When I first came to NZ, I only had basic English. It was hard to connect and to make friends. It was hard to understand what the teachers were teaching. I had to try and translate in my head or use good translation. It made me feel very depressed about myself and lost. Language is powerful and vital to connect with others. The more languages you learn the more opportunities you can have. Now I have more English, I have friends, I can understand the teachers and I feel proud of myself. My mural represents the challenges of learning a new language, and the success that you can achieve.
My mural shows a person’s resilience when they climb the steps of life. When you start something in your life, you will encounter many obstacles, barriers or anxiety that cannot be expressed in words. Each step is both a challenge and a new knowledge to conquer; the lower level symbolises the original foundation, the higher level is the skill, experience, and creativity accumulated through effort, perseverance. I coloured the lower steps grey as a sign of a difficult but hopeful beginning, and the higher steps are colourful to emphasise that by overcoming difficulties, success will appear right in front of your eyes.
On both sides of the staircase are friends, family, teachers – who always support and give strength, while surrounded by images of books, pens, light of knowledge symbolising non-stop learning.
