The Making of an American

[Toplaw]

And time moves on ...

 

For those of you who followed our story in the thread that went on forever four years ago, there is a sequel to the story in the video at the following link.

 

If you didn't follow our story four years ago, but you have a child who came to America from China, you might also find the story in the video to be interesting.

 

This is my daughter's salutatorian speech at her high school graduation. It is a long climb from the bottom to the top, but it can be done.

 

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/hIdl2GSSaj8/

[dnoblett]

Long time no see ya, good to see life has been good. Salutatorian! now that is great! it takes a lot of hard work and straight A's to achieve that and coming from a non English language background makes it even more challenging.

[Mick]

That's fantastic. What an inspiration she is to those who know the challenges she faced and obstacles she overcame. Achieving such an honor in a non-native language is no easy task. She has a great future ahead of her and a great family supporting her. Thanks for sharing this.

[Randy W]

Congrats, toppy and Ping and Cici!

[DennisLeiqin]

Darn it, the music drowned out CC's speech.

 

Cripes, and I wanted to hear it!

 

Still...congratulations Lee and CC.

[Randy W]

Darn it, the music drowned out CC's speech.

 

Cripes, and I wanted to hear it!

 

Still...congratulations Lee and CC.

 

Yes - it was very hard for me to follow also - I'll try again when I've had a cup of coffee.

[Toplaw]

Thanks guys. I see some the old timers remember.

 

It is hard to describe the feeling of watching Cici standing in front of about 300 people making the first public speech of her life. Pride for sure. A feeling of accomplishment. Absolutely. But mostly the emotions were about the special bond that she and I share, and about what a great daughter she has become. In all the time we have been together

 

Cici has never exhibited the type of bad behavior that could be expected of a teenager. The only time she came close to the line was earlier this week. She is feeling the pressure of being ready for her three-day new student conference next week, packing, cleaning her room, doing the laundry, cleaning the dishes, preparing to leave for China with Ping almost immediately after the new student conference, while trying to be ready to start college as soon as she returns from China. I was pushing her pretty hard about the things she can do to help with her writing while she is on the plane and in China. Suddenly all the competing pressures got to her and she looked at me and asked, "Why are you being so mean to me?"

 

The next morning I saw a card from her on my desk, but I didn't have time to open it before I went to the office. About mid-morning I heard my cell phone beep with a text message but I didn't check it because I was in a client meeting. A short time later I heard another text message beep. When the meeting was over I checked and saw two text messages from Cici.

 

First Message: Papa, Happy Birthday. R u mad at me? Did u read the birthday card?

 

Second Message: PapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I responded to her messages and we chatted for a bit that way. I told her I hadn't read the card. When I got home she handed me her card.

 

I opened the card and saw that she had drawn a heart at the top, and then she had written a note to me in her computer perfect handwriting. The note fit exactly on the page with no squeezing to make it fit, no line outs or corrections, and no mistakes.

 

Papa

Happy birthday to you! I want to apologize about what I did last night. I was so bad and disrespectful to you, but you know sometimes I can't control myself. I felt so bad about what I did the night before your birthday, and I really don't ever want to fight with you. I don't want you to be unhappy on your birthday. So plz forgive me and let's celebrate your birthday together. I love you! The best Papa in the world!

Cici

 

So without intending to she put me in my place by writing the perfect little note. It left me thinking that she has already achieved a skill level in writing that is better than most people will ever have, and so what if it still takes her a little longer than I think it should to write a ten page term paper.

[Amaro]

Very awesome, Congrats to your daughter!

[Doug]

Pretty Good Topper. I know the feeling.

[michaln]

I got to say that video brought a tear to my eye

[Toplaw]

Watching it live brought a few to my eyes as well.

 

This video was shot by one of our Chinese friends (the mother of the little girl who appears in the scene at the end of the video). Then she put it together with the music and sent it to us. Other than the music being a little too loud during part of the speech, I thought she did a great job of capturing a very memorable occasion for us.

[warpedbored]

Darn it, the music drowned out CC's speech.

 

Cripes, and I wanted to hear it!

 

Still...congratulations Lee and CC.

Darn it, the music drowned out CC's speech.

 

Cripes, and I wanted to hear it!

 

Still...congratulations Lee and CC.

 

Yes - it was very hard for me to follow also - I'll try again when I've had a cup of coffee.

I kept wishing I could turn down the music too. It was very difficult to understand what she was saying.

[Toplaw]

Well, then by popular demand, here are the words you couldn't understand. She actually had a point to make and a challenge for her classmates.

 

Salutatorian Speech

 

Good afternoon everyone. My name is Angela Solomon, and I am honored to be able to speak to you today.

 

I am sure you can guess from looking at me that this wasn’t always my name. Most of you know that I am from China, but you may not know how I ended up on this stage speaking to you this afternoon. I came to America almost exactly four years ago on May 24, and we immediately started looking for a high school for me. Luckily, we found Lutheran High North.

 

I can still remember the essay I wrote as part of my application to attend Lutheran High North. How could I forget it – my father saved it and shows it to me all the time, including when I was writing this speech.

 

Describe a major event in your life that has made a significant impact on you. Explain why. That was the essay question I was to answer. I can laugh at it now, but I gave the best answer I could at the time since I couldn’t speak English, and here it is exactly as I wrote it:

 

This year I move to America. I think this is the most important things on me. It decide where I study, where I work, where I live. It change my life.

 

Today my English is not perfect, but it is better. Sometimes I even dream in English, except the night before my Spanish test. And because of the teachers and students who welcomed me to Lutheran High North and helped me overcome the language barrier, I stand here today, grateful and humble in your presence.

 

I am an American now and I love living in America, but I want to talk about China for a moment.

 

In China, when I was young, I heard more stories than you can imagine, because stories are told to teach children about life. When I thought about my experience in coming to Lutheran High North, and how much it has changed my life, I thought of the story about a little frog that lived in a well.

 

The frog loved living in the well because he was surrounded by things that made him happy. There was plenty of water to drink and swim in, and there was a rock where he could sit and relax. There were many insects to eat and he loved the warm sunshine that came down into the well for a short time every day. He also loved the stars that he could see in the sky at night, and sometimes he could even see the moon, but only briefly.

 

The frog was convinced that he lived in the best place in the world, but one day a bird stopped to talk with him. The bird told stories about things that the frog couldn’t even imagine existed, and at first the frog didn’t believe the bird. The bird came back every day to tell more stories to the frog, though, and then one day, the bird flew to the bottom of the well and let the frog climb on his back. If you will go with me I will show you what I have been talking about, the bird said.

 

The bird flew out of the well with the frog on his back. As the bird soared high in the air, the frog saw mountains and rivers, forests and lakes, and an ocean and sky so big they seemed to go on forever.

When the bird got tired it landed next to a large pond and the frog hopped off and sat on a lily pad in the water. He couldn’t believe how many other frogs were there around him and how much food there was to eat. Now he could see the sunshine all day and the stars and moon all night. But the frogs croaked in a different language and at first the little frog had trouble talking with them. The new frogs were patient with the little frog, though, and they soon spoke the same language and became friends.

 

The world is so much bigger than I ever dreamed, the frog said to the bird a few months later, and I have learned so much just be being with all my new friends. Being here has changed my life, and every day I learn something new.

 

Like the little frog that left the well and discovered there was much more to the world than he ever imagined, I too have found a bigger world by coming to America. Because of you and our teachers, I found a bigger world by attending Lutheran High North. Over the past four years, we have grown together as a class, and you have all been part of opening my mind to things that I had never imagined.

 

Now, as each of us leaves the well, so to speak, we have an opportunity to discover what awaits us in the world. Each of us has a chance to learn and grow and help change the world. Sure we have accomplished a few things in high school, but don’t you agree that we can accomplish so much more in the future?

 

I hope you are as excited as I am about the future, and as grateful as I am for the four years we spent together at Lutheran High North. I hope that you will join me in helping make a better world for other people, just as you helped make a better world for me.

 

Thank you, I will never forget you, and I wish the class of 2012 the best of luck.

[DennisLeiqin]

Nice... I will use that story too, from time to time.

[warpedbored]

That's much better, thanks. I love these kind of folklore tales.