Our wise and deep-thinking alumna Mei-Tung Chen, from the Class of 2017, is currently a junior at Flintridge Preparatory School. Not only is she passionate about math and science, but she is also huge fan of literature—an enthusiasm first nurtured at Clairbourn, where she regularly submitted short stories and poetry to the award-winning, student-produced, literary magazine Paw Prints. Her interest in writing is most evident in her role as the Editor-in-Chief of the satire literary magazine at Prep called The Yell at Prep.
She also enjoys combining her love of writing with humor, and holds the position of co-captain for a performance improv team—Comedy Sportz. As busy as she is, Mei-Tung also finds time to indulge her love of baking. As the president of the Baking Club, she is particularly proud of the chocolate souffle she baked during this quarantine period. She also makes time to develop her musical talents and share them with others. Having learned to play the piano at a young age, as well as violin in 4th grade with Ms. Mize at Clairbourn, she now enjoys performing on the violin at hospitals and retirement homes for an initiative she runs.
In the following interview, we caught up with Mei-Tung to ask about her reflections on this period of social distancing. She responded by sharing the lessons she’s learned and the wisdom that she’s accumulated from reflecting on her past and examining the kind of life she wants to lead in the present and future. With resolve, she remarks, “I think it’s the wrong idea to want to return to the way we were before, I think we should want our lives to return to something better.”
An Interview with Mei-Tung Chen and Her COVID-19 Reflections:
I’ve been spending a lot more time in my room. See, I don’t do my homework in my room—I use the communal study room instead—so my room is exclusively for rest. Recently, though, I’ve moved my violin practice space into my room and as a result, I take my remote violin classes in my room, too. I end up lingering there, digging through shoe boxes I didn’t have the time to notice before, and rediscover who I was as a child. I find thank you cards from my teachers, worn out stuffed animals, glasses that no longer fit me, a mint tin full of tiny hair clips, folded up pieces of carefully torn wrapping paper, inkless stamps of cartoon animals, and a smooth rock that had a name once, in a time capsule of my most precious possessions. As I gently examine each object, respecting the importance they held for a little girl I forgot, I suddenly feel like crying. Every day is so fast and so stressful that I forget to love the things that I do, and to do the things that I love, but looking back at a girl who so clearly loved the life that she lived, I start to love again. –Mei-Tung Chen ’21 (Published in Flintridge Prep’s Walden Moments – March 23, 2020)
What prompted you to share your thoughts for Flintridge Prep’s Walden Moments?
Our Headmaster sent email in which he invited the school community to send in moments that we had experienced due to being quarantined.
You mentioned that you were spending a lot more time in your room. What led you to explore these items from the past?
I was describing how it felt to go through my room because I don’t really do that. I found items that I hadn’t seen for years. I forgot I had them, and it made me sad because I never would have wanted to forget them. The items were in a box in the corner of my room, and I don’t really look at my room much. I guess that day I was really bored. I just finished by violin class and I didn’t want to do my homework, so I wandered around my room.
Were there any conversations you had that led to this moment of reflection? What kinds of emotions were you experiencing?
At the beginning of the crisis, we all began to realize that this was going to affect us. In the last two to three days on campus, I talked to my 9th grade English teacher, who was also the advisor for the literary magazine I write for on campus. I was telling her how it felt so strange to have all the club activities suspended and that suddenly I had nothing to do everyday. She said, it’s only when things stop moving that you realize how fast you were moving.
I thought about that for a long while, and I think I had that in mind when I wrote about this moment. Even though I technically didn’t have any club activities, I was feeling the stress from the absence of doing them. It’s the stress of inactivity, where you sit there and you think there’s something I need to be doing, but there isn’t. So you trick yourself into thinking that there is, but you don’t know what it is, so that heightens the feeling of anxiety.
It was only when I went back and looked at these childhood memories, representing a time when I did things in the moment—when picking up a rock was cool and exciting to me, that I realized how much I had lost since I was a child. Instead, I’m spending all of this time that I could be appreciating things just sitting there worrying about the things I’m not doing.
I lead a lot of clubs at school, and people would always tell me, you lead too many clubs. I would say, “No, it’s an okay amount,” but I realized that it really is a lot. I was doing way too much. So now, I have a different point of view. Take a deep breath. Just let yourself relax for a tiny bit. It’s okay to be still.
What lesson do you think this moment has taught you?
I think it’s the wrong idea to want to return to the way we were before, I think we should want our lives to return to something better. And what’s “better” depends on your own definition. For example, looking back, I shouldn’t have been that stressed in middle school, because middle school is still low pressure, but I was stressed. I should have picked up more rocks in middle school.
Do you think this social distancing in the time of COVID-19 has changed you?
I feel like it definitely has changed me and continues to change me. I’ll learn to live in the moment more. I keep saying this because I have no idea how else to say, “I’ll pick up more rocks,” instead of just always looking forward and rushing to my next destination. I can slow down a little bit and take in my moments.
If you’re a Clairbourn student, and want to share some reflective thoughts about being a student in this time of COVID-19, reach out to us via our alumni email at alumni@clairbourn.org. We would love to hear from you.
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