Born in 1918, Virginia Sharp lived through the depression when her family lost their farm and everything they had. During World War II, she raised a newborn baby and worked over fourteen hours a day at a gas station for five years to survive. Virginia has seen many wars and overcome many problems throughout her long life. When asked what wisdom she could share with people who are still struggling with the events of September 11, Virginia gave the following advice.
When you have problems, somehow you have to live through them. Life is not ended. Hope for the best and get busy! Work is probably the best thing you can do. It does no good to just sit and weep. Find something that needs doing, anything. Reach out to other people. Get involved with someone who has a worse problem and try to help out. When you see that other people have problems and you try to help, your own problems often become very small in comparison. I remember a student who first came to my home with chronic depression. She was so ill that she was bedfast for seven weeks. This student is now happily married in the USA and has a beautiful home in the west. I have a "grandchild" and a "great-grandchild" from India, and "family" in Africa, Asia, South America, the Middle East, Europe, and Russia. All of these people faced their problems, many of which were extremely difficult. They worked hard and lived to see many of their hopes come true.
If you are studying in the USA and worrying about your future, don't give up hope. Some people who have problems think they have no resources. They think they can't do anything. It is important to stop and think: "I can do something." Negative thinking and worrying does not help. Do what you need to do. Get your education. Ask about alternatives and look for ways you might help make things better for yourself and for others, even if it is just making the person next door happier. Even the smallest attempts to help others will make a difference in the world. My students have helped me so much. I remember that one time I had a lot of problems and was very depressed. I looked out my window and there were some of my students raking leaves piled in my yard. They had brought sandwiches for a picnic. It's amazing how deeply the smallest things that others do can touch our lives.
Something important to remember is that all people from other countries want each of us to be as interested in their country as we want them to be interested in ours. When this happens and we explore new ways of looking at life, we all grow in many ways and gain strength to overcome our own problems. When we don't really know people from the rest of the world, we can be apprehensive, sometimes thinking they do not like us and will try to hurt us because we are different. On the other hand when we get really get to know and care about each other, we find our common humanity and discover how much we share, no matter where we are from.
Thanks to its Executive Director, Andrea Shields, the Cosmopolitan Club has become a home away from home for students from all over the world. Cosmo helps give us this opportunity to share with each other. Even after the events of September 11, the atmosphere of conviviality and happy sharing has not changed. At Cosmo, above all nations is humanity.
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| Doreen Gordon (left) and Virginia Sharp (right) with one of the cooks from the Japanese dinner | Sachie Kamida (second from right) and her friends |