around. I always believe not only the first day of school is important, but also the everydayness is important; because everything is accumulated little by little, step by step and day by day. My own experience has also proven right my opinion: I attended the first Canadian school in Montreal, which was a French school.

     The protagonist in the short story “The First Day” by Edward P. Jones had a memorable first day at kindergarten. This is not only because this was one of protagonist’s many first days in her life, but also because she knew more about her mother, knew more about her mother’s dream for her. The protagonist was a five-year-old girl from an unfortunate single family, and she lived in a poor neighborhood with her mother. In her first day of school, she wore the new clothes and brought some school supplies that her mother prepared for her. The little girl and her mother originally whished to go to the better school named Seaton Elementary just across the street front the church where the two went every Sundays. Unfortunately, their expectation came to nothing; however the protagonist’s mother didn’t give up. They decided to settle for Walker Jones, a school in their area. In order to register, the mother had to ask for help filing out the form, because she was an illiterate. With a woman’s help, the protagonist finally got registered for kindergarten, but she also found out her mother couldn’t neither read nor write. She felt ashamed for her mother. At last, the loud sound from her mother’s footsteps was imprinted in her memory mixing with the other children’s singing and talking all around.

     As I mentioned previously, my first Canadian school was a French school in Montreal. By the time I arrived in Canada, I had no clues about French so that the first day in a French school was totally horrible. I could only understand someone else called my name, whose pronunciation is exactly same as English. I could only speak one sentence, which means “I don’t understand”. Although my parents stayed with me during the whole enrollment, nothing could be changed. All they could do for me was just to encourage and console. After the convoluted speech of the principle, students were split into a few groups, and the teachers led us to the respective classroom. The bell started ringing as soon as I sat on the chair. A bald strong man with a smiled face came into the classroom. “Bonjour!” he started to speak, speak a bunch of words I had never heard before. Afterwards, students began to introduce themselves. Time was quickly passing, in no time; it was my turn, but nothing in my mind. “I should say something.” I thought, “But what? All I can say in French is “I don’t understand.” Maybe for the good luck, the bell started ringing again, tediously ringing. The class was over; I could finally quit this hell! Since then, I decided to learn French well. I said it and I made it. I learnt French almost every day. Somehow my French had become better and better. Somehow I could speak more and more. If I hadn’t learned French every day, I wouldn’t have reached such level in French. The first day of school is not always a good memory; it could even become your nightmare. I don’t have a nice first day at school, but I still learn French well. For this reason, I think the everydayness is as important as the first day of school.

     Not only the first day of school is important, but also the everydayness is important. The protagonist of the short story “The First Day” has learned the importance of the first day of school, which is an opportunity to get a better life. She has also realized that it is important to study reading and writing because her mother could not register for her for the kindergarten by herself. My own personal experience has proven right the second part of my opinion. It is similar to the protagonist’s experience in some ways, but different in the other ways. The first Canadian school that I attended was a French school. I didn’t have a nice first day in that school because I couldn’t speak any French by the time I came to Canada, however I have learned it almost every day. At the end of the school year, my French has improved a lot; therefore I think the everydayness is as important as the first day of school.

we read a short story "the first day" first, and then we need to write an essay about your opinion on the importance of the first day of school.

What is your opinion about the importance of a person’s first day of school?

     Whether pleasant or terrible, almost everyone remembers their first day of school. (Do you really need the exclamation mark?)  In the short story “The First Day”, author Edward P. Jones narrates a little girl’s first day at school, and explores the effects of a mother’s dream for her daughter. The protagonist is a five-year-old girl (unfortunately?) from an unfortunate single family (Do you mean that the girl's family is unfortunate, or that she is unfortunate because she is in a single parent family?) who gets registered by her mother to attend the kindergarten. An ancient Chinese saying goes that “well begun is half done.”, whereas I think this saying is all-around. (I won't do this for you, but you need to connect these sentences. You talk about a girl who gets registered for kindergarten, then you break the idea with an Ancient Chinese proverb.) Each day of school is important, because everything is accumulated little by little, step by step and day by day. (Excellent!) My own experience has also correctly proven my opinion: I attended the first Canadian school in Montreal, which was a French school. (I'm confused, how has going to the first Canadian school in Montreal proved your idea?)

     The protagonist, the little girl, had a memorable first day at kindergarten. This is not only because the first day of school was one of the key moments in her young adolescence, but also because she knew more about her mother, knew more about her mother’s dream for her. (How did she know about her mother's dream, and what was her mother's dream?) On her first day of school, she wore the new clothes and brought along some school supplies. The little girl and her mother originally wished to go to the better school named Seaton Elementary just across the street from the church where the two went every Sunday. Unfortunately, their expectation came to nothing; however the protagonist’s mother didn’t give up. (Why didn't the girl go to Seaton Elementary though?) They decided to settle for another school in their area, Walker Jones. In order to register, the mother had to ask for help filing out the form, because she was illiterate. Eventually, with some help, the little girl became registered for kindergarten. At the same time, the girl discovered that her mother couldn’t neither read nor write so she felt ashamed for her mother. At last, the loud sound from her mother’s footsteps was imprinted in her memory mixing with the other children’s singing and talking all around. (Why were her mother's footsteps imprinted into her memory?)

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I have stopped editing here, some key notes:

     As I mentioned previously, my first Canadian school was a French school in Montreal. By the time I arrived in Canada, I had no clues about French so that the first day in a French school was totally horrible. I could only understand someone else called my name, whose pronunciation is exactly same as English. I could only speak one sentence, which means “I don’t understand”. Although my parents stayed with me during the whole enrollment, nothing could be changed. All they could do for me was just to encourage and console. After the convoluted speech of the principle, students were split into a few groups, and the teachers led us to the respective classroom. The bell started ringing as soon as I sat on the chair. A bald strong man with a smiled face came into the classroom. “Bonjour!” he started to speak, speak a bunch of words I had never heard before. Afterwards, students began to introduce themselves. Time was quickly passing, in no time; it was my turn, but nothing in my mind. “I should say something.” I thought, “But what? All I can say in French is “I don’t understand.” Maybe for the good luck, the bell started ringing again, tediously ringing. The class was over; I could finally quit this hell! Since then, I decided to learn French well. I said it and I made it. I learnt French almost every day. Somehow my French had become better and better. Somehow I could speak more and more. If I hadn’t learned French every day, I wouldn’t have reached such level in French. The first day of school is not always a good memory; it could even become your nightmare. I don’t have a nice first day at school, but I still learn French well. For this reason, I think the everydayness is as important as the first day of school.

     Not only the first day of school is important, but also the everydayness is important. The protagonist of the short story “The First Day” has learned the importance of the first day of school, which is an opportunity to get a better life. She has also realized that it is important to study reading and writing because her mother could not register for her for the kindergarten by herself. My own personal experience has proven right the second part of my opinion. It is similar to the protagonist’s experience in some ways, but different in the other ways. The first Canadian school that I attended was a French school. I didn’t have a nice first day in that school because I couldn’t speak any French by the time I came to Canada, however I have learned it almost every day. At the end of the school year, my French has improved a lot; therefore I think the everydayness is as important as the first day of school.