Little Rocking Boat

Little rocking boat set off his journey to the vast ocean.

A turtle at the harbor warned him, “Don’t go, you will be caught in a storm and crumbled into wreckage.”

Little rocking boat set up its sails, and sailed away.

A shark swam close and laughed at the little rocking boat, “When you are flipped over by the storm, I am going to swallow you as a whole.”

Little rocking boat abandoned his anchors, and kept on sailing.

A seagull flew by and mocked at the little rocking boat, “The storm is coming, and you won’t survive.”

Little rocking boat swayed slightly and kept on sailing.

Little rocking boat had sailed for ten years and visited the most beautiful place, watched the most beautiful sunrise, and made the most incredible friends.

He never got wrecked, because the storm could never chase up to him.

The True "rudeness"

Every employee in this brokerage firm wanted to know how Andy Parker became the regional manager for this firm. Andy looked like an ordinary guy, barely 40 years old, had brought so much profit to this company. During lunch, he would join his employees, sharing information and discussing about the future of the company. His colleague, Tim, was a good friend of his and had been with him in the same firm before Andy became the regional manager.

One day at lunch, one of the employees of the firm asked Peter what it took for Andy to become the regional manager. Tim swallowed the last bite of the salmon sandwich, and drank the remaining water. He said, “It was his ‘rudeness’ that made him the regional manager.” The employee was puzzled, “His rudeness? How could it possibly get his job by being rude? You were joking, right?” Tim laughed and replied, “Nope, indeed, for being ‘rude’. Alright then, I will tell you how that happened.”
It was two years ago, a week before the former regional manager Charles Anderson was about to retire. Charles was a legendary figure. Since he was the regional manager, the value of the company had never dropped down. But the week before he was going to retire, he announced a piece of news that no one was going to believe. He was going to pay 10 million dollars to purchase a type of stock which everyone knew that the stock would bring no profits in a week. What was more ridiculous was that he told everyone publicly that if anyone told Charles that the purchasing was a bad decision, that guy would be fired. He said it, and he would do it. It brought a heated discussion among the employees. People wondered if Charles was out of his mind. Who would buy a stock when everyone could see the decreasing value of it? But pretty quickly, people let it go because they didn’t want to get fired, besides they said Charles was the “legendary one”, and he knew what he was doing. Only Andy, who had serious doubt about that stock, analyzed every detail of it and made a report. Yes, he was going to tell how wrong Charles was. On the fourth day of the week, Andy carried his pile of report, when he was about to knock on Charles door, he stopped for literally 20 minutes in front of Charles office. Thoughts about losing his job made him really uncomfortable. He really enjoyed working in this firm. That’s why he had to warn Charles that the purchase might seriously hurt this company. Conflicts went through his mind and maybe that was the reason that made him lost control of his next action.

Andy slammed on Charles’s door and yelled that Charles would regret about the purchase. Everyone else nearby stood up from their desks and stared at Andy, believing that Andy had no hope of working again in this company. Few seconds later, Charles opened the door and said only three words, “Please come in.” Andy went in, and explained that he was sorry to be so rude, because he really concerned about this company. Then Andy showed Charles the report he made on that stock. Andy said, “Look, I don’t mind getting fired. But I don’t want this company to collapse because of the mistake you are going to make. I don’t want to see my friends in this company to lose their jobs too. But please read my report. I believe you will know what you are doing is wrong.” Charles put aside the report and smiled, “I don’t need to read your report and know the purchasing was a loser’s decision.” Andy was confused, “You do? Then why did you still announce that purchase you are going to make?” Charles pointed at the chair and told Andy to sit down, and he drank some coffee, continuing on his explanation, “You see, it was just a test that I made to see who would have the potential to become the next regional manager of this firm. Looks like you are doing a great job, Andy.” Andy was still baffled by what Charles said. Charles then asked Andy some basic questions, “What kind of company is this?” Andy replied without any hesitation, “It is a brokerage firm.” Charles then said, “Correct. We buy and sell off stocks based on facts, not opinions of anyone, even authorities. As members of this firm, we shall work together to keep this firm alive. If they think they can save their jobs by not pointing out a simplest mistake their colleagues make, they will lose it pretty quickly as well. Andy, you have the kind of spirit that I am searching for.”

Tim wrapped up his lunch box and said to the employee, “Now you should know why he’s the regional manager.”

-written by Jack Wei

The Ocean Wave

The ocean wave, made out of the basic element of nature which nourishes all lives on earth, itself nourishes the basic form of life-the plankton. Glimmering under the enchanting light of the sky, it shows no respect to the rest of the world, but only succumbing to the breath of air. Relying on other forces of nature, it propagates with seemingly no purpose. But it also understands, only by sacrificing its own will, both sides will survive. Calm as we can see, it is capricious. Lending the power of the wind, it blasts relentless energy. Not the sharpest blade can cut through it. Not the brightest mind understands it. And not the fastest boat is able to escape from it. We, the lord of all, witlessly stand at the peak, and scorning at all the subservient. But we not knowing how we can be easily destructed by the most basic of nature, devoured into the darkness of the bottom ocean floor. The ocean wave, simple as it is, contains an intricate beauty.

Catching a Dog

Last Christmas I decided to use my school holiday to prepare for the SAT college entrance test in January. My goal was to score 2200 on the test (the maximum is 2400). I believed I could do it even though I am not a native speaker, and my English language and writing skills are weak when compared to my math skills. I had wonderful grades in school. I bought a book which contained a list of 3500 SAT vocabulary words, and grammar practice exercises I could do to improve my English skills. I didn’t think I could digest all those words and grammar skills in just the few weeks I had before the SAT but I still kept on doing all the practice tests the book provided. Vocabulary and grammar were my headaches. I doubted whether I could reach my goal. I took a little bit of solace by telling myself “other people can do it, why can’t I?” And then it was the time for the SAT test. 2 weeks later, right on the day of my birthday, the test score came out. I only got 1860-Math 800, Critical Reading 540, Writing 520. I had wished, worked and prayed for a great score. In the end, I was still 340 points away from my goal. What about all the effort I’d made? What about all the time I’d spent on preparing for the test? I could have used that time to listen to the music I like, play some sports and hang out with my best friends. There are still several chances to retake the test.
Should I take it again or just give up?

My SAT experience reminds me of something that happened last year when I was an exchange student living with a host family in Dryden, New York. Dryden is located in the country side, with hills and woods all around. During the time of my stay, we adopted a dog named Keera from the local animal shelter. Keera was a mix of shepherd and husky. She was energetic like a husky, and self-confident like a shepherd. We always put a leash on her just in case she might run away. One snowy day, when I was walking the dog, Keera broke the leash and ran into the woods. Being a jock, I felt sheepish that Keera had gotten away on me. I laughed at her and yelled, “So you want a race yeah?” I swore that I could catch her in a few minutes I chased after her. The chilly wind scratched my face like knives and snowflakes landed on my jacket. 5 minutes later when I still hadn’t caught her, I started to get tired. Now Keera was mocking me. She would deliberately stop and wait for me to catch up, and then take a little sprint, and wait for me again in a distance. One time, I caught her, but she slipped away from my hug and ran even further. I had little hope of catching her.
I thought I was going to lose her. I knew that I could not catch her by simply running after her. I slowed my pace and started to think about what other approach I might try. I whistled, pretended I had food, and even danced like a fool just to get her attention, to lure her closer to me. Finally, I pretended I was dead. I first yelled to get her attention, and then lay down on the cold snowy ground. I knew shepherds have a sense of loyalty to their owners, and huskies have a strong curiosity. So I bet that if I pretended to be dead Keera would come to me to find out was happening. It worked! Just when she was inches away and sniffing me, I jumped towards her, gave her a big hug and put the leash on her collar. I’d done it!

In our lives, reaching our goals can be like catching a run-away dog. We see the dog escape and we start to chase after it. We spend energy and time, but are never able to catch it. Often times, we set a goal in our lives, and without much prior thinking and planning, we work towards our goal. We end up not getting what we want, and that can make us start to lose hope. We’ve worked persistently and we’ve been focused, and diligent. So what’s the problem? Perhaps a lack of planning and analyzing and in being too much of a rush to reach our goal is the key cause of our failure, despite how hard we’ve worked. When you feel you aren’t getting anywhere, slow down, and think things through. There are a lot of different approaches to achieving your goal. You may need to try a different one. Remember when one door closes, often another one opens.

I’ve decided to take another SAT test in June. This time, I will try different kinds of approaches to prepare for the SAT. I hope next time I will get a better score maybe even the one I’m hoping for.