Flag salute at the beginning of the year

The sky was a vast blue. The green trees on both sides of the road echoed with the chirping of birds. Occasionally, some girls going to work early honked their motorbikes, making the whole road noisy.

The sun has risen high, spreading its warm rays to warm all living things. The gate of my school has a trellis of purple bougainvillea spreading out like waving arms. In the school yard, the banyan and royal poinciana trees are swaying in the wind, showing off their leaves in the sunlight. The purple orchids and the pink spider plants are so gentle. The newly sprouted buds wave like the fingers of a baby on the tree. The magpies and red-whiskered bulbuls are chirping. My friends are playing in the school yard, under the shade of the trees, in the hallway.

A loud drum beat sounded, the students rushed back to their classrooms to put away their books, put on scarves, and took their chairs and lined up in the yard to salute the flag. In no time, the rows were neatly arranged. In front of the grandstand, the red flag with a yellow star fluttered in the wind. When the students were settled, the teachers also stood in line, and the flag-raising ceremony began. The team leader, in his neatly tucked-in white shirt, stepped up to the grandstand and requested: "Everyone straighten your uniform, take off your hats, and look straight ahead." The students below obediently followed. The team leader loudly shouted: "Attention! Salute the flag, salute!" The music started. Everyone solemnly looked up at the red flag with a yellow star fluttering. Then the whole school sang the National Anthem and the Team Anthem in unison. The singing was loud and far-reaching, expressing their love for the country, expressing energy for a new school week, a new school year. While singing, I evoked the heroic memories of our ancestors.

When the song ended, everyone settled down to listen to the head teacher comment on the study of the past few days and remind us of the regulations for the new school year. Then the principal came up. He looked very polite in his suit, his voice was loud and warm, he hoped that we would study actively on the first days of school and he also reminded the students to know how to prevent the epidemic as well as proactively get vaccinated against Covid-19 when it was their turn. I felt inspired to love school and study more actively. Then the new math teacher came up to sing the song Lullaby of the Country. His voice was warm, high-pitched and enchanting like a real singer. After he finished singing, the whole school applauded loudly. The sun was rising high, each bird on the branch wanted to sing along.

The flag-raising ceremony ended with the sound of drums. I didn't think that 45 minutes would pass so quickly. Each line followed each other into the classroom. Watching my friends enter the classroom, my heart was filled with excitement. Above, the red flag was still fluttering in the wind. I followed my friends into the classroom and told myself that I would try my best to study hard to make my teachers and parents happy.

Nguyen Ngoc Lan Duong (Grade 6B, Cam Vu Secondary School, Cam Giang)