Saturday, July 3, 2010

The Big Family



Friday was much more relaxing than last Friday. The labs were shorter, and the lecture was shorter also. Without a doubt, the material is getting harder but my study life has acfually been easier because I am now much more adjusted to doing all of this work.

The epic stage of today would be the evening. Around 5 PM, our small ILC group went to the dining hall to get dinner. When we finished eating, I accidentally left my phone on the table while disposing of my plates. I did not know everyone at the table came with me and left the table unoccupied. I quickly noticed the absence of my phone and became really nervous about losing my phone.

Austin lent me his phone to keep calling my number just in case if anybody could hear the phone ring and give it back. Everyone in our ILC group stayed in the dining hall for another 10 minutes to look for my phone with me. At that moment, I was not only thankful for everyone's patience and help, but I was also touched by the unity of our group and how lucky I am to have this family. This reminds me of a famous quote by William Arthur Ward: "Love is more than a noun -- it is a verb; it is more than a feeling -- it is caring, sharing, helping, sacrificing."

It turned out that someone from the Brown Summer Program was being very thoughtful and picked up the phone and turned it in to the front desk. I was very surprised by the morality of the students at Brown. If the same thing occurred in my neighborhood or school, it would most likely disappear without a clue.

This incident strengthened my determination of applying Brown. I have one more reason now -- if just a summer Brown student, or a future Brown candidate can have such fine character, the whole school would be a extra safe and loving environment.

2 comments:

  1. Zijun,

    How can you go wrong with a blog that starts off with photos?

    Even though your story about the phone only lasted a few paragraphs, it was a long couple of graphs as I worried that it might have an unhappy ending.

    I'm pleased not only that you got your phone back but also because you're surrounded by good and decent people.

    We can all relate to your thoughts about the liklihood of recovering it had you walked away from it back home but every now and again you run into people--all over the place--who do the right thing just because it's the right thing to do.

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  2. Great blog. I loved the message. Yes, even a small group of people's honesty and goodness can change a community.

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