This homeless man also needs human companionship, so I stop and talk to him. My brother has also been involved with former President Jimmy Carter's project to build homes for low-income families in urban areas. He hopes to become a missionary doctor. I, too, realize that the refugee experience has carved deep into my physical and emotional being. To recapitulate, it is the biggest lemon that life has ever thrown me, but I have also made the largest lemonade for myself.
Hardships give birth to endurance, and suffering yields greater compassion.
Every time I think that any task I have here at Harvard is unmanageable, I am reminded that nothing is as difficult as picking up the pieces of one's life. Like my father, I see that the refugee experience is only temporary. For our family it lasted a year, but its impact is felt for a lifetime.