How Far Are You Willing To Go To Learn? Michigan, Monastery, and Much, Much More

Purple Heaven Temple

If you had to choose, which would you pick?

Being the first undergraduate to serve as a teaching assistant to one of the most legendary professors of a major university?

Being the only woman to live and train in the legendary Purple Heaven Monastery in Hubei, China?

Being selected to the ultra competitive and oldest debating society in the US?

If your name is Wonka, you don’t have to choose. Why? She’s done all 3.

Wonka

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Can you tell us a little about your family, where in China you grew up, and where you went to high school?

I grew up in Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province, China. If you are familiar with Chinese history or literature, you would then know that Henan is a province known for its poverty and population density. Different from my peers who grew up in Beijing or Shanghai, I grew up rarely seeing any foreigner or knowing any US pop culture. However, I highly appreciate the fact that I got to see the other side of China.

Zhengzhou

In the US, when you read about China in magazines, you often see shining skyscrapers, massive fireworks, or graphs with staggering GDP growth. But to me, China is also a place where people plan their farms and make fun of the accents that are spoken in other provinces. After all, not all Americans work on Wall Street; some of them plant potatoes. And that group of people is just as important to its growth and history.

For someone who knows little about schools in China can you describe your experience in the Chinese educational system? How good were the teachers? How was the level of competition among students? What kind of activities were you involved with?

 I went to a very big high school with more than 2,000 students in my grade.  As the best school in my province, it recruited students from both the urban and rural regions, which resulted in a wide diversity of the students’ economic backgrounds. A boy in my class drove his own car to school (he was 15 back then, so this was clearly illegal), while some others would go back home, their villages, only once a year to save the $10 single fare bus ticket. Although there were definitely some barriers between kids from different economic backgrounds, the main culture is that the “coolest kids in the class” are always those with the highest grades, instead of those with the most money. Girls admire boys who could solve a math problem fast, and vice versa. We have some of the best teachers in the province.  Our teachers evaluate students based on their academic performance; it does not matter what the students background is.  The school ran from 7:15am to 9:30pm, and teachers were with us the whole time. They devoted their entire time and efforts to improve our grades. Such school spirit was priceless to me.

 High School Classroom

Every year, one million students from my province would compete to do well on the Gaokao. Although the pool of candidates is larger than other provinces, top Chinese universities tend to recruit fewer students from my province, which makes the competition incredibly tough. The acceptance rate to the top universities over all of China is less than 1% and in my province the acceptance rate is far below that.

As the best high school of the province, we have monthly exams for all nine subjects, and all the students are ranked based on the total scores. Remember, these were 2,000 of the smartest students of the whole province who were willing to study 14 hours a day to have any chance to get accepted by the top universities in China.. Of course the competition was high. However, although we put every effort we could to keep our rank, we wouldn’t mind helping each other – we all understood that each of us was competing against 2,000 students, not just the person sitting next to us. Therefore, even if the competition was tough, we had developed strong friendships among each other.

I was also the vice president of the student council and the president of the model united nations club. My teachers were not very supportive of my involvement, because these activities would not help me get into the top universities. However, I always knew I would study abroad. Therefore, I did what many would consider unthinkable-- miss school for a week to take my team to participate in model UN conference in Beijing, and I enjoyed it.

Wonka

You decided not to take the Gaokao. When did you decide this and why? The school you attended tends to send students abroad. Why did you choose the US rather than the UK or Australia or somewhere else?

Although my school did have an international branch, I was on the Gaokao track. I chose that track because I wanted to have a full understanding of the Chinese education system. Ever since I was little, I had a strong desire in knowing every aspect of life. Not just what it is, but also how it feels and why it works. When I was in ninth grade, I read Benazir Bhutto’s autobiography. The fact that somebody lived not far from me yet had a completely different childhood just struck me in ways that opened my eyes to how different things were across the world. My parents had allowed me to talk to people from different economic backgrounds all over China. Yet, I had no idea how people living outside of China lived, thought, and felt. From that time, I wanted to immerse myself in a life on the other side of the world. America sounded like a very far away place with great opportunities, so I decided to pursue my education there.

Had your traveled much before your left for the US?

I travelled to quite a few all over China while I grew up. . Since my mom spent most of her time working in Shanghai when I was in high school, I visited her almost every summer since that was the only time I got to spend any significant amounts of time with her. . Ever since I was 14, I had already been used to taking flights and exploring the city of Shanghai on my own. There was an underground second hand book market in Shanghai, starting every weekend at 3am, and ending at 9am. My mom wouldn’t let me leave the apartment till 7am; therefore,  I had to rush over there and try to grab what I wanted as quickly as possible, so that I would have at least 20 minutes to bargain with the book truck owner.

You attend a highly selective university in the US. Given your superior academic performance was it easier academically than you thought it would be? 

I finished up my 10^th grade in Zhengzhou, and then immediately transferred to a high school in Michigan for my 11^th and 12^th grade. I went to a school with only one Chinese student other than myself, and stayed with an American host family.

Wonka with Host Family

Back in China, I had very high grades in my English classes, and I never thought studying in a high school in the U.S. would be hard. However, studying English as a second language and using that language to study all subjects and speaking it 24/7 were very different tasks. I didn’t want my American classmates to think that “Asian kids were only good at science and math,” so I selected as many humanity classes as possible, such as AP English Composition, AP US History, and AP World history. These courses were indeed incredibly challenging. I didn’t understand anything in the beginning. It took me 30 minutes to read one page, yet, I needed to read 40 pages for those classes every day, a nearly  impossible task. During my first year in my high school, every day, I would reserve 3 hours to prepare and eat dinner with my host family to practice speaking English, and use all other time to study, usually till 3am. I don’t remember sleeping for more than 5 hours throughout those 2 years.

High School Homecoming Court

This pattern was definitely not healthy, but it paid off well. My AP World History teacher told me after my first day of class that “this classroom is not for you.” But I insisted in staying. I got  a C in that class in the beginning. However, by the end of the year, I made an A, and the teacher wrote me a letter, thanking me for all the valuable thoughts I had shared in his class.

Because of the solid training in English reading and writing, I had no problem transitioning into college. During my first-year’s English writing class, my professor even asked me to help my American peers in writing essays.

What were some things that you struggled with during your first year?

During my senior year in my high school, I had already won the trust of my classmates and my teachers, who would confidently put me in various leadership positions. However, when I first joined my university, I realized that to most of the people there, the only label they initially perceived about me was that I was still “an international student.” It was really hard to go back to the situation where people assumed your language skill were weak  by default. In my first year, I don’t think I succeeded in  any of the resume screenings they held for entry into any of the competitive student clubs. I think at least part of this had to do with the low expectations they held about international students being able to talk and contribute at a high level.

You applied and were accepted for the honors program for your second year. The program permits you to have more academic freedom than most students. How are you going to use this?

Wonka translating for University President Teresa Sullivan

When I became an Honors Scholar, I had already fulfilled all my area requirement courses, because I believed that all those courses would benefit me in the long run. I recommend all students to take a writing course, a history course, an economics course, two science courses, and two foreign language courses, regardless whether one has area requirements or not. These course teach skills and provide knowledge that help with virtually any academic area of interest.

Can you name or a class or two that were great and explain why?

I took a graduate level philosophical linguistics seminar during my second year, which allowed me to study linguistics with graduate philosophy students. I loved that class not only because it was  intellectually stimulating and challenging, but also because I learned so much from my classmates. With an average age of 27, my classmates came from very different background, including a former lawyer, a former soldier, and a former waitress. They came back to school because of their passion for philosophy. Most of them either had part time jobs or had families to take care of. I saw how hard it was to fulfill the responsibility as a student and as a “husband/father/etc.” at the same time, but they did it. I learned a great deal about  fulfilling responsibilities from my classmates.

Also, I really loved Mr. Elzinga’s ECON 201. It’s an epic class at my university, because every fall, for over a generation, almost a thousand students take it. When you sat in in the class, you felt like you were in something great, like a football game or something. Mr. Elzinga did not only teach  economic equations, but a way of thinking and making decisions in life. In fact, next year, I will become his very first undergraduate teaching fellow, teaching two discussion sessions for his ECON 201 class. I hope I can pass on great information and a love of learning to the new first year students. 

You are a member of one of the more prestigious student organizations at your university—a debating society. Can you describe what you had to do to get accepted what was your first speech?  What is the tradition of snapping fingers?

The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, founded in 1825, was the first collegiate debating society in the U.S.. It was such an honor to become the fourth Chinese student, and only the second Chinese woman accepted into the society. To join the society, one has to participate in an interview, which largely consists of debating about your preferred topics with four society members. I talked about language, humanity, and Christianity. Every semester, around 300 students get interviewed, but only about 30 of them will be invited to move forward in the selection for full membership, I spent a semester as a “probationary member.” To become a regular member, a probationary member needs to fulfill various requirements, including 30 service hours,  gathering many signatures from the regular members (as endorsements), and the passage of a presentation in front of the whole society. The presentation is judged on its content, style and the ability of the speaker to, answer questions from the audience (these questions could be about your topic, or about the history of the Society, or almost anything else). After the presentation, the Society  critiques the presentation and then votes on whether it was good enough to pass (many probationary members do not pass after just one attempt). I gave my presentation on the Chinese tonal system, which the Society found “very intellectually stimulating.” So they gave me an anonymous passage, the best result one could get. “Snapping fingers” is Jeff Soc’s way of clapping hands. We find snapping more elegant than clapping.

Wonka and friends

I have talked with untold numbers of students over the years but what you did this summer is one of the most unique experiences I have ever heard of. Can you go into some detail and describe what it was like to be the only woman living on an isolated mountaintop with a master and his students? Can you take us through a typical day from the time you got up to the time you went to bed?

I have always been interested in religions and traditions. During the summer of my first year, I visited more than 60 churches and cathedrals in Spain. But I also started to wonder, “What is Taoism, the native Chinese religion like in modern China?” So, I found a Taoist master’s phone number online, called him, and told him that if he would be willing to take me, I could not only help him greet foreign tourists, but also spread Taoism to people around the globe. He warned me how bad the living conditions up on the mountain were, but still allowed me to join. I was the only female on the mountain and one of the only females permitted to be a part of the monastery in the centuries old history of one of the most famous monasteries in the world.

One day on the mountain:

5am: Big brother bangs on the door. Time to get up. I have 15 minutes to change into my white taiji uniform and climb up to the top of the mountain.

5:30am: Stretch my whole body. Meditate. Listen to the Master’s Morning Lesson (Taoist script recital). See the Sun rise from the misty valley.

7:00am: Review Taiji movements previously learned.

8:00am: Prepare breakfast together. We have porridge, buns, and one hardboiled egg for each person.

9:30am: First Taiji lesson.

12:00pm: Prepare lunch together. We have pick up some dry tree branches on our way back, which came in handy.

13:30pm: It was my turn to wash the dishes. There was no running water, but the big brother has already brought water to me from the spring, which has made my job much easier.

Wonka, Taiji sword

14:00pm Second Taiji lesson. Since two German visitors came to visit us, I was asked to shorten my Taiji practicing time and then to host the two visitors. I give them a brief introduction about Chinese Taoism and Taiji, and then show them around the Purple Heaven Temple.

17:00pm: Prepare dinner together. Besides the regular potatoes, cabbages, tofu, and rice, we had tomatoes as well! Yay!

20:00pm: Evening Lesson in the Purple Heaven Temple. (reading Taoist scriptures) (The same as “evening prayer”)

21:30pm: The master has already gone to bed. He gets up 3am every day to meditate. My Taoist brothers beg me to climb to the mountain top again, because they want me to teach them Greek and Chinese constellations, in which I could sort of claim to be an expert. Head to the sea of stars!

23:00pm: Ooops! We come back late!  Less than six hours for sleep. Goodnight, mountain.

View from Monastery Mountain, photo by Wonka

Did this experience change you in significant ways?

Absolutely. First of all, when most of the common distractions  we have in our lives today are removed, I start to realize how little I need to be happy. On the mountain, there were only two sunny days per week. When the master predicted the next day to be a sunny day, we would wake up extra early to wash all our cloths and bed sheets (by hand) so that we could dry them when the sun came out. The joy of putting on dry, warm clothes extends beyond words.

Second of all, I learned to be kind. Before, I saw “being kind” as a rule imposed on me, as “this is how civilized adults must treat each other.” However, after talking to so many masters on the mountain who have devoted their lives to figuring out their relationships with nature, I started to see kindness as a way of life. Now I appreciate every individual as a part of nature, a piece of something profound and original. In this universe, every encounter is both a must and a miracle. Treating everyone with kindness is showing respect to the universe, the elements of which are carried by us all.

You have participated in a lively debate on religion, belief, and philosophy. Have you always had an interest in thinking and how we think?

 Thoughts are the most valuable treasures that humans can discover. Thoughts go beyond geography, race, social status, and even time. In my 9^th grade I read Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. When I read, “the best revenge is not to be like that,” I was shocked because I was telling myself the same thing when I had a conflict with one of my classmates. I started to wonder whether Aurelius was having conflicts with someone when he wrote his sentences. By reading his lines, I felt that I could talk to him and grow with him. It was such a wonderful thing to grow with ancient thoughts.

If you could do anything in the future what would it be?

I am a poet, and I always know it!

Wonka

How does Wonka accomplish all the things she’s done before she’s even graduated from her university? Getting by on less than the usual amount of sleep is one part, but that is not what makes her words and deeds so compelling. Nether is being smart, which she clearly is. The secret to her success, at least as I see it, is her willingness to takes risks and her willingness to find people who serve as mentors.  

Wonka at Oxford

Again and again, Wonka has put herself in places outside of her comfort zone. She left China to enroll in a school in Michigan so she could experience American secondary education. At her university she tried out for competitive groups and enrolled in graduate course as a second year student. Then she took her interest in spirituality to new heights—literally. She found a way to get back to basics and discover the joy of being removed from most of the comforts we take for granted. In doing so she also found joy in herself and the world.

Courage, self-confidence and an incredible work ethic help to set the stage for success too. How many of us are willing to do what she’s done? I hope that at least some of the people reading this will decide to step out of the safety net of the familiar and dare to explore the depths of the world and the spirit too.

I am grateful to Wonka for sharing her words. I too hope to take more risks in my own life thanks to her example.