The year 2009 played a significant role in my life. It marked the beginning of the end to my procrastination to do what I should have done a while ago but never had the chance due to various excuses that I habitually came up to justify the delay.
For the past few months, I have been participating in several fight-for-cancer associations to spread their messages and help set up donations. And believe me, you have a lot to choose from. The one event that I engages the most is the Relay For Life fundraising by my local American Cancer Society charters. I even managed to convince several of my friends to join with me. And while there, I met a volunteer named Jack who has provided me with the opportunity to assist him in setting up and servicing candy vending machines for "The National Children's Cancer Society" in my neighborhood. Not only that, we also went around to set up up donation jars at local businesses for American Cancer Society. And at the end of last year, we and others set up a yard sale where all proceeds went to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I want to do more, but my abilities are limited. And winning this netbook and printer will assist me to make greater strides in my involvement to fight for cancer. Currently I am taking lessons from several websites about graphic designs and other computer related areas. My plan is to make myself useful in creating brochures, websites, blogs, fliers etc. That's where the netbook will come into play. Right now, my broken-down laptop has frustrated me greatly in learning these stuff. So with the portable netbook, I can learn on the go and won't suffer that lagging issues that my current laptop has. At the same time, I can learn more about cancer and it's ramifications and participate in online discussions and keep up with various events. And once my training is complete, I could use the printer to make copies of fliers and other info documents to spread the word about cancer. It is my wish to inform as many people as possible that by changing certain bad habits of their daily routines, they can significantly reduce their risk for cancer.
The second thing that I have been actively engaged in is children education. For Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I provide assistance to teachers at an elementary school and a middle school. I am able to go between these two schools because they are located very close to either other. For the most part, I help teachers with language and math classes. The reason that I want to focus more on math is that throughout my school career, I have heard a lot of students having trouble with math. It seems to me that the root of their problem is their early education. It is not that they totally suck at match from the beginning. I believe the problem lies with with the teaching methods. And the problem snowballs over time. It is my hope that I will be able to make a change of attitude for those students I have come contacted with. Furthermore, the fact that I know multiple languages (English, Chinese, and a little bit of Spanish) come handy for those who have newcomers in their classes who don't understand English. Sometimes, I also provide translations for their parents. From time to time, I would demonstrate some good science experiments that my old teachers had shown me. My plan is to get them interested in science by seeing how fun it can be. And to some kids, I am known as the candyman. That's because I bring candies to classes in an effort to lure them to participate more in class, whether it be classroom discussions or answering questions. I do see improvements!!!
On top of this, I also have another thing planned for later this year. After finishing the14th Annual Komen NC Triangle Affiliate Race for the Cure on June 12, I plan to volunteer for two months at a school in Schezchuan, one of the poorest regions in China. The inspiration came from the story of a female principal named Li Ling who works tirelessly in her efforts to bring free education to all those who attend the school she sets up with contributions from others. She would ride her tricycle all day to collect old children books for her school. And she even takes care of orphans. It was a touching story, rarely seen in our current society. What I plan to do in Schezchuan pales in comparison to her. None the less, I do want to make a difference in the life of those children that I will be teaching. For a lot of these kids, they have lived in the mountain all their lives and have never stepped a foot in the city. So it is my hope that I will be able to open their eyes and show them the outside world.
And like my efforts with cancer, this bundle will help greatly with my efforts in education. As for the schools that I am currently providing assistance, I could use the printer to print off worksheets, puzzles, pictures, etc. to relieve the strain on school budgets due to budget cut. Obviously, I can do these on a small scale since I don't have a lot of money, but every little helps. And as students work on their assignments, I would be able to use the netbook to play off soothing classical music that I found to be quite helpful in absorbing materials. And every once in a while, I can play movies that I have downloaded to these kids by connecting the netbook to the tv in the room. And the usefulness of this netbook and printer will come into greater uses when I take them to China. With this portable netbook, I will be able to show these little kids the world they have never seen before through various pictures, music, movies, shows, video games etc.
I know that what I am doing might not be much, but I do believe that every little helps. I find a proverb by Confucius to be fitting for my current situation, "It doesn't matter how slow you go as long as you don't stop."
