Report_2005

Letters from China

Dear Uncle Yen:

How are you? Time seems be passing by incredibly fast. An entire year of college has already finished. I hope that you are doing well in America and that you’re in good health. I also hope that your work is going well and your family is happy. Uncle Yen, I have to tell you how truly grateful I am for your sponsorship in the past 9 years. You have given me the privilege of studying science and culture, and allowed me to gain so much knowledge. Thanks to you, I was able to get tested for SARS along with others in Beijing, as well as be a part of the 50th anniversary celebration at Petroleum College.

I have so much to tell you, Uncle Yen, that I don’t know where to begin. This October 2nd was the 50th anniversary of Petroleum College and I was chosen as one of the receptionists for the occasion. We have approximately 100,000 alumni and this year, 6,000 came back. Among them was a head of the Chinese Parliament Party, Wu Yi. The school made several preparations for the event. They even booked a television program to broadcast the whole thing, along with several other reporters. Our goal was to show the alumni around the school and display the progress that’s been made since they graduated. While talking to the former students, I couldn’t help but wonder how you were doing in America. A million different possibilities of what you could look like went through my head.

As a college student, I felt very proud. But the SARS crisis had been going on at the same time. All of April to June were spent doing exercises to prevent the disease from spreading to the school. In retrospect, I realize how chaotic everything had been at the time.

It was when SARS was full blown, and there had been about 150 new cases each day in Beijing. One night at 1AM, the head of our department called to inform me that everyone in our class needed to stay put because one of our students had contracted SARS. Then at 3AM, I was told that the entire college was not to move. A 5AM our whole dormitory was under a lockdown. We could not sleep for the entire night. Everyone was panicking. Finally, at 8AM, we were allowed to go to class. The suspected student did not have SARS after all. He only had the flu. He had stayed in his room for 15 days, and his friends became worried. Being a student is not easy. I have learned so much more about life by being here. Not only did I go through daily hardships, but also the trepidation of SARS. Your love and support are so important to me. I hope that in the future I will have the courage to face and be more grateful for my life.

Uncle Yen, I am so sorry that I wasn't able to get a scholarship this year. I was only a couple of tenths of a point away, too. The cutoff GPA was 85.701 and mine was a 85.211. I really hated myself for that. But I assure you that I will give you a better report next year.

This year, everyone who was from Sichuan hung out together in many social events. During summer vacation, I went to Guangdong to work. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to use what I learned from school because there were only labor job openings. Uncle Yen, I promise to try to do my best and I won’t take what you’ve given me for granted. I will not let you down. Lastly, I wish you good health, success at work, and great happiness.

Wang Ju