一個認真的教育家-陳碧華

I phoned my school’s director to check on the preparation for the open house to be held on Saturday.  I was worried that the flyers sent out on Wednesday might not reach the parents before that Saturday.  The dramatic drop in the birth rate has made it hard for us to recruit the students.  In order to keep the school running, we had to put a great deal of effort into promoting the school.  The open house was one of the promotions. 

On the line the director answered softly:  “I am afraid that you are too difficult…”

My mind was occupied with all the work, but the words ‘you are too difficult’ just kept creeping into my mind.  It sounded so familiar.  Suddenly, my mind raced back to the time I worked at Academia Sinica after I graduated from college.  I was just a research aide, but I worked for one of the most prominent scholars.  In order to impress my boss, I spent all my time in the lab conducting endless experiments.

One Saturday I was like a fawn bouncing around in the forest because my boyfriend was coming back from the military to see me after work.  It was the first time he was on leave after serving for three months.  I couldn’t wait to see him, but when I finally could leave the office, my boss asked me to stay in the afternoon for another experiment.  Tears welled in my eyes, I could only yell to myself: “You are too difficult!” But I wiped off my tears and stayed to work.

There is another story.  One day I excitedly completed an experiment which I thought was a great breakthrough.  I couldn’t wait to show the results off to my boss.  I thought he would praise me for this significant achievement, but he just frowned and asked:  “Can you make the photos sharper and clearer?”  I felt so hurt, and again I yelled to myself:  “You are too difficult!” I was just a novice research aide and the only equipment I had was out-of-date, but he expected me to produce something comparable with a world-class journal paper.  I dried my tears and went back to work.

I cannot count how many experiences I have had which made me want to quit, but the only thing I did was stay on.  Years later, these stories have become entertaining for my friends.  The boss’ s difficult requests shaped me to be who I am today.  If I quit, I will never get where I am now!

The young Director quit the job the next day.  Did she make a right decision?  I wonder.