09/04/15: Can’t Help Falling In Love Project-My Second Musical Venture

A little over one year since I took guitar lessons and almost one year since I posted my first music project, Hallelujah on October 22, 2014 (See archive)

Now it’s time to see if I have made any progress at all given tight schedule due to various pivotal left-brain activities during this past year.   Recently, I recorded the second song, “Can’t Help Falling In Love” originally sung by Elvis.  However, I didn’t want to release it until I finish writing on this subject of LOVE, specifically romantic which include passionate physical love.   I want to write on this kind of love for the following reasons: 1) I’m interested in brain health and learned that there is a connection between brain and love especially romantic love. 2) Romantic love is what God describes as His love toward his people; there is even an entire book in the Bible describing the feelings of the two lovers toward each other.  And 3) I love mushy love songs because they make me feel good.

Romantic Love and Health

There is an old Thai saying: “Where there is love, there is sorrow”, which probably refers to the result of unfulfilled passionate love.  With this view, love becomes undesirable to have.   When one’s love is not reciprocated, you have the condition that is called “broken heart”.  Actually there is a medical syndrome that is common among those unlucky in love because of divorce, finding out that one’s spouse cheated on them, or the love of their lives pass away.  According to Sara Sirna, MD in Sciencedaily,com, the condition is similar to a heart attack.  The underlying cause is unknown but is thought to be secondary to the release of adrenalin and other stress hormones that have a destructive effect on the heart.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150210130502.htm

I read sometime ago that employers in China allowed three days for an employee who was broken heart to take three days off work.  Not sure whether three days is enough to mend the broken heart.  For myself, having experienced both divorce and death of a spouse, it took sometime to heal.  I still remember the shortness of breath, and a feeling of being in a dark world alone., thoughts of sleeping and never to wake up again came into my mind then.  Thank God that these unfortunate experiences that the Lord allow to happen have passed, and I have learned to pick myself back up, and live again. Whenever I fall, I remind myself that I’m God’s beloved princess, and that helps in the healing process.

There are songs that expressed the feelings of darkness of this broken-heart condition and how one let go and move on.  One that comes to mind is Alison Krauss’ “I Can Let Go Now”, sung by Michael McDonald or Sara Bareilless with Nathan East: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuH6DbVQQSQ&list=RDBuH6DbVQQSQ#t=66   There are others such as “Chain of Fools” by Eva Cassidy or Linda Ronstadt’s “You’re No Good”

Despite the potential negative side of love, there are people who would venture into it again even though it means they have to take risk and become vulnerable.   Sometime falling in love could be a split second, and it may last a lifetime.  The magic of love at first sight may be transitioned into a peaceful feeling like being at home, secure and safe.  Substances that are responsible for making our cheeks flush, palms sweat and our hearts race are: dopamine, adrenaline, and norepinephrine, all feel-good chemicals.  In contrast to other kinds of love, such as love of mother and child, love and mercy toward other human being that promoted healings, the romantic love has an added element of imagery in the brain that makes one feels alive and euphoric.

Researchers found that MRI scans show love lights up the pleasure center of the brain, the same part of the brain implicated in obsessive-compulsive behaviors and fixation on our partners.  Experts said that falling in love could elicit not only the same euphoric feeling as using cocaine, but also affected intellectual areas of the brain.  The good feelings cause one to be like a fool as described in the song “Cant Help Falling In Love” made famous by Elvis Presley.

“Wise men say only fools rush in,

But I can’t help falling in love with you…”

 This is the song that is my theme for this blog post, my third music project on my Youtube Channel WaneeCJ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR54YYSDR2g

In the initial phases of desire and attraction driven by hormone, we might idealize our partner and see only things we want to see; thus the phrase “love is blind” is true here.  After the initial phase, we will go into the attachment phase.  During the attachment phase, Endorphins and hormones vasopressin and oxytocin flood the body, creating an overall sense of wellbeing and security, leading to long lasting relationship.  Which is described at the end of Michael Buble’s song “Close Your Eyes”:

“You’re the reason why I’m breathing.

With a little look my way

You’re the reason that I’m feeling

It’s finally safe to stay!”

The feeling of someone you can call home, that’s when you decide to enter into marriage like my beautiful friend from Europe, Anna Olivia, who recently got married to her handsome man, Tom Fairless.  By the way, one of these days Anna and I want to sing a duet of one of Shanai Twain's songs, Endless Love...But wait, she will be too busy singing with her Beau!

View of Romantic and Physical Love in the Bible

In contrast to the idea of love as a chain that leads you to sorrow, which can only cease by severing the feeling which is ranked at the same level of feelings as greed, anger, obsession, Christian Bible celebrates a beautiful romantic and sexual love as read in the book of “the Song of Solomon”.  The love of a man and a woman portrayed in the Song of Solomon is a metaphor for the love of God toward the nation of Israel. In the New Testament, the love of Christ toward His church, is portrayed as His beautiful bride.  In the Song of Solomon, there is deep love of a husband towards his bride, and deep feeling of yearning of the bride towards her husband (Chapter 5:10-14):

“My beloved is dazzling and ruddy,

Outstanding among ten thousand,

His head is like gold, pure gold;

His locks are like cluster of dates,

And black as raven.

His eyes are like doves,

Beside streams of water,

Bathed in milk, and reposed in their setting.

His cheeks are like a bed of balsam,

Banks of sweet scented herbs;

His lips are lilies, dripping with liquid myrth.

His hands are rods of gold, set with beryl

His abdomen is carved ivory

Inlaid with sapphires…”

And for the man towards his bride (Chapter7: 6-9)

“How beautiful and how delightful you are,

My love, with all your charms!

Your stature is like a palm tree,

And your breasts are like its clusters.

I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree,

I will take hold of its fruit stalks.’

Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,

And the fragrance of your breath like apples,

And your mouth like the best wine!”

The feeling of yearning of the bride is described as “Love Sick” (Chapter 2 Verse 3-6):

“Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

So is my beloved among the young men.

In his shade I took great delight and sat down,

And his fruit was sweet to my taste.

He has brought me to his banquet hall,

And his banner over me is love.

Sustain me with raisin cakes,

Refresh me with apples, because I am lovesick.

Let his left hand be under my head

And his right hand embrace me.”

We should not confuse these feelings of physical and sexual longing with just lust.  There was a story of Amnon, a son of King David, who was described as being lovesick for his half sister, Tamar.  He asked his father, King David to send for Tamar to take care of him during his sickness, but it was all lust as he raped her.  After the rape, Amnon chased Tamar out of his house harshly.  The so-called love changed suddenly to hatred.  (See 2 Samuel 13 for the full story.)  Loveless lust has no place in God’s eternal kingdom.  It was a tragedy of intra-family struggles resulting from actions of King David during his weak moments, who even though was called “the man after God’s own heart” through God's grace, failed in his family life.  He had to reap the consequences not only in his life time, but also the life time of his children.

 In the book Song of Solomon, the physical love is beautiful and not coercing some one against his or her will as described here (Chapter 2 Verse 7):

“I adjured you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

By gazelles or by the hinds of the field,

That you will not arouse or awaken my love,

Until she pleases.”

Love Songs

The physical love of a married couple is sacred, creating a deep exclusive spiritual bond for each other that God has blessed.  It is so beautiful and is celebrated in many of the songs that I like.  That’s why I love mushy love songs.  I hope I would be able to use this right side of my brain to write songs and tell stories that describe these wonderful feelings and emotions in the future.   For now, it’s just a baby step forward finishing my third song project.  I’m glad that I finished it and even though it is far from perfect, I feel accomplished.  Again, thanks to my music professor and best friend, David (Young Professor) C. Cowan for the inspiration, critiques, and patience.   Enjoy my Cover Elvis’ song “Can’t Help Falling In Love” everyone!  Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my channel WaneeCJ because there will be more songs and other cool stuffs to come!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR54YYSDR2g

MID YEAR RECAP-6/24/15 (Revised Format)

(Note: I had problem with formatting in my post on 6/24.  Google technical supports are still trying to find out why the problem occured.  So I'm creating a new one for now)

It's mid-year recap time!  What were the goals you had at the beginning of the year or your New Year resolutions?  Now it is time for you to see how you are doing!  How you need to adjust if there are significant changes that affect your progress.

As for me, in one sentense, my goals for this year is to have a more balanced work-life.  Specifically, my top personal goals are: 1) Maintaining good health, 2) Effective management of personal finance and time to achieve life goals, 3) Finishing all Toastmaster Competent Communicator projects,  and last but not least 4) Continuing to develop competency in musical venture by performing and posting 2 songs by the end of the year.

Maintaining Good Health

Health is important in living an active, productive, and happy life especially as you get older.  I posted before in April and July of 2014 on the health issues.  April, 2014 is about the benefits of exercise, which is a gateway to preventing many diseases, enhancing your look, and slowing down aging; July, 2014 post was about health and wealth with emphasis on oral health.

http://bee-attatitude.blogspot.com/2014/04/42514-benefits-of-exercise.html

http://bee-attatitude.blogspot.com/2014/07/71414-wealth-and-health-focus-on.html

My health goal is to continue with exercise, have dental procedures that promote long-term oral health, individualize my diet plan through consultation with a Nutritionist.  My nutritionist doctor who I consulted with at the end of last year analyzed my general health risk as an Asian female with slight body mass, thus facing higher probability of bone loss.  As a result, I took precaution to prevent bone loss by taking greater dosage of calcium and vitamin D food supplements in addition to a bone loss prevention prescription medicine.  I have focused more in doing strength and stress exercises, which promote bone strength.  Although not a major concern anymore, I'm still continuing to take precaution in my diet to prevent my body from building up bad cholesterol and high level of Tyglyceride.  I learned that these two are factors that cause heart attack and stroke. The reason why I can reign in these two health concerns is that I have switched to more vegetable, nuts, and fruits in my diet some time ago.

One thing that I'm still working on to improve my health is to have more sleep.  Although according to experts, the ideal number of hours of sleep is eight hours, I have to find out for myself how many hours I actually need to stay mentally sharp.  Working on finding and achieving the optimum number of hours will be my focus in the second half of the year.  Often, a 15 minutes of power nap in the afternoon can be quite an effective midday booster to the brain.

Effective Management of Personal Finance

As a financial person and an economist, I know that wealth can be increased by maximizing income, minimizing costs, and managing expenditures and investments in such a way that can benefit from tax rules.  Having a good financial and investment strategy can let your money work for you.

To maximize income, I work hard at my line of work, developing skills and knowledge that can be beneficial to current and future endeavors.  I tried to maximize tax benefits by planning all my medical related activities to be scheduled and paid this year instead of spreading to another year.  This is done so that I can benefit from deductible expenses that exceed 2% of Adjusted Gross Income (AGI).  I make sure that I contribute to investments in 401K or deferred compensation program to the maximum amount allowed by the law, so that I don't have to pay taxes on that part of gross income now while I am in higher tax bracket.  The contribution is a forced saving, and the income is deferred to the future when income falls to a lower level, thus equalize income taxes between now and the future.  You too should have financial plan and strategy to reach your financial goals.

On the expense side, I will look at some expenditures that I might need in the past but do not need now.  For example, subscription to magazines and additional insurance that I no longer need because the employer already provides me with the benefits.   I will have to revisit some other costs that I might not need to make sure I pay only expenditures that have priority now, and provide benefits that I can actually enjoy.

Finishing Toastmasters Competent Communicator Projects

Developing skills in communication is important especially for a leader, and public speaking is one of those skills.  Toastmasters Club is an organization that provides supportive environment and networking opportunities for me in both the local and regional levels.  The chapter meetings that I attend are held close by my office, so it is convenient to attend.  There are people with different areas of expertise and backgrounds that I can learn something new from through their cultures and experiences that they share.  Even when I don't present the main speech for the day, I can still participate in impromptu short speech called "Table Topic", which sharpens my brain and helps me to think on my feet.

Presenting a speech requires that I know the topic well either through experience or through research on that particular topic.  This works out well because in my line of work, I do a lot of reading which supplements my daily reading of scriptures for inspiration in the morning, and reading of business magazines to keep current with business news as well as future development in technology and business.  The speech projects that I present at Toasmasters require me to utilize knowledge I gain through reading materials of financial nature from work, online articles on leadership and management I found from people I follow on Twitter.  Together with my life-long experience, I don't run out of ideas for speech topics that interest my audience, but just need to write them down and prepare.  There are ten projects, and I am now at project number seven, four more projects to go!

Stay On Course With My Musical Venture

I started my guitar and music in July last year, and was able to present two songs by last October.  They were not the best, I know, but I needed to start somewhere.  I need to get out of my comfort zone to do something like this that is challenging and satisfying at the same time.  It has been challenging to me to find time to practice because of my current tight work and other life schedules.  I felt like giving up many times because my fingers do not want to do want I told them to do, and I feel as if my brain is dead by the end of a busy work day.  Thanks to the patience of my music professor and friend, David (Young Professor) Cowan, who not only teaches but also encourages me, I will practice and post two more songs before the end of this year.  August will be the month that I will do "Can't Help Falling In Love" by Elvis Presley.  After learning Elvis' style and rhythm, I will attempt my own version.  I will write about romantic love as read from the scripture similar to commentary I wrote in October of last year for the song "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen.

Ok, I will stop here for now, and enjoy my little vacation in line with work-life balance goal of mine.  I wish you success with your life goals, and hope you all have a great summer!!

Cinderella (My Car) and Me

4/13/15: Cat Walk at Thai New Year Fair 2015

It was a fun weekend last Sunday 4/5/15, when the Thai community in Thai Town on Hollywood Boulevard celebrated by having a street fair.  In previous years, I traditionally helped at my church’s health screening booth as one of the health information intake officers.   Thai New Year Fair usually would have culture and arts shows, food booths for all kinds of culinary tastes of Thailand, Thai kickboxing or Muay Thai, and Fashion Show as part of Miss Thai New Year contest.  During breaks, I would stroll, stop by food booth and grab some B-b-q chicken, papaya salad, and mango and sticky rice.  Beside food and music stages, my favorite stage to visit had been the Miss Thai New Year contest, and Thai fashion show.  So it was my great pleasure, when Ms. Aksarapak Bondu, aka Ya Ya asked me to join her and her daughter, Pearl Ruktawan Yuthawongs, for their annual Thai Costumes fashion show 2015.

Last year the theme for the fashion show had been hill-tribes style.  Ms. Ya Ya used her designing ability to showcase both traditional hill tribe and artistic styles of the northern hill-country.  I was so impressed and was wondering how would she top herself this year over her 2014 show.  At the time that she asked me late last year to join her for 2015 fashion show, she said I would be one of the four models to showcase the costumes of the four provincial sections of the country: Northern, Northeastern, Central, and Southern Thai provinces.  In my mind, I could either fit Northern or Central profile, since my late mother-in-law was from the North and my paternal grandmother was from Ayudhya, the Ancient Capital City of Thailand before Bangkok.  Then finally, a week before the event, Ms Ya Ya informed me that I would represent Central provinces.  As you can see, the four provincial costumes are represented here, from second left to right: North (sorry I did not get her name), Central (yours truly in pink), Northeastern provinces represented by Mrs. Thai New Year 2013, Lek Pollard), and Southern provinces, by Kate Rattakul from San Francisco.

More pictures of the fashion show are presented here including one of Ms. Ya Ya with one of the imaginary fighter from a Thai classical drama.

           Ya Ya, Entrepreneur and Designer, and One of Her Beautiful Designs

          Cat Walk for Central and Northeastern following Northern Style

The dress I was wearing looked more contemporary and western than other outfits, so I did a little research in addition to my previous knowledge about this costume.  The costume was popular during the reign of King Rama V, who adopted a lot of western clothing styles.  It was an era of colonial powers trying to expand their territories during the reign of King Rama IV, who encouraged adoption of western knowledge, such as science and astronomy.  The strategy to ward off colonial occupation by western countries such as Britain, France, and Holland was to adopt some of the western cultures and tradition including clothing.  To appear “civilized”, the people in this country of hot weather started to wear jackets and blouses.  During the early Ratanakosin in Chakri dynasty, Thailand just went through war with neighboring country; so Thai women at the time in Central region would wear outfit that functioned like pants.  Thai Central women could move around, joined the men to fight or fled the neighboring enemies in these “pants” called “Jongkrabane”.  These outfits were also good to wear in the rice field for work as well.  When I last saw my paternal grandmother, she was still wearing the “Jongkrabane” pants.  Even today, you might see elderly in the central provinces still wearing them.

However, the outfit that I was assigned by Ms. Ya Ya had a special top that looked western together with pearl strands and gems.  Indeed it was England’s Queen Victoria style by design.  I did a little research in the photo archives, and saw that most of the royal women in the pictures wore this kind of Victorian inspired blouses.  However, they wore their hair short, which was unlike the hair and hat that Ms. Ya Ya had me wear.  Also, I remember playing in a Thai classical drama in highschool, I wore short hair playing and elderly palace lady; but that was another story to be told at another time.  Finally, I found a likeness of my costume and hairstyle in this website. There I saw a picture of Princess Dara-Rassamee.  She was a princess from the northern province of Chiangmai, and wore her hair longer than other ladies in Bangkok at the time.  Except for the hat, my hair style was not too far from her style.

http://www.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/chulalongkorn_and_princess_dara_rassamee.html

 

It was an enjoyable experience. Thanks to Ms Ya Ya, I had an opportunity to meet younger Thai people that live in Los Angeles.  Thanks to her, These youg people had a chance to learn about Thai culture, and artistic ideas that were linked to the past in the history and literature of Thailand.  There were in addition to the provincial costumes, costume designs from imagination of Ms. Ya Ya, who was awarded Designer of the Year in 2014 by Miss Asia USA Pageant.  The characters from Thai Classical dramas and literature came into life on stage in Thaitown USA!

Today is April 13, amd it is the actual Thai New Year!  If you are in Thailand at this time, be aware that when you go out, especially in the northern province of Chiangmai, it is very likely that you will be splashed with water, since Songkran is also called Water Festival.  If you love fun and water, by all means, go out and have fun in the hot summer weather of Thailand!!  May you have a year full of blessings and enjoy life!!!

3/28/15 EDUCATION IS THE KEY: EMPHASIS ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN

Flash Back

“Papa, Papa, but I want to go to school!” the 8 years old girl cried out to her father, a Chinese shoes maker and a leather merchant.  Although her father was fairly well off, but it was in early 1900’s, and Chinese families did not usually send daughters to school at the time.  That was the cry of my Mother when she was a little girl, a cry that persisted until her Papa could not stand it any more.  He finally said, “That’s fine daughter, you can go to school but you have to take along your own desk and chair to school on the first day”.   That was the story my Mother told my siblings and me when we were still small.  The story imprinted in our minds till these days about the importance of education (See my blog post March 2014 http://www.bee-attatitude.blogspot.com/2014/03/my-tributes-for-international-womens-day.html)

The cries of daughters are still going on all over the world today in underdeveloped countries.  The cries might not be to their parents, but to their oppressors such as the story of Malala Yousafsai and her friends.   Once again, as Women History Month is winding down, I would like to tell a few more stories.  I would like to tell about steps that some organizations and young people that I know have made in making education assessable to young girls and underserved people.

Education as the Key to Socio-Economic Mobility

My Mother and my own life experiences already convinced me that education is a powerful key that can break the cycle of poverty. I am further convinced reading Brooking Institute’s research report of Hamilton Project by Michael Greenstone, Adam Looney, Jeremy Panasonic, and Musin Yu: Thirteen Economic Facts About Social Mobility and the Role of Education.   http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2013/06/13-facts-higher-education The report states: “While social mobility and economic opportunity are important aspects of the American ethos, the data suggest they are more myth than reality. In fact, a child’s family income plays a dominant role in determining his or her future income, and those who start out poor are likely to remain poor.”  The report also shows evidence that around the world; income inequality is associated with lower social mobility.  The report concludes that although children in both high and low income family group were born with similar cognitive abilities in their first few years of childhood.  But despite similar starting points, by age four, children in the highest income scored better in tests.  Research suggests that these differences arise largely due to factors related to a child’s home environment and family’s socioeconomic status.  The odds against low-income families also are higher because of the lack of resources necessary for investment in their children’s education.  Chapter 3 of the report states emphatically that: “Education Can Play a Pivotal Role in Upward Mobility”.

By now you probably agree with me about the importance of education that can improve the social status of low-income children all over the world.  But there are so many places all over the world that women and girls were prevented from having the education that they need in order to improve themselves and their community.

Women History Month

Before going to developing world, let’s start here in the US since we are still in March, which is Women History Month.  It has been a long journey for women here in the US as well.  Do you know that although Harvard University was established in the US since 1636, it was 200 years later that women first attended there, and only in 1980’s that there were equal numbers of women as men that attended colleges.  I like the statement of one of the pioneer women, Emma Willard-“But reason and religion teach that we too are primary existences…the companions, not the satellites of men, …Education should seek to bring its subject to the perfection of their moral, intellectual, and physical nature…in order that they may be the means of the greatest possible happiness of which they are capable, both as to what they enjoy and what they communicates.”  You can learn more about the long journey of American women from Women History Museum https://www.nwhm.org/html/exhibits/education/introduction.html

Experience in Other Countries

After I was able to achieve some of my childhood dreams that I shared in my previous blog, I received scholarship to go to the US as an exchange student.  This provided me with opportunities to learn not only about the US but also about other cultures during our ending bus trip through the eastern part of the United States.  All the exchange students under American Field Service (AFS) met together after spending one year in high schools that spread throughout the country.  The trip culminated with a “Mid-Way” meeting at the White House Lawn, and the students had an opportunity of a lifetime to meet with President Johnson.  We were ambassadors for our countries, and princes and princesses of some sort.  The experience built leadership ability and sense of worth and mission for the future for community and mankind.

After the one-year stint as Foreign Exchange Student, or should I say Princess-like-Ambassador, I was back to the grind as an ordinary student trying to pass national high school exam.  Students all over the country in Thailand vied for one of the 50^th top spots because it meant a better chance to get into top universities.  It also meant they might be able to win some scholarship for college education abroad.  It was hard work but I had very dedicated teachers which made it possible for many of my class mates to receive scholarship to study in the US, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and so on.  For me it was scholarship to study in Australia.

Girls were still the minority in this group of students that received the scholarship from Australian government during my time.  There were only 6 female students among the twenty or so scholarship recipients, who were mostly engineering students.  The majority of the girls in the group was very smart and was all from economic and socially prominent families in Thailand.  I was the only one with a humble background.  My story of how I got this scholarship is also a story of miracle, but I will tell you about that at another time.

Again in the University of Sydney that I was in, out of the whole class of about one hundred and fifty Accounting and Economic students, there were only five females, and three out of the five were from Thailand and Malaysia.  It also happened that the one from Malaysia had a father who was a prominent Chinese businessman in Thailand as well!

Women seemed to be the minority when represented in global education arena.  I was the only female candidate in a group of postgraduate students of about 15 when I received a scholarship from the Netherlands, and went to study at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague.  I still remember during a field visit to Yugoslavia, we had an opportunity to visit one of the educational institutions.  It was coincidentally International Women’s Day.  Since I was the only female participant, one of the leaders of the institution told me that there was a French saying about women: “…women are like flowers that should be admired for beauty as long as they stay quiet.”  You can imagine how I felt when I heard that; I tried hard not to respond harshly but just said that I respectfully disagree with this saying.  I was wise not to get into argument then since Yugoslavia was a communist country at the time, and I wanted to come back to Thailand alive.

Organizations Supporting Women’s Education

Things seem to get better about women participation in education, but there are much more that need to be done.  It was not too long ago that Malala Yousafzai and friends in Pakistan were terrorized by the Taliban for speaking out against the terrorists in support of opportunities for girls to have education.  Most of us know that Malala who was almost killed by the Taliban was the recipient of 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.  Before then, in 2013, the two friends of Malala,  Shazia Ramzan and Kanat Riaz, who were also injured during the assassination attempt against Malala, received scholarships from Atlantic College in Wales.  Their story was published on BBC News http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-23220232

I like this story of how an international organization responded to these girls whose lives were in danger like Malala, just because they wanted education for themselves. This particular news story also brought back memories of my own son who received Prince of Wales scholarship to study there in the early 90’s.

Atlantic College's estate near Llantwit Major in Wales includes the 12th Century St Donat's castle and was once the former home of American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst.  Willem-Alexander, the new king of the Netherlands, was once a student there as well.  That was an interesting school all right!

These are the pictures of the 12^th Century castle and the coastal cliff waterfront that my son sent to me during his study there.

According to John Walmsley, the school principal  - “the mission of the school since its founding in 1962 by Kurt Hahn - is to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future,"  

"We have students from over 90 nationalities, with 55% of our students supported by scholarships.”

The school seemed to me to be very vigorous in all areas of studies.  There are opportunities for adventure such as sea rescue operation for boats that were in danger in the area.  Students can chose their areas of interest to do research papers.  I read some of these research papers and was amazed at the depth of knowledge these supposedly high school students had.  No wonder their International Baccalaureate diplomas were accepted as one year of college credits at universities here in the US.  I am happy that they extended the scholarship to young girls that value education like Shazia and Kainat.  There are more organizations that support the efforts to better education opportunities for women and girls like the next story.

Story of An Emerging Young Female Leader

There are increasing numbers of female young adults who seek to make a difference in the world.  I recently got to know an individual who also had a high calling.  She is a niece of my musician friend and teacher, David Cowan.   Her name is Simone Shanese.

Simone is a recent college graduate originally from Cleveland, Ohio.  She said on her fundraiser page that

“I always felt that whatever I do in life needed to be bigger than myself and I’ve finally found the answer. Traveling abroad to help improve the education of women and children worldwide is my lifelong dream…”

Simone was able to go to Morocco on a one-month mission in November last year through an organization called “Cross-Cultural Solutions”.  It is a non-profit that addresses global issues by providing meaningful volunteer services to communities abroad and contributing responsibly to local economies. Her volunteer work was in Rabat, Morocco. The place was chosen specifically so Simone could better understand the socio-cultural issues that were prevalent there.  It was a place with a great number of homeless children in the city and the inequalities between men and women.  She volunteered alongside professional caregivers by providing educational services to children in a number of settings. By teaching English, helping to improve their access to better opportunities, while improving their confidence.

Simone’s drive to succeed continued after the volunteer work overseas.  Now she was just appointed an account executive in a top company in the US.  I am very proud of her relentless journey toward excellence.

Ending Note

It is getting late, I can go on and on about education, women and young people, but I need to stop here or this will not get published before the end of March.  Before I leave the post, I want to say that I am very proud of the first lady, Michelle Obama, who just recently completed a trip to Japan and Cambodia as part of her worldwide push for better education opportunities for girls.  It is good to have the month of March to celebrate and emphasize about the status of women, but we still have a long way to go.  We should not cease to try to improve opportunities for education for girls near and far, so that they have dignity and a chance to succeed as boys.  The improved status of women will benefit the quality of life, not only for themselves but also for their families, which consist of both girls and boys.  This in turn improves the qualities of life of the society as a whole.