我的未来在我自己的手上 Bryan Lu
编者按：本文是TOC少年志愿者Bryan Lu在8月28日写的心得。Bryan是Laguna Hills的学生，文中的卡通插图是他在一次扫街归来的途中在车上画的。他在过去的两个半月里，参加周六的宣传活动多达六次。
通常对于青少年来说，把一整个下午用来打电话和敲门不是一个愉快的经历。其实没有很多人愿意打扰陌生人或者给陌生人打电话。这当然也引起了别人的疑问：为什么有些人会自愿的去参加这种活动。我相信这是因为人觉得自己有责任去为自己奋斗，当然了，某些人也会愿意为他人去奋斗。但是就算这些人愿意，如果那些“他人”自己不愿意付出，那所有的努力都会变成徒劳。我们愿不愿意为未来付出也是决定我们未来的重要因素。虽然听起来很简单，但是这个原则通常会被忽略，因为人们总是会觉得一票或者一位志愿者不会改变任何事情。其实每一个人都很重要，任何人都可能是穿破巨石的最后一滴水。在 Orange Club 里，这是显而易见的，以前对政治没有加以任何思考的亚裔家长先变成了积极重视政治的一个群体。Orange Club 的家长们愿意走出本来熟悉的环境去帮助自己的社区，并且为未来与社会做出伟大的贡献。
我第一次去做义工是被我妈拉过去的，我去的唯一原因是因为几个朋友也会在。后来我发现这个经历改变了我。我们基本上就是为一位要竞选议员的韩国女士做调查。我花了几个小时用来了解这位叫 Young Kim 的竞选人的目标，看法，和想法。她很好的代表了美国的亚洲公民，也是一位很和善并且真诚的人。在了解这位竞选人的同时，我也了解到了大多数人对调查的反感。在电话调查室里，时不时就会有人说： “这个男的因为我们在早上十一点吵醒他发飙了”，要不然就是“这个女的说我是一个操控者”。当然也会有人接受我们的调查，但这是很罕见的现象，我们打了大概400多个电话，有差不多50个人接了电话，而接受调查的人不到三十个。虽然这些数字很令人沮丧，但我还是坚持继续调查，因为两个简单的理由：我在为我自己相信的东西奋斗，而我也把我的未来掌握在自己的手里。如果我不为自己奋斗，别人也不会。第二个理由是因为这个经历也是很有趣的。本来是被逼才做的义工，现在变成了我喜欢并且期待的活动。
比起来，上门拉选票很不同，不仅热，而且更有挑战。刚开始我不想去敲门，因为我害怕那扇门后面的人。后来我才轻松下来，打开门的人不仅不生气，而且也很和善。到最后我很期待去下一扇门拉选票。虽然拉选票是一个很累也是一个很伤脑筋的经历，但它帮助我进一步了解我做的这件事情的重要性。
这两个经历很有趣，它也让我了解到了很多的新东西并且给了我很多以前我不知道的机会。我一定会再次去做义工的，我也想让更多的人来做志愿者比且为自己的未来奋斗。
----翻译 Howard Xuan ( Rancho中学 8年级）
我第一次去做义工是被我妈拉过去的，我去的唯一原因是因为几个朋友也会在。后来我发现这个经历改变了我。我们基本上就是为一位要竞选议员的韩国女士做调查。我花了几个小时用来了解这位叫 Young Kim 的竞选人的目标，看法，和想法。她很好的代表了美国的亚洲公民，也是一位很和善并且真诚的人。在了解这位竞选人的同时，我也了解到了大多数人对调查的反感。在电话调查室里，时不时就会有人说： “这个男的因为我们在早上十一点吵醒他发飙了”，要不然就是“这个女的说我是一个操控者”。当然也会有人接受我们的调查，但这是很罕见的现象，我们打了大概400多个电话，有差不多50个人接了电话，而接受调查的人不到三十个。虽然这些数字很令人沮丧，但我还是坚持继续调查，因为两个简单的理由：我在为我自己相信的东西奋斗，而我也把我的未来掌握在自己的手里。如果我不为自己奋斗，别人也不会。第二个理由是因为这个经历也是很有趣的。本来是被逼才做的义工，现在变成了我喜欢并且期待的活动。
比起来，上门拉选票很不同，不仅热，而且更有挑战。刚开始我不想去敲门，因为我害怕那扇门后面的人。后来我才轻松下来，打开门的人不仅不生气，而且也很和善。到最后我很期待去下一扇门拉选票。虽然拉选票是一个很累也是一个很伤脑筋的经历，但它帮助我进一步了解我做的这件事情的重要性。
这两个经历很有趣，它也让我了解到了很多的新东西并且给了我很多以前我不知道的机会。我一定会再次去做义工的，我也想让更多的人来做志愿者比且为自己的未来奋斗。
----翻译 Howard Xuan ( Rancho中学 8年级）
右图：Drawing by Shari of Yorba Linda, CA after a precinct walk at AD65 Fullerton |
|
I assume that weekends spent phone banking
and knocking on doors doesn't sound ideal to your average teenager. The truth
is, hardly anyone really wants to bother people and call strangers. But that
raises the question of why anyone would volunteer to
do such a thing. I believe that it is the responsibility of the individual to
fight for himself. Of course, there are a few good souls willing to fight for
others, fight for other communities, but even these people’s admirable efforts
will have gone to waste without the community’s own effort. Our willingness to
fight for our future is what determines our future. It sounds simple, but this
principle was largely ignored due to the individual’s foolish belief that “only
one vote” or “just one volunteer” doesn't matter. But we all hold a lot of
significance, and therefore every single person can be the last seed that tips
the basket. This is especially true of The Orange Club; what was once just a
collection of Asian parents who often times would have never even toyed with the
notion of being politically involved became a caring and politically-active
group of people who will work in their communities and step outside each of
their comfort zones to make a difference for the future of their posterity and
their country.
My initial reason for phone banking was because my mom decided to drag me into it. At this point I only agreed because some of my friends were going. This proved to be a perspective-altering experience. We were phone banking, calling people to do a survey, for a Korean lady named Young Kim, who was running for state assembly. Over the next few hours, I learned about Young Kim and her campaign, and her views and beliefs. She’s a pretty accurate representation of the Asian communities and as far as I can tell, a real warm, genuine, and strong woman. I also learned that most people aren’t the number one fan of surveys. At all. AT ALL. I feel that it was actually an ice breaker of sorts in the phone banking room: “Yeah this lady just called me a manipulator.” “This guy’s pissed of that we woke him up at 11:30 in the morning.” Of course, there was the occasional person that took the survey, which was a relief to me. But this happened very very rarely. Of the 400 people we called, fewer than 30 took the entire survey. In fact, only about 50 people picked up the phone. I stayed for only two reasons. There was something that I believed in and was fighting for; my future was in my own hands. If I don't go fight for myself, nobody else is going to. And it was pretty funny. What was originally something my mom made me do turned into something that I enjoyed and looked forward to.
The precinct walk was different. It was hot. It was sweaty. And it was scarier. Initially I didn't want to knock on doors, because I was nervous about the person on the other side of the door. But eventually I became more comfortable. Not a single person that answered the door was angry or unfriendly. At one point, I was looking forward to the next door. Although precinct walking was a more exhaustive and nerve-racking experience, it helped me to further understand and learn the importance of what we were doing.
Both of the experiences were enjoyable and interesting. I learned a lot and it opened a lot of new doors for me, ones which I didn't even know existed before. I would definitely do it again and will do it again. I want more people can stand up and volunteer to make a difference and change their futures.
My initial reason for phone banking was because my mom decided to drag me into it. At this point I only agreed because some of my friends were going. This proved to be a perspective-altering experience. We were phone banking, calling people to do a survey, for a Korean lady named Young Kim, who was running for state assembly. Over the next few hours, I learned about Young Kim and her campaign, and her views and beliefs. She’s a pretty accurate representation of the Asian communities and as far as I can tell, a real warm, genuine, and strong woman. I also learned that most people aren’t the number one fan of surveys. At all. AT ALL. I feel that it was actually an ice breaker of sorts in the phone banking room: “Yeah this lady just called me a manipulator.” “This guy’s pissed of that we woke him up at 11:30 in the morning.” Of course, there was the occasional person that took the survey, which was a relief to me. But this happened very very rarely. Of the 400 people we called, fewer than 30 took the entire survey. In fact, only about 50 people picked up the phone. I stayed for only two reasons. There was something that I believed in and was fighting for; my future was in my own hands. If I don't go fight for myself, nobody else is going to. And it was pretty funny. What was originally something my mom made me do turned into something that I enjoyed and looked forward to.
The precinct walk was different. It was hot. It was sweaty. And it was scarier. Initially I didn't want to knock on doors, because I was nervous about the person on the other side of the door. But eventually I became more comfortable. Not a single person that answered the door was angry or unfriendly. At one point, I was looking forward to the next door. Although precinct walking was a more exhaustive and nerve-racking experience, it helped me to further understand and learn the importance of what we were doing.
Both of the experiences were enjoyable and interesting. I learned a lot and it opened a lot of new doors for me, ones which I didn't even know existed before. I would definitely do it again and will do it again. I want more people can stand up and volunteer to make a difference and change their futures.
家长的话
一位爸爸说：“鼓励年轻人参与民主政治是很好的。他们会成为美国的栋梁之才。
我儿子高中时和我们一起跑选举，申请大学时，Irvine的一位市长，一位市议员主动为他写推荐信。去UCI
后成为学生会的负责人，同时还是UCI的亚太学生会主席，跑遍十所UC分校，还常去州政府见州议员。
我女儿现在高二。从小就出入市长，市议员家帮忙。现在她是我的政治英文秘书，负责修改所有我的政治英文文章。”
一位妈妈说：“原来我儿子比较内向害羞，经过这段时间的锻炼，他变得开朗了，开学后和同学商量carpool, 长周末我们全家出去旅行，他主动打电话全部搞定！”
一位妈妈说：“原来我儿子比较内向害羞，经过这段时间的锻炼，他变得开朗了，开学后和同学商量carpool, 长周末我们全家出去旅行，他主动打电话全部搞定！”