Gagny- Trust God and be thankful by Qing Quan Chong
My family waved goodbye and wished me luck in my piano competition as I headed off to the airport. My mum, my little brother and I boarded our plane for a 19-hour flight to Paris. When we got off the plane, we were exhausted, so we wanted to get to the hotel as quickly as possible to rest. We took a taxi and finally made it to our hotel and slept the rest of the day.
The next day, we practised in a piano studio and met up with some of the other families. When I was practising, one of my fingers hurt as I had cut it in school the day before we left, so I had to endure the pain. I kept reminding myself to try my best despite the pain.
On the competition day, I was extremely nervous. I prayed that I would give my best performance as I knew God was in control. On stage, I had to concentrate on my music and forget about the pain in my finger. I made one little slip in my Bartok, so I was even more nervous about whether I would get anything. My mum and I prayed very hard, and it was a 2-hour wait for the results. I was not expecting anything since this was my first international piano competition.
Finally the results came, and my heart was beating furiously every time a name was announced. The jury hadn’t announced my name until the first prizes were announced, so I thought I didn’t get anything. Then the jury announced my name, and I was a first prize winner! I was on cloud nine, and we knew it was by God’s grace that I had won first prize. I was very surprised because so many pianists from different countries were competing at such a high standard.
We went sightseeing after that and went to many landmarks like Champs Élysées, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. I learnt so much about France’s history and had so much fun!
Two days later was the exam. I had to play two more songs in addition to my competition songs. There were many people who were invited to watch us perform our exam songs so I told myself that I had to play well. When the results were out, we were all ecstatic when the examiners agreed that all of us would receive the highest possible grade!
I learnt that the greatest factor of success is to practise hard. I had put in many hours of practice prior to my trip to prepare myself. Above all, I had learnt to trust God and be thankful in everything.
