China

As the boat gently glided on the Huangpu River at night, I took in the magnificent night view. All around me, lights glistened and shined, and the only noise to be heard was the gentle lapping of water on the boat’s hull. The Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Centre towered above the landscape, as if pillars to support the sky. I breathed in the air, and I thought to myself, “So this is China.” As a “Foreign-Born Chinese”, I spoke the language, but I seldom had the chance to feel what it was like to be a “real Chinese person”. This past summer, I had this opportunity when I visited China for a summer camp. Over the span of a month, I learned about the many things that I can take pride in about my homeland, from its long history to its modern present to its promising future. The trip was truly one of self discovery, and one that I will treasure forever.

Note: Blog Changes

As many of you may have noticed, the title of this blog has changed from "Welcome To My World" to "iEpiphany!". Complimenting this change of title will be a new URL. To allow time for most of this website's followers to be informed about the new URL, the address will be changed on Friday, April 1st, 2011. The website will be moved from http://dxwelcome2myworld.blogspot.com to http://i-epiphany.blogspot.com.

There have also been some changes to the blog. Due to popular request, you can now share posts that you are especially interested in with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot, Google Buzz, etc.

And last but certainly not least, I'd like to hank everybody for making this website so popular! Not only does it have 12,817 views (and increasing growing every day), but it has regular views from around the world, including views from all the continents other than Antarctica (sorry, no penguin views yet).

So once again, thank you all and keep on checking back on iEpiphany! for more food for the mind-whether it takes the form of an article, a piece of art, or a video.

Favorite Place to Be

 A single, large window sits above a brown, oak desk. To the side of it, little orange fish swim on the covers of a navy blue bed. The corners of the room are messily decorated: a St. Louis Cardinal’s pennant here, an old piece of artwork there. Papers are littered all across the room, as the only neat part is the trophy case standing in a corner, proudly displaying all the multi-colored ribbons and trophies. I sit in the big armchair, and breathe the air in: a strange, musty but sweet smell. This is my room, a place where I can find shelter and comfort in, a shield from the displeasing things of the world around me. It doesn’t have the crystal clear beaches like Hawaii or the tall skyscrapers of New York, but in a way only I can appreciate, my room is my favorite place to be.

Windemere

One can feel the pressure and anxiety hanging over the crowd at Windemere Ranch Middle School. As each student waits outside his or her classroom for the bell to ring and the most important test of the year – the Finals—to begin, almost all the kids are reviewing and absorbing as much last minute information as they possibly can. But unlike what one would expect, most people don’t have their nose buried in a book; instead, they are talking to each other and nervously joking around. Some are quizzing their friends on possible test questions, some are going over extra test information with their buddies, and others are answering questions that their classmates have. This day, in particular, highlights the essence of Windemere, my community. Although highly competitive in many areas, the people of Windemere always enjoy helping each other. Everywhere one looks, one can find this attitude. In sports, for example, most athletes try hard to beat one another, but they also give each other tips and push each other to do better. At school, students are always trying to get the highest marks, yet they still help each other study and learn. This attitude Windemere carries has greatly influenced me to be both competitive and helpful. Although most people consider competitiveness and helpfulness as almost opposite characteristics, my community has taught me otherwise. I want to be the best because I truly am the best, not because others are worse than me; I want to be successful since I went that extra mile when nobody else was willing to do so. One example of this is when I was drawing for the 2010 PTSA Reflections competition. For two consecutive nights, I drew from three o’clock to one o’clock in the morning, perfecting my artwork: that is just how competitive I am. My friends, who were also entering in the competition, asked me for help the next day, and I was just as determined to help them succeed, suggesting ideas for him and helping him express those ideas better. When I got back home, I looked at my own art again, and saw areas in which I could improve based on mistakes my friends have made. In this way, the people of Windemere can compete against each other, yet learn and grow at the same time, and this has truly etched a deep mark in my personality.

What's Courage?

Wrapped up in, nice and warm towels, I paused for a moment. I looked up and made out what seemed to be snow-covered mountains, and as my view swept down, I observed the glittering lights of Burnaby, Vancouver. I sighed, seeing my breath rise up before me as I wrapped the towels even closer to my body, thinking about the options presented to me: fifty cents and a chance to become an ice cube or the safety of a nice, warm house. I sighed again, and pulled off my towels, and jumped, as the icy-cold water quickly enveloped my body. As I reemerged on the other bank, my friend's dad admiringly said, "My, what a courageous boy you are."

Almost two months later, I still shiver at the memory of my icy plunge into the river. But looking back at the event, I still sometimes wonder to myself, "Was that act courageous? Or just plain foolish? Is there even a line between the two?" Courage, some people believe, is what they call an act of foolishness after it succeeds. In basketball, a player who disobeys a coach to run his own play, which loses the game, is deemed foolish. However, if this act ultimately results in the winning points, the player is praised for being courageous. Much similarly, Martin Luther King, Jr. was bashed as a fool when he first started leading the civil rights movement in the 1900's. After the color barrier broke, however, he was recognized as a courageous leader to all of America. As examples pile up, it becomes increasingly harder to argue that the difference between foolishness and courage is success.

But if one thinks a little bit more, one can realize that success is not really that barrier between courage and stupidity. Many unsuccessful acts of heroism have been praised as courageous. In the recent Tucson shootings, a man threw himself in front of his wife to protect her from the bullets. Knowingly risking his life, he decided to protect somebody else instead of himself. In the end, he ended up dying, but many recognize this as a truly courageous act. The reason is exactly that: the reason.

Reasoning is something ingrained into all of us. Each one of us has a moral compass inside of us, no matter how deep it is burried, that tells us what's right and what's wrong. In the case of stupidity and courageousness, this little moral compass inside us is that thin little line. Your reason to perform an ordinarily foolish act can elevate that act to courageous. Whether the reason is greed, longing, unselfishness, or love, this is what seperates foolishness from courage, because only a fool what purposely harm himself/herself. But only a courageous person would harm himself/herself for another person.