What people give up

I sit on Easy Street if I think about it.  I really don't have to leave my house except for work and exer.cise.  It's a self-contained bubble.  I eat there, watch t.v. there, sleep there, compute there, and enjoy year-round 74 degree temperature there.  Sometimes I drive to the store, but I don't have to.  I can order nearly all food to my front door.  I can order anything online, really, so that I never have to go to a store.  I can receive clothing, shoes, computers, furniture, dessert, vitamins, prescriptions,just whatever.  It's really a great day and age to live in.

But then, occasionally, I get to see something else that still exists in the world.  I had an occasion to visit with some young people who were in the U.S. from other countries.  They were all here on student visas because they wanted the education that America offers.  Those with an American education, they said, catapult themselves far ahead of the crowd when they return.  One young lady told me she comes every single day of the week without fail to her classes.  She gets to the school after riding the light rail 2 hours in the mornings.  Every afternoon is the same trip - two hours to her house to study.  But she will return to Vietnam as a pharmacist and be able to have the highest quality of life there. 

Another young man's story made me really grateful that I really don't have to lift a finger anymore, but reminded me of some of the days gone by.  Originally he rode the light rail to school, but then he moved so that he could be closer to the school.  He still walked to and from, and everywhere else he wanted to go.  Finally, he was able to buy a bicycle.  Now, it takes him only 30 minutes to ride to and from.  When he returns with his MBA to Nigeria, he will outstrip any of his home-grown colleagues with opportunities for business and a luxurious life because he will be paid handsomely.  

Even students from China, the second leading economy in the world, come to the U.S. for the same reason.  One young woman wanted very much to get a graduate degree in international business because even though she was at the head of her classes in China, she knew that her income would be limited.  She wanted a degree that would allow her to be in her homeland as a business woman, but to have the added dimension of great respect from the business community because they valued international experience over the intelligent people who never left the country.  She worked diligently to learn English fluently so that she would have no disadvantage in the graduate school competing against native English-speaking Americans for the best grades.  She gave up her upper adolescent years to strive for her goals.  She has to live with people she doesn't know and has to make friends in different states as she pursues her education.

After these visits, I returned to my house, to my life of irrealis compared to the students I visited with.  I have had to do some hard things in life.  I haven't always been able to receive life sustenance at my doorstep.  But I am in awe of people who give away so much of their lives, much more than what I had to endure, to achieve a quality of life mainly from living in the best economy in the world and taking advantage of some of its perks.  I find my self grateful, and I admire those who live as I do, but who gave up friends, family, language, culture, and familiarity to accomplish a dream for a high quality of life.