Learn to be Independent.

Learn to be independent.

    

     It might be doubtful to an American that an adult like me in her forties has to learn to be independent, but the occasion happened last week really told me what is “independent”in American.

     As a Yale Summer Session student, I signed up for The Phantom of the Opera activity. Unfortunately, through lottery, I did not get the chance. On Thursday, the email from Summer Session office read that there were 18 seats left, so my colleagues and I thought of taking the chance and tried to leave earlier from Sterling Library for signing-up place——Morse Dining Hall. To our surprise, there was already a long line there, and turned up to be the 13^th , thinking we were lucky enough. The YSS assistants came at 5 o’clock, just in time after we had waited for about 40 minutes. The entrance of the dining hall looked a little bit of mess, for it was crowed with students lining up for the seats. Another thing unlucky happened again: we didn’t how why when it came to me, I became the No 19, which meant that I missed the chance again. And my information about name and telephone number and email address was put on the waiting list. Deeply regretful for not arriving earlier, I tended to persuade myself that maybe it was a chance for me to do something different. My colleagues comforted me that there might be chance the next day.

     My colleagues said it! On Friday, when we were having lunch, my colleagues told me excitingly the news that there were 4 seats left. They told me to try to grasp the last chance, and help me think of the way to deal with it. Since we were to visit Mark Twain’s House on that afternoon, then I might miss the time signing up for it, some of my colleagues suggested me to use her phone to call counselor. I did, and asked her my, next door neighbor, to pay for me at 5 o’clock that afternoon and I promised to return her that evening. She accepted it, but she said she was not sure whether she could have a seat for me. All the same, I emailed her my information. After the call, my colleagues saw a girl who they remembered to be the one of the assistants in charge of the signing-up. We told her about my situation of being the 19^th in the line on Thursday, and my information was put on the first place of the waiting list then. She, a sweet girl, asked me to leave her my information, and later on she emailed my situation to the one in charge of it. Some colleagues thought of writing an email directly to the one who email sender, and then I did. About 2 hours later, I got the reply, saying “yes, you can come to pay after you return from the trip to Mark Twain’s House”.

     I really longed to pay a visit to the House of famous novelist Mark Twain, but I was not sure that those I asked for help would do help. I hesitated, and Carrie and Siggy let me make my own decision. Finally, I chose to give up the trip with my dear teachers and colleagues, for the reason that it is not far away, and I could visit it later on.

     At 3:00 on Friday afternoon, I headed for the signing-up dining hall. To my shock, there were already two students waiting there, and then another came just behind me, and immediately after her came another student. There were some student came continuously to queue for signing-up.

     At 5:00pm, the assistants came, when I mentioned the waiting list and their reply, they kept silent, and I found there was no waiting list there. The counselor didn’t show up. I was the third on the line, so I got the chance.

         I learned that no one should be responsible for me except myself. I should not depend on the others to fulfill something.