Saturday, February 02, 2008

What could we do?


I remember one thing impressed me most of Stanford Graduate School of Business is its mission to "change lives, change organizations, and change the world". Students come to school with strong feeling about this mission, and they are willing to bear the mission in their mind for the whole life.

It's easier said to be done, people always say. I feel the same way, especially in the current moment that China is experiencing the worst-ever winter storm in the southern part. (pic from Red Net) It's horrible to see a lot of people suffer from the cold weather. The direct loss already reached 54 billion yuan today. It is so unusual for South China to have snow, since I know a lot of my friends from south China never saw snow before. Now the whole public transportation system, including railway and flight, has been affected, and millions of people may not be able to make it home to celebrate with family for the Spring Festival. The Chinese government spent a lot of effort in securing people and arranging transportation, but the situation has been difficult.

What could I do? It's hard to change the world this time because the weather is out of my reach. It's definitely not an easy call for a MBA student. It feels bad to think in that way, but it is the fact. However, I am now thinking of the reason for the terrible snow storm, and more importantly, what I could do to help in the daily life, such as how to stop a warm earth, or how to reduce the use of "dirty" energy. I believe the effect will be big if everyone on the earth could do a small thing. and I will start doing it now.

I will be involved in organizing a service learning trip of 20 people from Stanford GSB to West China, focusing on environmental protection and clean energy. Let me know if you have any contacts or advice. Thanks for supporting our first step.

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