From the Silk Road to DownCity

Imagine centuries of sweat, stirfry and stifling heat and humidity assaulting your senses. Well, my senses and my nose to be specific. It’s hard to believe that it has been twenty years since I got on a plane to travel across the Pacific to the Middle Kingdom, aka the People’s Republic of China. The first stop was in Shanghai then Beijing with my final destination in Wuhan where I would be living and teaching for a year. Renowned for its proximity to the Yangtze River, where Mao had once swum in its polluted waters, and for its soaring temperatures earning the moniker as one of the Oven Cities of China, this was “home.”

When I reflect back on that time, it’s hard to believe I actually did it. Here I was at the cusp of turning thirty and found myself feeling like a little kid at her first summer camp experience not knowing anyone, feeling desperately homesick and asking for mom. In the midst of ambiguity and anxiety, all I could think was, “How am I, an engineer, going to teach English in a foreign land and not know the language or the culture?”

Even though I had an entire month of training and many months prior to wrap my mind around this new adventure, I discovered soon enough that you can never be fully prepared for what’s ahead. I liken it to starting a new job, falling in love or, ahem, starting college. Many of us will scour the internet, read dozens of “how-to” books, ask for advice from mom, dad, friends, and experts and even strangers. Some of us may have even experienced such transition and still I always find it a surprise and a shock each time.

So here you are on the cusp of starting at PC, as a first year or transfer student or staring headlong into your last year at PC and wondering, “How did this happen?” As easy as it is to say, “Embrace the moment! Enjoy these years because they go so fast!”, in this moment it feels like life is either molasses or a fast moving train and you may be wishing you could get off this platform or step out of this sticky mess.

I also imagine that many of you can’t wait to get started at PC to make new friends, gain new knowledge, and be independent for perhaps the first time. Yet transition is hard even as it’s welcomed with great anticipation and excitement. Here’s my advice to you: Be Kind. Be Hopeful. Be Gracious.
Be kind to yourself as you make your way through your first or last year at PC. Allow yourself to fully experience this year with wisdom, energy and commitment.

Be hopeful as you discover the good, bad and ugly in yourself, in others and in the workings of the college and society. In the eyes of God, all of us can be redeemed, restored and made whole again.
Be gracious as you encounter difference however that may look or feel. Be curious with an open mind, heart and spirit. You may learn more about yourself in ways you have never thought.

“When suddenly you seem to lose all you thought you gained, do not despair. You must expect setbacks and regressions. Don’t say to yourself, “All is lost. I have to start all over again.”

This is not true. What you have gained you have gained…

When you return to the road, you return to the place where you left it, not where you started.”

– Henri J.M. Nouwen, Catholic priest, theologian and writer (1932-1996)