This Memorial Day, Reinvest in Service

Today, as we remember the service men and women who fought in all of America's wars, we should rededicate ourselves to our communities and the importance of service. Memorial Day is not merely a day on the beach or summer barbecues, but a time for reflection and dedication to those who sacrificed their lives and fortunes for us. It is our duty, as civilians, to make sure their sacrifice is not in vain. For us, we can make an impact serving our communities through volunteering and contributing our skills and time. There are problems small and great across America and its communities, but each of us has much to contribute.

I understand community service may be hard for many of us, especially those working in demanding professions like the law. I have been guilty myself of not doing as much I had aspired. But an aspiration for service can break, even transcend, any barriers time or circumstance may place. My mentor told me that a passion is something for which one is ready to drop everything else and toil without renumeration. There are ways to serve our communities regardless of your passion(s).

For many people, education is a passion. With our country's education system and its underpinnings for a successful future in peril, many have embraced education reform as their life's calling. College graduates founded and done Teach for America. Experienced professionals started charter schools. Joel Klein abandoned the practice of law to become the chancellor of New York City's schools for eight years. In fact, New York is one of the breeding grounds for education reform. There is much to be done, as several good articles in the New York Times reminded us that race and de facto segregation continue to be a problem in public and charter schools, even fifty-eight years after Brown.

Whatever the passion or cause, a lifetime devoted to service is worthwhile lived. For many us trained in law or business, service is easily forgotten because of short attention spans or too little time. I think the problem is less acute for our colleagues in medicine, who are more closer to serving individual people and remain more of a profession. Regardless of the difficulties, we need to make sacrifices to serve. Service is not an easy choice - it is often fraught with dilemmas of its own - but is the right choice. Those who served in the military sacrificed the ultimate, their lives, so we can live in peace and prosperity. Let us do them proud today and onwards.

Coming Full Circle

I was rooting for Chelsea yesterday. As an Arsenal fan, I would normally not. Even for neutrals, it was difficult supporting a team bankrolled by a Russian oil tycoon. They are not a glamour side, but in fact are the worst Chelsea team for years.

Nonetheless, it is their story that moved me. Their triumph over two of Europe's best teams in Barcelona and Bayern is a testament to human spirit and teamwork. They showed that faith indeed can move mountains. A lesser side would have capitulated a long while ago, but they stood together and with a bit of luck, defeated the odds to scale the pinnacle.

For many of the old guard, such as Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, and Frank Lampard, the final was the culmination of years of hard toil. They had gone through seven managers since Jose Mourinho, but time and time again the European Cup eluded them, often in dramatic circumstances. But they persevered and deserve the fruits of their work, especially Drogba and Cech's outstanding performances.

Yesterday, I attended the Joint minority bar judicial internship program's orientation for this year's intern class. I remember taking part just a year ago as a student intern in last year's class. At that time, I was like the others yesterday - mystified about the law but eager to learn. This year, I have come back as an alum and am glad to see the new faces who will continue to make the program strong.

My experience last summer has led me to where I am now. Through the program, I met Yang and learned about AABANY. I joined the association before the summer and have actively participated in its programs, such as helping to plan this year's program. I also met Emily, with whom I share a similar background. That led me to working with her at Success and becoming interested in education reform.

The journey remains long and there are many opportunities and challenges ahead. I will board the next train tomorrow. Where that leads me is unknown, but I must be the conductor of my own route. As I close one chapter for another, I will not forget the journey thus far - everything that I have learned and everyone whom I have met. One day, I hope to find myself like the old guard of Chelsea yesterday, holding aloft a grand prize after years of hard work. For now, I content myself with knowing that my investment last summer in the JMBJIP is coming to a full circle.

Falling Out with Josh Beckett

I still remember Thursday night, Oct. 18, 2007, with the Red Sox on the brink of elimination in the ALCS by the Cleveland Indians, Josh Beckett took the game into his own hands and delivered a clutch pitching performance that turned around the postseason. He, more than any other player, was responsible for the Red Sox's seventh title. I, as well as many New Englanders, knew we had a great pitcher who was the paragon of every boy's sports hero: someone who can produce in the clutch and carry a team on his own.

Fast forward five years and that Josh Beckett is nowhere to be found. With the Red Sox dead last in the AL East and his ERA south of 5, Beckett turned in a whole stinker Thursday night against the Indians. The Fenway Park crowd booed vociferously. It's not just Beckett's performance that rankled me and fans - it's his attitude. Still recovering from a reputation tattered last September through leading the club's "beer and chicken ring", Beckett did not help his case by golfing on a day off when he was supposed to be healing a muscle problem. That was extremely poor judgment, which he compounded by defending his choice to do as he wills on his days off. For me and every other fan, that attitude speaks of arrogance and stupidity. He should know that fans view the situation differently, and hold the players to a higher standard. The team's performance made the situation more tense. To many fans, Beckett was someone who was so taken by himself and did not care about the team. That went over the line. The team continues to defend Beckett, but for how much longer?

I once revered Beckett for 2007 and what he gave the Red Sox. But I can no longer. His actions speak of unpardonable lack of judgment and arrogance for himself over the good of the team. No athlete, however talented, can get away with that. Beckett has forgotten the number one insuperable rule in sports: talent will eventually fade, and it's attitude that distinguishes the greatest from the good. Athletes, paid so much at a time when others are struggling to make ends meet, are not excepted from the rules of good character. Beckett has lost it, and character lost is rarely regained.

The Story of May Fourth and Chen Guangcheng

May Fourth is a significant yet often misunderstood day in China. Today, people know it as "Youth Day" when teenagers and students get half day off school. The origin of the day, however, was the May Fourth movement that culminated in famous intellectual demonstrations in Beijing on May 4, 1919. That history, like most history in China, has been told differently and some might say misrepresented, by the Chinese Communist Party and official views. Chen Guangcheng's story happening today in fact parallels the true idea of what May Fourth was about.

May Fourth, as it should be remembered, was the story of an intellectual rebellion. The connection to students remain because many of them, some of whom studied in the universities in the West, led the voices that culminated in May Fourth. They rebelled against the inequities of the day: a weak, unresponsive national government in Beijing; a country divided by warlords and incapable of solving great social problems; and a backwards culture that was dragging back China's progress into the Twentieth Century. China's suffering at the Versailles Treaty, despite contemporary accounts, played little role in the intellectuals' frustration.

That clash of ideas was what underscored May Fourth. Intellectuals of all stripes and persuasions came to voice their dissatisfaction with the country and proposed ideas for change. The times provided the opportunity for students to voice themselves and their dissent with authority. One of the ideas that attracted attention was Marx-Leninism, that China should follow the Russian Revolution that had just happened up north. But Marxism was not the only idea or the main idea behind the movement, contrary to what official history relates. May Fourth was about many ideas coming and clashing, rather than one idea triumphing.

Chen Guangcheng fits within the ideals behind May Fourth. His role in pointing out the inequities that exist in China today and daring act of fleeing to the American embassy are as audacious and ground-breaking as those of the intellectuals who led May Fourth. He, like many of them, is voicing displeasure at problems in the country and how the politicians were fostering them. His act of dissent - some may call foolhardy while others may call defiant - is what May Fourth is about. Celebrating May Fourth as a mere youth day betrays the true origin of what's it's about and its contemporary significance - and does more injustice to people like Chen Guangcheng. The Chinese Communist Party is fine with that, but what about you?