Challenge 1: Puzzle

135. Find x. (U of Chicago)

As I live through the days of my life, there are moments I just get struck. Every day, every minute, every second of my life seems to be a puzzle of no complete picture. I try to reach my goal of completing the puzzle, hoping that the completed puzzle would give me an astonishing, amazing picture that no one could have ever imagined to come out of the tiny, little pieces of the puzzle.

I remember the day I was about to give up matching the puzzle. It was the day I found my mom collapsing before the news of my aunt said to be diagnosed of uterine cancer. My aunt’s doctor found out that she was in the last stage only when he opened her stomach on the operation bed. Secretly, without letting my grandparents know about the news, my mom and I flew that very day to where my aunt was, lying down on a hospital bed happily with the thought of being a cancer-survivor after the surgery. We didn’t know where to start from. The puzzle was too hard to be completed. With the survival rate being less than 10%, we could give up. But we didn’t because we knew the satisfaction and fulfillment waiting for us.

And thus began our start with a firm, confident heart. We let my grandparents know about the news. Though they went through hard times at first, they were strong. But to our surprise, the strongest turned out to be my aunt. She sensed and faced the reality that was laid in front of her.

Things might have been different if we didn’t give a try. We were scared to find x, the unknown picture. I'm still worried to find other variables that lie in my coming future. But as I match up the pieces one by one, I’ll find out even the smallest details of the picture. Hence, I keep on trying. And that’s all that matters because in the end, I’ll look back and smile at the experiences and trials I went through just like my aunt who is now a real cancer-survivor. I'll continue to find x, even y and z. 

Cuckoo in oppression = hope?

Title/Link: The CNN FREEDOM Project  Director: We can change the world By CNN staff

Published: Oct. 16, 2011; accessed: Oct. 20, 2011

Summary: This weekend, CNN will air a documentary film called “Not My Life” which expresses the director’s concern on terrifying practices of human trafficking and modern slavery on a global scale. The purpose of this film is to get people into public awareness and action to stop cruel practices of traffickers. Through inspiring testimony from survivors and anti-traffickers in the film, the audience will be questioned their rights to be called “human or civilized.” The director suggests achieving this by bringing up “the public consciousness;” the film brings people’s attention to the fact that the children are the victims of such practices. The staff of the film is excited with the idea of changing the view of millions of people and stopping this universal crime through this film. It believes that “each one of us [people in the world] has the capacity to become a saint.”

Response: It amazes me everyday to find out and realize the cruelty and unfairness of our society. But it surprises me even more that in the midst of this brutal world, there are few people who try and hope to better the world. This director of the film, “Not My Life,” seems to be one such people, trying to change this world’s vicious crime of human trafficking and modern slavery. Over the past two weeks, I’ve learnt from my AP English class that the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey, tries the convey the message that though the system of society may not change, each one of us can make a difference to people around us including ourselves. Now, this director seems to have the same intention of Ken Kesey, hoping to tell people that each of them can help stop this brutal crime of human trafficking and modern slavery. It’s really respectable.

Vocabulary:

A. profound 

1. "This fundamental truth raises profound questions about the very nature of our civilization"
2. profound: having intellectual depth and insight; difficult to understand. From Latin profundus, from pro- before + fundus bottom. First Known Use: 14th century (merriam-webster.com)
3. Mr. Plonka always throws profound questions that none of us can answer on the spot during class.

B. Proverbial

1. " I think "Not My Life" really does have an exceptional opportunity to push to that proverbial tipping point."
2. proverbial: of, relating to, or resembling a proverb. First Known Use: 1548 (merriam-webster.com)
3. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest seems to be a proverbial figure of the Japanese saying, "The nail that sticks out is hammered down." 

C. cannibalize

1. "What kind of society cannibalizes its own children?"
2. cannibalize: the usually ritualistic eating of human flesh by a human being. New Latin Canibalis Carib, from Spanish Caníbal, from TainoCaniba, of Cariban origin; akin to Carib kariʔna Carib, person. First Known Use: 1553
3. During our Activity Week, I hope we won't starve so much that we start to cannibalize.