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Published: November 22nd 2009
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Something about this time of year always brings me a sense of gratitude. People become nicer versions of themselves around the holidays. This is not to say that people are not inherently good, but rather that the best side of each individual is exhibited right as the air turns crisp, the snow flurries begin arriving, and the scent of gingerbread wafts through the air. The barista at Starbucks returns a customer's smile. The businessman leaves an extra five on the table for the harried student waiter. Drivers actually observe right of way laws. It is my favorite time of year, and this year, the season is made even more magical by being able to utter those four special words:
I have a job.
It is hard to explain what it feels like to be offered a job after fifteen months of feeling passed over, of feeling inadequate. Deep down, I always knew that I had something to offer any company that would provide me with employment, but as the months dragged by and the season changed from winter, to spring, to summer, to autumn, and back to winter again, I became increasingly fretful. The dire reports in the newspapers
and the unsteady stock market certainly didn't help. But the truth is that if I hadn't gone through this year of disappointments and dashed hopes, I certainly wouldn't be the strong woman I am today.
I had a fairly idyllic childhood, taking road trips across the country each summer with my parents and brother, attending a university and graduating with no debt, winning several state piano competitions. It's not that I didn't work hard, but rather that I usually got what I wanted. When asked to write essays about adversity I'd faced in my life, I had to struggle to think of an example. The loss of not one, but two, jobs over the past year and the incomprehensible state of the national economy weighed on me heavily. I had to work hard to maintain a sense of optimism about my future- some days failing to do so. I often felt as though the weight of the world was on my shoulders, despite being aware of others in worse circumstances than my own.
It was only in the past couple of months that I gained a sense of humility. I realized that the only way I was going
The Family
Early Thanksgiving Get-together to be happy, and, indeed, make it through the tough months ahead, was to do what I could to help others. Instead of thinking of excuses why I couldn't do something, I immediately said 'yes,' when in the past I may have said 'no.' I found that with each little step of kindness, my own spirits began rising and I began to regain my optimism about the world and my future. Soon after I had this epiphany, I was offered a job as Director of Teen Academic Programs with Our Chinese Daughters Foundation. In this capacity, I will be responsible for marketing, coordinating, and editing publications about two exchange programs that will allow Chinese teenagers aged 12-16 to come to the United States for a summer program designed to foster mutual understanding between the United States and China. I interned with OCDF in Beijing in 2005; at that time, I was working in the capacity of orphan support and created a comprehensive school sponsorship program and database with my immediate adviser that helped children still in Chinese orphanages. I can't think of a better way to spend my days than working with this organization that does so much for the
greater good of humanity.
And so, in this time of Thanksgiving, I want to express my profound gratitude at being offered this opportunity, not only to be gainfully employed full-time, but to have been offered such an amazingly perfect fit for that which I have been searching for. My job will first take me back to Beijing in January; after five months, I will return to the US to coordinate the American Adventure camp on the east coast. After that, it's up to me whether I wish to return to Beijing or work from the US office in Illinois.
I must offer my sincere thanks and joy to have had such a wonderful family, including parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, that supported me every step of the way. I couldn't have done it without you.
I hope you will continue to read this blog, as my newest, and biggest, adventure is only just beginning.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Lee Sorensen
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Hurray!
So pleased for you. Love your blog. Look forward to more as your experience unfolds.