A World We Dare to Imagine Part 3

“Xie’s Bookstore” for Underprivileged Children in China

Mission of the Organization

This organization will be an NGO aiming at improving the education quality that underprivileged kids receive in the rural area of China. These kids were born in the poor family which couldn’t afford to send kids to go to schools and oftentimes expect their children, after completing the mandatory education dictated by the Chinese government, to come back and to farm, thus to ease the family’s burden, even though majority of these kids are only thirteen or fourteen years old while their urban peers continue to receive higher education.

Therefore, the organization intends to expand the availability of quality education to these underprivileged children, and thusly empower them to break the shackles of farming and enlarge their repertoire of knowledge to pursue dreams that could elevate the society more or to work from positions that are more value-added.

Implementation of the Strategy

The organization plans to achieve the goal by combining technological resources and traditional educational resources, and to deliver the package in the form of online education via tablets or computers. The technological resources will be sourced from technological teams who have expertise in online education. Organizations such as Sunshine Bookstore have already showed initial intention to partner with us. Educational resources will be sourced from Massive Online Open Course (MOOC), and our organization is in the process to obtaining permission from universities and online MOOC hubs such Coursera.

For the next steps, these quality resources will be adapted to make it easier to understand for kids in the rural area. The distribution of tablets is going to be funded and supervised by government’s funding and social sources that care about the social cause. In order to deliver timely updates/feedback and information, our organization also intends to work closely with regional/local governments to improve the infrastructure of Internet access.

Value of the Organization

The organization will ensure the underprivileged kids receive education that is effective, and encompassing, to help them expand horizon and realize the world is an enormous space full of possibilities where they can pursue different career opportunities rather than solely becoming another farmer, another shepherd, etc., thusly truly allowing them to dare to imagine a brand-new world for themselves and their families.

Xie’s book is the first organization of its kinds and will make a difference in the lives of underprivileged in the rural area, and can also be applied in urban areas where kids are not receiving quality education.

Underprivileged kids who yean for learning are going to be empowered to realize how to get access to more educational resources and how much is out there to be learned. Providing children who have the curiosity to learn with effective tools and methodologies is not only fundamental to improve their standards of living, but also a vital approach to mitigate wealth inequality and various social issues. The organization will bring these kids hope and shed light in their lives, ultimately inspiring generations to advance and grow.

A WORLD WE DARE TO IMAGINE - PART 1

I’m very glad to come across this assignment, because I really want to seek answers to these problems in a more active way.  In some social events, people just chat about these types of topics and as the conversation closes, everyone somehow magically feel a sense of mission but do nothing to improve the situation at the end.

I know simply answering this question in the form of a post does not make me any way better than the people I mentioned, but this is a new approach that I want to take and see if I will make some minor difference –even just raising more awareness in my mentality - by responding to the question in a more serious manner.

I had coffee with my mentor this Saturday and told him the recent conundrums I encounter - in my senior year, I felt my resistance to embrace new subjects in my life. And as an individual who constantly seeks growth and self-improvement, I become discontent of my recent laid-back attitude and actions. And during our conversation, my mentor told me it is probably time for me to branch out and think about bigger questions – things that matter for the sustainability of human beings, no longer just about my personal well-being.

These questions will matter. They are no longer things such as  “oh my, what am I getting for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner”, and then so on so forth, which drive me panic every day. Rather, these questions are going to be the key challenges/insights that will direct focus and effort. His words also remind me of the “fundamental truth” that Elon Musk mentioned in a Ted talk – seeking answers by avoiding relying on analogies or so-called “benchmarks”, but by digging the questions deep and fathoming to find the roots that cause certain phenomena and then devising solutions accordingly. This sounds easy, but most of the time, people just use other people’s solutions/ideas to save time/brainwork, ignorant of the nuanced situations they are faced with.

This conversation encourages me to think about something that matter, something that will make the world a better place, which coincidently matches with the attempt of the prompt. I did some research and brainstormed about the problems that human beings need to resolve:

·      Inequality

o   Gender

o   Wealth

§  Whether this is a problem per se is pending discussion

·      Health concerns

o   Obesity

o   Caused by pollution

§  Water

§  Air

o   HIV prevention

o   Cancer treatment

·      Transportation

o   Alternative energy

o   Alternative means of transportation

o   Connection

§  Intercontinental

§  Space

·      Education

o   Access

o   Quality

Every issue listed here, as I see it, is vital to be resolved if human beings were to realize sustainable development many centuries to come.

Education is my most interested topic, so I did more research in this field, finding that it has the biggest correlation with income inequality and the biggest contributing factor to income inequality. I had a sociology class in my freshman year, and after studying the topic to some depth, I realize every issue is intertwined. For instance, education inequality could result from the wealth inequality; inequality in wealth contributes to structural disadvantages that are imposed onto the underprivileged families, especially education, lending itself to complete a vicious cycle.

After deciding to focus on education, my next question is “what the major problems/obstacles are for underprivileged children to have a proper education”, and some bullets are listed below:

1. Access to knowledgeable teachers
2. Access to the Internet
3. Ambition/ motivation
4. Family environment

Across all the solutions proposed, I think MOOC is a viable and tangible way to implement towards mitigating the gap. It allows kids in the rural area, if we are looking at China particularly given its large size of uneducated population, to get exposure to world-class quality content and absorb knowledge that they choose. However, there are certain issues pertained with this solution. For instance, how to ensure children’s’ access to the Internet? How to ensure the infrastructure is set in place when starting to implement the plan? How to seek the government’s support? How to ensure the content is well digested by the kids? How to keep track of the progress?

These are just a few questions that could easily throw the solution off guard but they also mean that these social issues require more attention and consideration with practical  understanding of local environment. 

Graduation

I didn't realize I’m graduating soon until receiving an email from USC bookstore, notifying me that I need to order my cape and gown before May 14^th, which is the time for graduation ceremony, both campus-wide and school-wide. Caringly, bookstore also mentioned not to forget to place an order for the certificate frames, where I can put my diplomas in, which “only” cost over 200 bucks per frame. Compared to the bizarrely expensive tuition, the frame and outfit for graduation cost nothing. 

Apart from the bookstore, my family is also readying themselves for my graduation. They started to plan their trip back in February and finally settled down on the cars and hotels recently. The entire family decided to dispatch a squadron of 8 to join my gradation party - my parents are certainly coming, along with my cousin’s family. The idea is to allow my 6-year nephew to get a taste of the United States, and help my cousin to educate her 6-year-old instilling her own version of American dream while she is still young.

Four years at USC has been fleeting. It feels surreal to touch the textiles of time. Out of the four years, it’s also surprising to witness what I’ve fabricated.  All I can do is to sigh with a moderate relief -“you know what, time does fly”. When thinking about the first day I set my foot on the campus of USC, I still feel as if it were yesterday. I have never been to the US before coming to USC. And looking back, it's certainly a bold decision - how do I dare to make a life-changing decision without even visiting the campus of USC? 

Anyway, I’m glad to know it wasn’t a bad decision at the tail end of the four years. Reflecting back, there is nothing I can do to make the 4 years more rewarding - it's been good. I engaged in a lot of different things: were in some romantic relationships and broke up peacefully; travelled to a lot of places, alone or with friends, domestically within the US and globally; maintained an okay-GPA, which doesn't endanger my career prospects; met a ton of people, who made me realize who can be my friends and who can't; been constantly reflecting on myself - who I am, where I want to be, and how to get there. 

Even now, I’m still not sure what graduation needs mean other than the simple action of graduation - maybe things don’t have to be so complicated, but I'm sure it is the time that people set more ambitious goals for themselves, where everyone hugs and says goodbye, no matter whether they hate or love each other, but wishing each other the best and hoping them to achieve whatever they have in mind.

Yet the truth is, people make progress to their dreams/goals in every seemingly ordinary day. And thus, people should live as gloriously as what they do on their gradation day. Similarly, we don't just turn one year older on our birthdays all of a sudden. We grow older every day and we become better than who we were yesterday. The routine of life diminishes the meaning it represents. While recognizing the meaningfulness of routine life, we still need monumental moments to remind and motivate ourselves, in case the bagatelles of life itself wear out our heroic dreams. In my case, I need the graduation to remind myself – “you are privileged and you are responsible to restore the equality of this planet”.