Jiayi Ling Young '94

Gosh, there is so much more to my Lawrence experience than I have room to write here. Lawrence, to me, was a perfect mix of academics, athletics, and social life. I remember doing experiments at Professor Brandenberger's laser lab. He had a forever-level tabletop for the laser instruments that I thought was sheer magic! In class, he put his whiteboard eraser on the whiteboard track and demonstrated how electrons line up and move. We had a very cozy and friendly circle of physics students and professors. Thursday Tea was always the highlight to see everyone. We would have a little competition with students from India and Pakistan to see who does better at tests. We would study and hang out in the Mudd Library until midnight or beyond in finals week. I love the fact that we can be in the Wriston Art Center all night doing work. I would be there making paintings and printmaking for Professor Helen Klebesadel's classes and doing still-life drawings for Ms. Case's class. I miss exchanging ideas with Professor Helen Klebesadel and can almost still hear Ms. Case walking around the figure drawing classroom and uttering "line quality!" Participating in Track and Field was also a highlight of my Lawrence years. After class, we would ride the shuttle bus to the track for practice; on the weekends during the track season, the entire track team would take the school bus, and we would go to off-campus meets. We would compete our hearts out, and afterward, dinner away is always on Lawrence. I loved the indoor track facilities too. It is petite, but the slight curve made it all the more fun and interesting. You feel faster on a tighter turn! We also used to run the stairs case - everyone up/down up/down those very long flights of stairs. Boy, those staircases go on forever! Running Track & Field at Lawrence helped me learn the value of hard work and what it takes to maintain a high level of performance in a given field. Dorm life also taught me a lot of things. There, I met students from all walks of life. My dorm roommate was a Christian scientist. I learned that not everyone goes to the doctors when they are sick because of differences in religious beliefs. Growing up in a big city in communist China, I was much more accustomed to a homogenous lifestyle and ways of thinking. Dorms are where I met fellow Lawrentians whose families are Wisconsin farmers who welcomed me and shared their love and lives with me. I learned that Wisconsin dairy farmers get up at 4:30 am even if it is forty below with blizzard snow because the cows have to be fed and the manure has to be shoveled. In addition to working hard at school, these students also had to shoulder family obligations to help out on the farm. Dorm life was full of fun as well. I remember once that two floors worth of rooms blasted Pink Floyd's We don't need no education! Then, the resident dorm staff shut us down (LOL). Finals week was always all-nighter after all-nighter, then the doom would be dead the day after because everyone would be catching up on sleep. In addition to the dorm, there were also "theme houses." One of my favorites was the International House. On the weekends, sometimes, they hosted International dances where I get to dance my heart out and compete to see who can reach higher. For me, Lawrence was a perfect community to learn and grow. It was a comfortable learning environment rich with small class discussions that shaped my abilities to think critically. I learned to ask questions and participated in discussions, both of which did not come naturally to me at first. Lawrence provided academic research opportunities that allow for in-depth study and experimentation. It offered options to double major in seemingly disparate subjects. For me, that led to graduate studies in Atomic Physics upon graduation, and later I pursued an MFA in Digital Media. At Lawrence, I had a full and vibrant experience, just right for that stage of my life. It was perhaps the most valuable and formative four years of my life. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! I am forever grateful to my teachers and my friends of Appleton.