ESLINTG100

PUYU YANG

October 7, 2018

Striving For Your Life

The 2008 financial crisis has been widely known as a horrendous conjuncture, and it caused a global economic recession. Even in China, which hosted the Olympic Games in 2008, the news about the financial crisis was reported with increasing frequency, and it was put in the most important place during that period. At the same time in the United States, unemployment rates were soaring, and the population waiting for financial aid from the government to make a living was getting larger and larger. As one of the unskilled workers in China, my grandfather thought that he may find a miracle to become a successful entrepreneur in the United States. Unfortunately, my grandfather, who decided to go to the U.S. with my uncle in 2005, finally went bankrupt and fell into debt in the financial crisis. His failure had implications for my family and me who was still in China.

The pecuniary situation was the most primary problem for my grandfather to overcome at that time. There is a saying in China that “you are not omnipotent even if you have infinite money”, but you are apparently powerless if you have no money. Whether there is someone who is willing to give a man assistance when the man loses his power is a sophisticated question, but for my grandfather, no one helped him at that time except his family. After my grandpa closed his restaurant, he stayed at home every day, and he could not find a job because of the downsizing happing everywhere. In China, my parents borrowed money for him in order to tide him over during this situation, and in America, my grandfather and my uncle were busy running around everywhere looking for work. My uncle could even not buy enough milk powder for his little children at that time. My parents had become workaholics in order to repay the debt. I was approximately nine years old at that time, and I had never been to any amusement parks because my parents were too busy to spend their spare time with me.

There is another frustrating thing should be mentioned which is that my grandfather suffered from depression. After some futile attempts to find a job, my grandfather lost his patience. He was grossly perplexed, and he always had an unpredictable temper, so he sometimes got mad at the kids, and sometimes smoked alone or wept in silence. My grandfather’s fiasco in the financial crisis was not the only reason that caused his depression. In fact, my grandpa has lost so many opportunities to find success, and he seemed to precisely miss the chances to be wealthy enough when he was in China. Of my grandfather’s generation in China, so many people were unskilled and only had limited education, and if a person was bold and insistent, he would possibly stand out from the crowd, but every time when he bravely tried to be better, he failed. His bankruptcy in the financial crisis really made his heart collapse. Luckily, my grandfather recovered step by step when our family members accompanied him.

Finally, my grandpa repaid the debt in 2016, and I am greatly proud of his effort. My grandfather always reminds me that life is sometimes easy, but if a person tries to be better, life is possibly difficult for him, because if a man is not willing to be mediocre, he should pay plenty of efforts to make his dream come true. In my grandfather’s point of view, he thought everyone should struggle for a chance because he only lives once. My grandfather’s life seemed to be a race in the old time. He had a period that he transcended most of the competitors, but he also had a time falling behind others. Eventually, he reached the starting line. Even if he did not get the good ranking of his race, he enjoyed the scene when he was trying to surpass others. He never stopped in this race called life, and he runs around all the time. Not only did my grandfather work hard and never give up when he faced setbacks again and again, but he also tried to be better in his whole life. As an unskilled man, he strived to study skills, and he experienced his wealthy and impoverished life; what’s more, his climbing up from impoverishment impressed and encouraged me a lot. I am proud of my grandfather for another reason that he made me understand that if I have the capacity to make myself stronger, I should not put myself in lower standard, and I should struggle to be better.

When I came to the U.S. in 2018, and when I passed by the former location of my grandfather’s restaurant, I could not imagine what happened in the financial crisis at that time. My grandfather is just a common person who strived his whole life and tried to make his life more meaningful, and he never regrets his choice. I am now fighting for my future, and sometimes I can’t help thinking that I might fail to succeed; nonetheless, I will cherish every chance in my life and proceed without hesitation because it is the principle my grandpa taught me.