Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.

　　　　　　　A Chinese Santa with the Guzheng

I opened the door and snow fell in like a miniature avalanche.

“To go, or not to go?” I was confronted with a Hamletish question. Looking at the heavy snow on the ground and falling in the sky, and feeling the freezing chill in the air, I hesitated.

It was Saturday morning, and I was supposed to be at the local Nursing Center for my routine guzheng performance to a dozen senior citizens there. Handicapped and lonely, they expected my musical playing as the most important event of the week. Besides, it was the last week before Christmas, a time for family reunion.

“You can’t disappoint them.” I warned myself, heading toward the Center. Trudging alone in the knee-deep snow, with huge snowflakes lashing against me, I soon became a snow-girl. Carrying the heavy wooden instrument (as long as my body) , I felt being exhausted with every step I took.

But I struggled on. Last year, I enrolled as an exchange student at West Senior High School in XXX City, Michigan. At my host family, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson became my “parents”. They accept international students every year for free accommodation and food. In this safe haven, I have been assimilating worthwhile American values.

Turning around the corner where a church is located, I could see the Nursing Center now. The church is where my community service began. Accompanying Mr. and Mrs. Johnson for Sunday services, I looked after little kids of other church goers and I became their Chinese “elder sister”.

Mrs. Johnson has been a longtime volunteer at the Nursing Center. When I expressed my interest of volunteering there too, Mrs. Johnson was more than glad to announce the readiness of her Chinese “daughter” to keep company by chatting and musical playing. The day of my debut, the senior citizens gathered in the hall in a semi-circle long before I arrived. They watched me setting and tuning the instrument; and even before I started playing they burst into warm applauses. As I kept playing compositions one after another, they sat reclined in their chairs, eyes half closed, indulging in reminiscences of things past.

Since my first visit, I have enriched my activities by offering Chinese tea, accompanied by elaborate Oriental rituals. After my guzheng performance, we would chat and discuss the implications of the music played that day. Annett Smith, a former sociology teacher, and Frank Tabb, a former FBI agent, suffer from amnesia and the flowing soothing melodies helped them recollect fragments of their golden old days.

“Yes, those expecting eyes, that’s why I must be there.” Every time I leave the Center, they would hold my hands and tell me how they would be expecting me the following week. In giving my promise, I owe them a moral pledge. “They need you, a Chinese girl here in XXX City, and you can contribute to this community!”

With those thoughts, I arrived at the Center, already teeming with the Christmas atmosphere. Standing at the doorway, with snow all over me, I was greeted as “Santa in White, with the guzheng”

In coming to the U.S., I have learned a new dimension about love, which transcends all physical boundaries. Love is possible across different cultures and age groups. I have become a family member not only with the Johnsons but also with the Nursing Center. It is my American parents who have cultivated in me seeds of universal love with their unselfish self-sacrifices. That’s why, with my American “parents” as my role model, I have adhered to my volunteering with persistence and commitment. I feel proud of making a difference in the life of people whom we care about but who might have otherwise remained mere strangers.

　　　　　　　带着古筝的中国圣诞老人

　　我推开门，大片的雪倾泻而入，就像一场小雪崩。

　　“是去，还是不去?” 我马上面临着一个哈姆雷特式的疑问。望着地上厚厚的积雪和空中漫天飘落的雪花，感受着空气中刺骨的冰凉，我迟疑了。

　　这是一个周六的上午，按计划我应该前往当地的老人护理中心，为那里十几个孤寡老人进行例行的古筝演奏。这些孤寡老人行动不便，孤苦伶仃，他们对我的音乐演奏，当作一周中最重大的事情翘首以待。此外，这是圣诞节前的最后一周，本该是家人团聚的时光。

　　“你不能让他们失望，” 我一边警告自己，一边踏上了前往护理中心的路途。跋涉在齐膝深的大雪中，大片大片的雪花在我周边飞舞，猛烈地砸向我，我很快就变成了一个雪女孩。携带着和我个头一般高的沉重的木乐器， 我只觉得每迈出一步，体力就被耗掉一大部分。

　　但我继续挣扎着。去年，作为交换生，我有幸进入密西根州XXX市的西部高中读书。在我所寄宿的家庭， Johnson夫妇就成为了我的“洋爹洋妈”。 他们每年都接纳国际学生，免费提供食宿。在这个安全港湾中，我也汲取着有益的美国价值观。

　　拐过一个弯，我现在就隐隐约约看到了护理中心。Johnson太太长期以来一直在那里当义工。当我表达了也想在那里做义工的意愿后，Johnson太太兴高采烈地向孤寡老人们宣布，她的中国“女儿”会前来陪伴他们，和他们聊天，为他们演奏音乐。在我处女秀的那天，老人们早在我到达之前，就在大厅里围坐成半个圆圈，耐心地等待着我。他们看着我架起那来自异国他乡的奇异乐器，仔细调音，还没等我开始演奏，就爆发出热烈的掌声。随着我一个又一个曲子不断演奏，他们斜倚在椅子里，眼睛半闭，沉醉于对逝去年华的追忆。

　　自我第一次到访护理中心后，我在古筝演奏之外，又加入了中国茶道的表演，使我在护理中心的活动，内容更其丰富。在我每次古筝演奏完毕之后，我和老人们边喝茶，边聊天，探讨当日所演奏的曲目的含义。Annett Smith曾经是一个社会学老师，而Frank Tabb则是一个前警探。他们都患有失忆症，我那如缕不绝、慰人心灵的旋律，帮助他们唤起了对昔日辉煌时光的记忆残片。

　　“是啊，那些充满期待的眼睛，所以我才必须准时出现在那里。”每次我要离开护理中心时， 老人们就会紧握着我的双手，告诉我他们将会如何期待着我下一个星期的到来。我答应他们我会准时到达，而在答应他们的同时，我分明是在对他们作出一种道义上的承诺。“一个中国女孩，来到XXX市，在这里，有人需要你，这说明你可以为这个社区尽一份力。”

　　想着想着，我就到达了护理中心，那里，已经洋溢着浓浓的圣诞节氛围。站在门廊入口处，满身是雪， 我被大家亲切地称为“带着古筝的白雪圣诞老人”。

　　从中国来到美国，我对爱有了一层全新的理解。爱可以超越所有外在的羁绊，完全可以在不同的文化和年龄群体之间存在。我不仅仅成为了Johnson夫妇的家庭一份子，也成为了老人护理中心大家庭的一份子。是我的美国洋爹洋妈，用他们无私的自我牺牲精神，在我的心灵深处培育了博爱的种子。这也就是为什么，我迄今为止一直以我的美国洋爹洋妈为榜样，持之以恒、全身心投入地坚持从事义工活动。令我骄傲的是，我可以在我们所关爱的人的生命中给他们带来完全不同的感受和体验； 而我与这些人，若不是因为音乐的缘分，则很有可能永远是毫不相知的陌生人。

The guzheng is an ancient traditional Chinese string musical instrument plucked with both hands, much equivalent to the European zither. It has 18-23 or more strings and movable bridges. Different techniques of playing can create sound effects that evoke the sense of a cascading waterfall, thunder, horses' hooves, and even the scenic countryside, etc.