Nov. 14, 2016
Dear brothers and sisters at Chi Heng Foundation,
I am (Name withheld upon request), currently in second year undergraduate studies at (Name withheld upon request). I am penning this letter in a joyful mood, and I wish all of you the same joyful mood every day.
The reason this is a joyful day for me is that I got to meet Mentor To along with all his lovely staff. Today being Monday, I have no class. Since I heard a few days ago that Mentor To would be coming to the Chi Heng office to interview high school students, I decided to come and meet him, and I could also help out with some small office chores at the same time. After all, I am already a university student and should be paying back Chi Heng and paying back society. In the future, as long as the office lets me, I would like to help out as much as I can.
It is now a quarter into my second-year. Looking back at my freshman year, I can’t help but feel that time really flies. It is as if I was just a little kid yesterday, and yet, by now, I am already a sophomore. Life in my freshman year was rich and colorful – I joined the Varsity Volunteer Corps to serve the community and the Roller Skating Club, often going roller skating in the evenings. I also participated in various competitions (although I never ranked in any) as well as experienced the fatigue from pulling an all-nighter. Outside of school, I worked in many different part-time jobs, and I went traveling with my friends twice. Sometimes, when I went home, I would ride a mountain bike for the 40-km journey. I am the kind of person who likes to do my own things by myself, so on weekends I often left the campus on my own to experience the hustle and bustle outside. Of course, all this was after my schoolwork was done. All in all, I enjoyed life in my freshman year and like my current lifestyle.
I remember that Chi Heng Foundation started supporting me 10 years ago, in 2006. I was small then, and my father was still alive. Back then, I was too timid to talk to the Chi Heng people, and it was always my father who interacted with them. Nowadays, whenever I see the brothers and sisters at Chi Heng, I particularly get a feeling of closeness with them. Even if I come across someone wearing a Chi Heng T-shirt or carrying a Chi Heng Ecobag on the street, I still feel that they are dear to me. I guess they all are people I love. The person I love most is my father, but he is no longer with us. My mother, too, died early. I don’t know when I’ll see them again in another world, but, to me, the most important thing is to stay healthy and happy in this life. I am already 22. If you ask me whether I have any regrets, my biggest regret is not to have the opportunity to show my father around my university campus. The maple leaves there were spectacular last autumn. One time, when I went home, I told my father that I would definitely show him the beautiful maple leaves at my campus the following year, but… A little while ago, I walked around there to see the maple leaves again. They were still so red, so beautiful!
(Name withheld upon request)
