五年前，无忧被邀请， 在机关单位的一次讲演， 无忧愿意再次与朋友们分享一下。
无忧很喜欢我们的总统闯破先生，喜欢他的性格，品格，人格，风格，包括他的讲演风格。
From China To NY BA
Hello, everyone,
Thanks for coming.
By the way, how many are from China in this room?
Well, over twenty years ago, like some of you here in this room, I came to America from the mainland China as an exchange student. I am sure each one of you has your unique story of coming to this beautiful land. Today, I would like to share my story with you.
I was born in a tiny mountain village at the foot of the Great Wall in northeast of China. It was the time of Chinese Cultural Revolution.
Many stores have been told about the Chinese culture revolution. China was very poor at the time. People had no freedom and no hope. If you were born a farmer, you would likely die of a farmer. People had no food. To live was to survive. The beautiful season like this right now was the toughest time for many Chinese, especially for those Chinese in countryside. People were starving to death, they barely had nothing to eat, they ate grass, leaves or whatever eatable. Hundreds of people died of famine. Food was the number one thing in people’s mind. In the old days in China, the first thing people saw each other was to ask: Have you eaten? I believe some folks in the country still carry this tradition. I think it has a lot to do with what people experienced in the past. It was one of the darkest periods of Chinese history.
But I was born in a loving home. I had vague memories of my father playing flute and my mom played in local theater. My father was a county official at the time, like a county executive. Our family was doing ok relatively speaking. However, tragedy stroke on our family. My father died of cancer suddenly. I was eight years old. Suffering for our family started and continue until I came to America. We were the poorest among the poor village.
We had only one blanket for a family of five and one small muddy room. The room was leaking when rains and icy cold in winter. Whenever it was raining, water was accumulated inside the room. In winter our eyebrows became icy white after a night sleep. Very often we barely had enough clothes and shoes to keep us warm in winter. Of course, we never had enough food. We had one meal a day for most time of the year.
The tough living conditions made a lot of people gave up at that time without hope. A lot of parents even gave up hope for their children. However, my mother never gave up her hope for a better life for her children. She was a single mother with four little kids from eight months old to thirteen years old. Without enough food, clothes, shelter, my mother encouraged us to read and write. My mother always believed her sons would be somebody someday.
My mother could read, though she could not write. She knows many Chinese folk stories. She loved to sing, too. We learned a lot by listening her telling stories and her songs. In order to get help from friends of my father, she asked us to write letters to them. Without money to buy paper, pens, we practice our study on any kid of paper including newspapers, grocery papers to practice writing. Sometimes, we had to practice homework such as writing, math in sand.
At the same time, she tried to improve our Chinese writing by writing these letters. She discouraged us to do farm work, so that we could be focus on reading. At that time, boys and girls had to learn farm work because communist party called people to do so. My mother was brave and knew the only thing that could lift us out of property was to get a good education. So whenever we were required to do farm work, my mother would persuade the teachers and local leaders to let our brothers work on bulletin boards, flyers to strength our Chinese writing skills. Sometimes, we would join a team of so called “Chairman Mao Propaganda team”, rather than working in the farm. We were very successful in doing this, because we were always top students in our class with great handwriting and writing skill, and very good at talk and show.
It seems that my mother knew what would surely happen later on. So she tried to prepare our brothers for the future. She simply believed that reading was very important in our life. She just liked the people who read a lot. My father had college education, which was very rare in China at the time.
When I was about 14, Chairman Mao passed away and Deng Xiao Ping became Chinese senior leader. China started reform. People had to pass the entry test to go to college.
I want to mention one very interesting thing about China during Mao’s time. People were admitted to college not because of their academic credentials, but because of their ties to the party officials.
With help from my father’s friends, I got a teaching job at a high school in my hometown after my graduation from my high school. You might be wondering how come I became a teacher at such young age. Well. At that time, not many people in Mainland China even finished elementary school. Unlike here in the America, you did not need to have a certificate or pass certain test to qualify being a teacher. It was very normal that high school graduates taught high school students and college graduates taught college students.
Right after Deng Xiao Ping’s reform started, my county leaders believed that English would be required in general test eventually. They decided to select some young teachers and gathered them together, and to teach them English. Then the trained young teachers taught high school students English. I was selected.
The entire training was three months, which was a critical three months for me. I immediately realized that three months would be a great opportunity for me to learn English. It might be very possible to change my fate, because at that time very few young people ever learned English at all. It might be relatively easier for me to pass the entry test and get into college. And I was right.
I made a full use of these three months, working day and night to study English. After these three months intensive English training, I was back to the high school. Borrowing a radio box from a friend, I kept learning myself by listening Beijing English broadcasting for another year. Then I took the English exam at annual entry test. I’ve got the best score in English in the entire county. I was admitted to Zhengder College, which was a teachers college for those who will become a teacher. One main reason why I selected that college was that the teacher’s college provided free food, and free trip back and forth from home to school. For me, at that time, my first goal was to go to college and get high education, so that I could have a promising and bright future. It was also very practical and critical for me to change my residency from countryside to city one by going to college. It was huge different between a countryside residency and a city in China at the time. Chinese in the countryside were in at the bottom of the society, even right now.
Getting into Zhengder College, I found out that out of twenty classmates, I was the only one from a tiny mountain village, others are from cities or towns. It was not strange at all, because no one was taught English at high school. Most college students with English major at that time came from well to do families or families with some special background.
I found myself being the poorest student in the class. Zhengder is popular place for summer resort. It was summer resort for royal family at Qing Dynasty. Our classmates often had fun over there, but I could not. I could not afford to buy a ticket. I even did not have a single picture taken during my entire college time in Zhengder, because I could not afford it. Over two years in Zhengder, I only had one piece of clothes for winter, summer, fall and spring. Even now, my classmates back in China still remember me as the one in black color cloth year around. Recently when our classmates were gathered together in Beijing, one classmate mentioned that I could not afford to buy a belt, so I used a rope to tie my pans. I could only dreamed of other recreational activities, such as movies, picnics, outing and sighting as my classmates did. In a way, it helped me. I found myself spend most of my time either reading or doing some physical activities such as running around the city. I keep the hobby of running for over ten years until I came to America.
After graduated from Zhengder, I was assigned to teach high school students English in Qian Long County. I could not choose what I want to do. In China, they had a system called allocation. People were allocated or assigned a job. Though teaching was not my ideal job or my future goal, I worked very hard. I was very responsible for the kids, because they were just like me from countryside. I knew very well that these kids had no future in China if they could not go to college. Fortunately, my students knew it too. They studied very hard. Without any English background, after two year of English studying, some of my students even got score of 99 out 100. I suddenly became so popular in Qian Long County and in Qian Long Dao city. The county and city communist government officials believed that I was a great promising young man. They sent me to H. University to improve my English and finish my bachelor degree.
In the middle of 1980s, sending a young man to a college was a very unique situation in China. It lasted only two or three year in H. Province. I was lucky that I got that opportunity. At this time, the government decided not to train me to be a future teacher, but a future leader in the city, at least in education.
I enjoyed my time in H University and had my eye opening experience.
It was at H. University where I met my American teacher, my sponsor or my American mentor. Her name is D. C. D brought me to America and took care of me like her own son.
Before I talk about D.C, let me say a few words about my mother, who is my hero.
It was my mother who taught us never give up, and always be prepared for the future. My mother taught me that if we work hard enough, we can always change our fate. It was my mother who taught me that tomorrow is always better.
Overcame many difficulties, and with the help from my father’ friends, my mother managed to send my elder brother at gage of 15 to Beijing Steel and Iron Company, and he got every benefits as Beijing citizen. With my mom’s help and support, my younger brother passed the college entrance exam with top score in H. Province (a state in the US) and got admitted in Beijing University (Harvard in the US). It was my mom who helped me to go to college and encouraged me to go to America. It was her Chinese folk stories and her songs that made us find pleasures in history and reading. My young brother got degree in Chinese history, a typical liberal art major.
My mother lost her husband at a very young age and never remarried. She suffered a lot, yet, she never gave up in looking for a better future for her children. Years ago, her story was published in Mainland China.
Yes, indeed, my mother is a great woman. She is over seventy years old now, very independent and very active. She has become very devoted to Buddhism. She has traveled the country to teach Buddhism, compassion and love for all human beings. She has hundreds of students. She even converted our home to temple for people to pray. She has become one of leaders in Buddhism in China and received warm welcome by former Chinese President Jiang Ze Min. She is very proud of herself. Yes, we are very proud of her, too.
About my teacher, sponsor, or mentor, D. C. I really did not know much about her at all while she was teaching us English in H. University. In fact, she only taught me maybe just two or three weeks all together. However, she found out that I was outstanding out of all the students that she met in China. She especially liked what I wrote as homework while she was teaching us. When she came back to America, she shared what I wrote to her colleagues, including the President of University of C.
I guess my writing touched people at University of C. At one gathering, then the President asked D.C,” What is the plan next for this young man?” D said” I would love to have him come over to America to further his study.” And the president agreed.
In January 10, 1987, I left Beijing to America. Once I was in the University of C. The administration staff called D.C. that I was here in the school. She was so surprised and was very delighted. I did not tell D that I was coming to America, because I wanted to give her a surprise. (Well, I know now it was very true. I should not do that.) She said that she was in a meeting; she would pick me up that afternoon.
She was so happy to see me and gave me a big hug. She promised me that she will take care of me like a mom. She really did later on. And gradually I understand who D was.
D.C. was a mother with two kids, who were two or three years younger than I am, a PH.D in psychology, Miss State, Send place of Miss American in 1963, and the then the state delegate and Education Committee Member. She was from a decent family. Her father was former state Chief Judge. Her husband was the owner of top five company in the country in college business. He was trustee for about twenty universities in the state. They are very kind, very generous and very popular in the state. He was running for governor at that time, and he won two terms.
I was surprised to know her background and touched by what she had done for me.
D helped me with everything. She drove me around and showed me to her friends. Like any other parent, she paid everything for my stay in University of C, like food, dormitory, books, everything. She also opened account for me, and put some money for allowance.
When I transferred to M University, she drove me door to door looking for apartment for me. She brought me to see the president of M University, the Dean of Political Science Department and International Study Director to show her concern about me to study in M University. The first year when I didn’t’ have scholarship, she paid everything for me tuition, food and room.
She drove more than seven hours to Mtown to show me the campus, to see her friend and to get me into Mtown University.
She was not only financially support me. She taught me a lot. The first books that D gave me are Democracy in American by the French author Alexis de Tocqueville. Very often she brought me to State Capital to listen to the political debate. D and her husband welcomed me to join their campaign for governor. D invited me to attend big even like dinner with Chinese Ambassador, Senator, and governor inauguration. D sat up a fund for me to travel the entire America continent one summer to learn and observe America.
D and her husband are great people. They helped me understand a lot about America and the people. They showed me that everyone is equal in America. They taught me that America is full of opportunities. They encourage me to work hard. I am forever grateful to D and her husband.
After I left Mtown University, it was not easy for me to find a job with a political science and public administration degree. But I never gave up. I always tried very hard. I never forget how hard my single mom worked for my brothers, and I never forget how much D and her husband had taught me.
I started as an administrative assistant in furnished luxury apartment. With that job, I learned about bookkeeping. One year later, I got a job as bookkeeper in Great New York City Mutual Housing Association. I was promoted as financial officer six month later, due to my hard working, overseeing financial operations and administration. At Mutual Housing Association, I started to update the association financial net working systems. The organization was small without much fund to hire outside consultant to do computer work. I took it over myself. Working day and night for half a year, I established the new financial systems including computer network and financial reporting. Then I realized that I would have no problem making a living with knowledge of combination of computer and finance.
While I was doing independent finical systems consulting, I took everything opportunity to learn computer, finance, accounting, budget and payroll. Without any savings, I took many training like company training or conference training. Many times, I ate and slept in the workplace, library or book store after work to make sure my work well done and to update myself with new knowledge. For many years, I mastered many financial systems and worked for many organizations very successfully.
In 1996, when the Government of the New York City was establishing an accounting systems manager program , I was honored and hired as one of 12 senior professionals to address and improvement NY government financial operations and systems. During my time at NY government, together with other professionals, I was leading in fixed financial systems implementation for the entire city, overseeing the budget and spending of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and updating NY government budget systems of budget formulation and execution.
Over years, I accumulated a rich experience and unique combination knowledge and skills of management, budget, finance, accounting and payroll. That’s how I seized this great opportunity of BFOfficer with this great organization NY BA.
I really and truly thank Ms. L. B, my supervisor, very much for offering me this great opportunity. I feel very lucky to work with you all, such wonderful people.
My understanding is: you will be just fine, if you never give up. No matter where you are from with what kind of back ground, you will be just fine in America, if you keep working hard, working intelligently and being always ready. America is a great country and American is a great people.
Right now I am married a beautiful lady with two lovely daughters. My wife whom I met at Mtown University was also an exchange student from China like me
Thank you very much.
I would love to answer any question you may have. I am located on the third floor. You can visit me or email to me at any time.
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