VOne Evening with a Most Intellectually Exciting Person /By洪紹凡 Serena Hung

If I could spend one evening with only one person, I will definitely choose Dolly Lo as my companion without any hesitation, because Dolly is the most intellectually exciting person I know and has had a great influence on me.

I first met Dolly, the best friend of my mom, when I was ten.  She has played the roles of a caring mother, an encouraging wife, and a successful lawyer.  Now, she has one more role to play - a most optimistic cancer patient at the Stanford Medical Center.

Dolly has told me many things about herself.  She worked part time in her teens to finish high school in Taiwan.  With the help of a scholarship, she later graduated from Harvard Law School.  Dolly often tells me that "Taiwan gave birth to me, but America educated me."  Thus she chose to work for American clients in Taiwan.  "This way", she said, "I can repay both countries."

Dolly made herself an independent person in a male-dominated society.  She works twice as hard as her male counterparts and always treats reputation and work quality as the most essential elements of her career.  Overall, she words hard and words smart.  After only six years of practice, she was elected as the youngest partner of the largest law firm in the States, Baker & McKenzie.

Last year, at age 37, she contracted Leukemia.  While all her friends visited her with tears, Dolly comforted them with her smile and was determined to overcome this.  When she knew that she might lose her life at any time, she decided to donate her time and money to support the bone marrow bank.  She even used her hospital room as a counseling office to give encouragement to other cancer patients and their families.  She truly lives her life based on her motto "It is God's will to decide the length of one's life, but it is yourself who determines how to live a meaningful life every day."

Dolly is my most respectful model because of her overwhelming strength and her optimistic character.  I learned, from Dolly, how to be independent and strong, as well as how to cherish my life and to make the best out of it.  I hope that I could spend one more evening with Dolly before her bone marrow transplant, so that I can tell her how much I love her and respect her.  I sincerely pray that Dolly will come back as a healthy person and will continue to teach me how to live a satisfying and rewarding life.

[This article was written by Serena Hung, the daughter of

Lindy Chern, in November, 1994 as the essay for her

application to the colleges in the United States.]

如果我只能和一個人度過一個晚上，我一定會毫不猶豫地選擇Dolly Lo作為我的伴侶，因為Dolly是我認識的最有智力的人，對我影響很大。 我第一次見到多莉是我十歲的時候，她是我媽媽最好的朋友。 她扮演過一位充滿愛心的母親、一位鼓舞人心的妻子和一位成功的律師的角色。 現在，她又扮演了一個角色──史丹佛醫學中心最樂觀的癌症病患。 多莉告訴了我很多關於她自己的事情。 她十幾歲時靠著兼職工作在台灣完成高中學業。 後來在獎學金的幫助下，她從哈佛法學院畢業。 Dolly常告訴我「台灣生下了我，美國教育了我」。 因此，她選擇在台灣為美國客戶工作。 “這樣，”她說，“我就能回報兩國。” 多莉讓自己在男性主導的社會中成為一個獨立的人。 她的工作強度是男性同事的兩倍，並始終將聲譽和工作品質視為職業生涯中最重要的要素。 總的來說，她說話很嚴厲，而且很聰明。 光是執業六年後，她就被選為美國最大律師事務所貝克麥堅時最年輕的合夥人。 去年，37歲的她患上了白血病。 當她所有的朋友都流著淚來看望她時，多莉用微笑安慰了他們，並決心克服這個困難。 當她知道自己隨時可能失去生命時，她決定捐出自己的時間和金錢來支持骨髓庫。 她甚至將病房用作諮詢辦公室，為其他癌症患者及其家人提供鼓勵。 她真正按照她的座右銘生活：“生命的長度是上帝的意志決定的，但如何讓每一天過得有意義是由你自己決定的。” 多莉是我最尊敬的模特，因為她具有壓倒性的力量和樂觀的個性。 我從多莉身上學會如何獨立和堅強，以及如何珍惜自己的生命並充分利用它。 我希望在多莉骨髓移植前我能多陪她一晚，這樣我就能告訴她我有多愛她、多麼尊敬她。 我真誠地祈禱多莉能夠健康地回來，並繼續教我如何過著令人滿意和有意義的生活。 【本文為洪三雄之女洪紹凡於1994年11月為申請美國大學所寫的論文。