Wisdom of Water

As we wrap up the final days of SSP, there are a plethora of feelings that I am experiencing. While writing this, I am mostly feeling disconsolate- as are many others, I assume- due to the looming idea that most of us will never see each other again in less than 100 hours. The fact that our final report is due tonight does not ameliorate that feeling at all. Irrespective of all the sappy and sad events occurring, my time at SSP has been an experience that I would not trade for any other summer; the friends that I have made here are some of the smartest and coolest people I have met in my life, and the amount of knowledge that I have absorbed in and out of lectures is immeasurable. (All credits for the following sentence go to my admirable roommate, Oliver.) The amount of material that is thrown at us in such a short time necessitates participants to be absorbent and porous, which is why SSP seems to stand for Spongebob SquarePants.

The idea of acronyms opens up a whole new world into what SSP actually is. Most people would probably still call it the Summer Science Program, and maybe some people would call it the Summer Satire Program. My personal favorite, however, is the Summer Sleep Program (see picture below).

There are plenty more pictures that aren't just of me, but I will choose to exclude those as to not expose other SSPers and their semi-questionable sleeping habits. Although academics may be advertised as the central focus of SSP, I've learned more outside of the classroom/lab, whether it be from talking to friends or a byproduct from exploring campus. UNC Chapel Hill has a very unique campus, aside from being the first built public school in the United States. Just a few days ago, I stumbled across the “UNC Campus Whistler.” For reference, here is an article that talks about him: here

Having been around the UNC campus for 13 years now, Gregory Cheng is a Taiwanese immigrant who moved to Los Angeles in 1976. Eventually, he moved to the Chapel Hill area and his youngest daughter even graduated from this school. I had seen Mr. Cheng around campus a few times before, eccentrically whistling to whatever operas he was listening to with his earbuds, and I always found it to be cute, even if those around me found it to be weird. Fortunately, I was able to encounter him when I was alone, and he taught me more in an hour than I could've asked for in any lecture.

At first, he talked about how music helps him with self-expression. He chooses to sing rather than play an instrument because he is a firm believer in individual progress, and you have to construct your voice to be a good singer whereas if you play an instrument, “you just have to learn how to play it.”

But slowly, he transitioned into a topic that will stick with me for life. Mr. Cheng was on a tangent about what he thought the difference between wisdom and knowledge was, and started talking about how he came across a large bunch of college students and asked them what they thought the wisdom associated with water was. Unsurprisingly, they all answered that the wisdom was that you should drink water because you need it to survive. Cheng argued, though, that the wisdom of water comes when you think about how a few miniscule droplets of water can eventually turn into a pond, which can turn into a lake, which can turn into a river, which turns into a sea, and eventually turns into an ocean. The main point being that no matter how small you start, there is potential for everyone. And to anthropomorphize water, this journey can be described from being a droplet in the air to water in the ocean.

Slowly the conversation transitioned into how this idea played a role in his life, especially with regards to music. Mr. Cheng was an amazing singer and in his younger years, would be the only kid in his class who would have the confidence to perform music like Schumann in front of large crowds of people. And this passion for music continues even now, where he spends up to 8 hours a day whistling for the people of the UNC campus to hear (whistling as opposed to singing as to not bother people on campus). Another important idea he mentioned to me was that passion is nothing without compassion. As much as he liked music, there were and are always people who are trying to bring him down; people on campus often stare at him in disgust or call him unsavory words. But this doesn't stop Mr. Cheng, because he makes an active effort to not live a life full of hate, and instead to lead a life full of compassion.

All of these lessons that I learned from Mr. Cheng are 100 percent applicable to my fellow SSPers. Everyone that I've talked to in the past 5 weeks is incredibly capable and there is no doubt that they are all passionate. Even though I went into SSP thinking I would be primarily dealing with academic issues, I realized that academic rigor was usually not an obstacle. Rather, more hurdles arose from more humanlike problems, interpersonal or not, where a sense of compassion allowed me to get through smoother.

I want to end with my own two cents. If there is one thing that I've learned during my time at SSP, it's the difference between knowledge and wisdom. And if you asked me to drop some of my wisdom, there are a few words I would have. Most importantly: know how to have fun. Although academics are extremely important, especially for this eight year portion of our life that we call high school and college, finding time to enjoy oneself especially helps because it can serve as a good mental break in a section of our lives where having fun has minimal consequences.

fun picture of mr. cheng wearing my bucket hat :)