This document is the personal story of Mariah Thomson, a 10-year-old Filipino and British student attending Canadian International School of Hong Kong. She recounts facing loneliness and having her diary stolen by jealous classmates. She asserts her right to education by showing classmates Article 28 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. When her diary continues to be stolen, she shows them Article 16 asserting her right to privacy. Her grandmother, who she was very close to, then passes away from leukemia, deepening her loneliness. Her mother gifts her the book "The Secret to Teen Power" which teaches the law of attraction. By applying its principles, Mariah's life improves as she becomes happier and more popular in school

1. Recount: My Story
Right: Education and Privacy
Mariah Thomson
Hi my name is Mariah Thomson I am now 10 and I will be
turning 11 on May 16 2011 I am a Filipino and British. I was born
on the year of the Dragon, year 2000. I go to C.D.N.I.S, which is
Canadian International School Of Hong Kong; I have been in this
school since I was in prep, now I am in Grade Five.
I always get meeting expectation even though my parents
have a low expectations on me, I work hard, I never give up on
myself or anyone, I have a strong and a great personality, I only
think on the positive side, I am very kind to others and I respect
other’s opinion.
I am the most smartest person in the grade so that is why
most people think that I don’t need to go to school anymore, so I
thought about human rights and article #28 (human right) is
“You have the right to a good quality education, you should
be encouraged to go to school to the highest level you can” then I
printed it out from a computer and showed it to the people that told
me that I don’t need to go to school anymore and they said
“Okay” because I also told them “I haven’t finish my real
learning yet like e.g. other things I need to learn from other
grades.”
But sometimes I get lonely so I start writing in my diary, because
all the girls get jealous of my smartness so they tend to steal my
diary and read it for some reason, so before they try to steal it
again I thought about human rights again and article #16 (human
right) is
“You have the right to privacy”, so I showed it to them but
they wouldn’t listen so they just got it out of my hand and through
it away like it was nothing, that’s why sometimes I wish that I had a
real friend that be there for me whenever I needed someone to talk
to but most of the people that I can talk to are my family, teachers
and my grandma (from my mother’s side), mostly my grandma
because she is the closest to me then anyone else, but I want a real
friend someone my age or a few years older.
Suddenly last summer my grandma fell ill with leukemia (type
of Blood Cancer), so that ruined my summer vacation because my
mother had to go to the Philippians with her brothers and sister to
help, but then a few days later she past away and then my cousin
told me when I was in the shower so as fast as I can I dried myself
up and went to see that my aunt was crying so, I cried for one hour
straight because she was the most closest person then anyone else
that I could talk to, so now sadly I have no one left to tell all my
unhappiness to, but I remember, before my grandma died, She said

2. “ It’s okay not to have a best friend now because you can always
have one later and it’s never too late”.
Since my grandma died I felt even lonelier then ever, but one
day my mom bought me a book called THE SECRET TO TEEN
POWER, she told me to start reading this book to help my life get
better.
So the first day I got it I try to read it but I just couldn’t get
my self to believe in it because THE SECRET TO TEEN POWER says
that whatever thoughts you have becomes actions, so the second
day I read it I started to really put my effort to believe in it so I
tried to see if it works with little things like “I want a glass of
water”, etc and it did work so I applied it with my studies
friendships and not wanting people to steal my diary, then I felt
happy again next all the girls started making friends with me, I
finally became the most popular girl in the grade and soon enough I
lived the happiest moment in my life, from then on I read
“THE SECRET TO TEEN POWER” everyday even though I had a
happy day, a normal day or even an unhappy day (which rarely
happen to now) I still read it.