There is four-page paper, please help me to check the grammar mistakes and change some words to make it more native. Thanks!
AJRL 201
Final Paper
Carpe Diem
After leaving the class every Friday, she takes the subway and comes to the Chinatown. It almost becomes a habit, her friends wait for her in a Chinese Karaoke. She turns off the phone to avoid any connections from others. Zoe only wants to sing, drinking, smoke some weed to kill her boring life with her friends. Zoe saw no reason to limit yourself to enjoy the world.
“You should do everything that you want to do,”she once said. “Like an aphorism said, enjoy it while it lasts, because it never does. I believe it.”
That’s the most exciting day for Zoe in a week. Every day repeats the dull life, Zoe comes to school around 8 am, takes classes, back home at 2.30 pm and sleeps until next day.
The subway stopped at Flushing, her friends already stayed in there for a while. Zoe came to a room with Karaoke and saw the table was full of all kinds of beers. She took off the jacket and prepared to welcome the coming of revelry.
Today is a special day for Zoe, she’ll spend her seventeenth birthday. Zoe comes from Guangdong, a southern city of China. This is her second years of studying in American high school. She has bright eyes and dresses a blue T-shirt in ordinary jeans, the big punk sign on her shirt glitter under the sunshine.
“It was my personal decision to study abroad since my parents were too annoyed. They were strict with me, I needed to follow many rules at home.” Zoe said, “I don’t like speak with them often, I know it’s not polite.”
Zoe doesn’t feel nice this month, she just finishes her third transfer from the previous high school in L.A. to NYC. She is still trying to integrate with the new environment, new friends, new lifestyle, even the new foods. The cold weather in NYC makes her feel a little bit uncomfortable, she kinda misses the Los Angeles, the sea and beach once filled with her life.
It’s almost in May, Zoe still can feel the coolness from the air, she never lives in the cold weather before, even her hometown, Guangdong is always hot all year.
Zoe first came to the U.S. about 2 years ago. She lived with the host family in 2016, Zoe thought she was doing fine when she first came to America.
“I get on well with my first host family, the hostess is Chinese people, she also comes from Guangdong. Her husband is American, I can speak Cantonese with her, and also improve my English sometimes,” Zoe mentioned with the unblinking expression.
“I lived with the host family in my first high school and second one. After I transferred to the third high school, I began to live on campus, my roommates were Dutch people and Turkish, we often did some bad things together,” Zoe said, “The first time I got fired from school because of laughing gas.”
That year, Zoe was only 15 years old. She squirmed out of her parents, everything in America was the full taste of freedom. Zoe enjoyed all parties, and she tried a laughing gas with friends on a Saturday night in 2016. After the first try, she was addicted in gradually. Laughing gas began to become a necessity for Zoe’s parties. Couple months later, some school managers knew how they spend the free time. Not surprisingly, party time was over, Zoe got fired.
The first experience had the bad influence on Zoe, she back to home and changed her emotion after she got fired from the school. Zoe already knew how terrible of the laughing gas, so she tried to quit from them.
The half-year like Zoe’s nightmare, she stayed in China and did nothing. Her memories meander and loop back, she always recalled that her parents sent her to the local youth facility because of disobedience, that year, she was only 14.
After the rest, Zoe went to the U.S. and transferred to her second high school. But she didn’t stay longer than the first time. She got fired again and again.
Zoe said, “Second time and third time I got fired since I had bad scores. My third high school in L.A. is a catholic school. My family all believe Buddhism, but school doesn’t allow me to wear a jade of Buddhism. It made me feel so annoyed.”
The fourth high school treated Zoe better, it’s easy to get the high GPA. Zoe has no interest in studying, sleeping is how she spends her classes. She has more time to have fun with friends, Zoe didn’t resist the lure. She begins to use drugs again.
The first time Zoe smoked is when she was in middle school. She used the electronic cigarettes instead of smoking in the U.S. But the drugs are still an unknown territory for young Zoe which arouses her interests. No matter the cannabis, drug candies or laughing gas, Zoe tries all kinds of them.
“Too many kinds of drugs let me feel terrible, they even impact my intelligence and body health,” Zoe said, without any expressions on her face. “Once, I joined my final test after I smoked laughing gas at school, the questions were right there before my eyes. It was hard to remind the answers, even I knew what the answers. I confirmed that I knew the right answers, but I felt nothing on my mind, I can’t remember anything.”
“The friends around me all enjoy drugs, so I’m in. Both Chinese friends and American friends, they often ask me if I want to use drugs with them after classes. I don’t reject,” Zoe said.
There is no plan for her future on Zoe’s mind, she doesn’t know whether she will go college. The only motto on Zoe’s mind is a Latin aphorism “Carpe Diem” which means “Seize the day what happen on tomorrow.”
Zoe is proud of her English speaking skills. Although she doesn’t like to study, she often plays with U.S. friends. Except for amusements and classes, Zoe learns English every night, recites and transcribes words so many times. Zoe can’t forget when she just arrived America, a Chinese boy made fun of her bad English. Zoe swore to improve her English skills after that day.
It’s hard to guess what Zoe thinks about. Her words lack emotions. In spite of her indifference, Zoe is still a pretty young girl. Her face – her comely features, the long eyelashes, ruddy lips and soft hair – are sparkled even in the darkest of times.
“People have the different experiences, and they are all wonderful. I have more stories than my peers. Sometimes I feel that I have more mature thoughts, but you know, I am only a 17 year old high school student who always kicked out from schools.”
