RITA'S BYU GRADUATION--August 10, 2012
Rita came into our family's life seven years ago. Doug had met Rita in Taiwan two years earlier when he and his crew were doing repair work on chapels there. She was studying for school at one of the chapels. While visiting with her, he asked her where she wanted to attend college. When she mentioned that she really wanted to become a student at BYU and be surrounded by members of the Church, he had a very strong impression that he should help her and told her to call him when she was ready to come to the U.S.
Well, she contacted Doug about a year later. I'll never forget the day she arrived from Taiwan on April 1, 2005. I wrote in my journal--"Rita speaks English well and has a bright countenance. She is so brave joining the Church 11 months ago as the only member of a family of Buddhists and then leaving home alone to come all of the way to American."
We have never regretted helping Rita! She still has such a very bright countenance and is a true convert to the church and disciple of Jesus Christ. She just radiates goodness and is always thinking of others. Rita has earned her bachelor and master degrees by working extremely hard. Her master's degree is in "Second Language Teaching," and the title of her thesis is: "Using Language Corpora to Enhance Grammatical Proficiency in Chinese."
(I had never heard of the word "corpora" before, so I looked up the definition. It means--"A collection of recorded utterances used as a basis for the descriptive analysis of a language.") Sounds pretty difficult to me!! Way to go, Rita!
Rita in her cap and gown under BYU's Victory Bell
Doug and I are so proud of Rita. Doug should have been standing there beside us (and we really missed him because he was so much a part of Rita receiving an education), but on the way to Provo I checked Doug into LDS Hospital's Emergency Room. His blood sugars were so high because of the prednisone he was on to heal his kidneys. They placed him on a drip system, and on the way home I picked him up and checked him out after his readings were down considerably.
Rita standing beside her professors, department head and boss. She has been a TA during the last years earning her bachelor's degree and the two years earning her master's. She now has been hired by BYU as a part-time adjunct faculty member teaching three classes of Mandarin. She will use this year to look for a job elsewhere because she needs a doctorate to teach full-time.
Rita with a married couple from Taiwan. They are not members of the church, but the young man is attending BYU. Rita has befriended them and they have become good friends.
Congratulations, Rita! We are so extremely proud of you and love you very much. We are so blessed to have you as a part of our family.
3 comments:
Way to go, Rita! We are all so proud of you! We are so happy that Doug followed the inspiration he received to bring you to America and to be part of their family. You truly are a joy to be around and are so willing to help others. You have such a special spirit and will be a success no matter what you do!
Congrats to Rita. You and Dad are so incredibly awesome for helping her and it really shows that she deserves every bit of it!
Congratulations to Rita in receiving her master's degree. That is so neat that you and Doug have been instrumental in helping her achieve her goals which were worthy of your support. You must have been extremely happy for her. It is easy to see why she has such a big smile. She deserves to be proud of this fine accomplishment.
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