Wonderful

Wonderful

Many years ago, I worked at the California office of WATG (Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo), one of the world’s leading hotel design firms. At the time, WATG enjoyed an outstanding reputation in the hospitality design industry and was widely regarded as the No. 1 hotel design firm in the world.

Back then, we were involved in the design of a very famous project—the Venetian Resort Las Vegas. It was a huge project with extremely demanding design requirements, bringing together designers and professionals from many different backgrounds to create this impressive hotel.

It was during that time that I met a designer on the team. He was probably in his forties or fifties, and I believe his name was Steve. He had been transferred from WATG’s headquarters in Hawaii to the California office to work on the project.

One day, while chatting during a break from work, our conversation somehow turned to my educational experiences in China. I mentioned some of my classmates from middle school, college, and graduate school.

As we talked, I suddenly remembered that Xiaohong Wu had also worked at WATG’s headquarters in Hawaii. So I casually asked Steve:

“Do you know Xiaohong?”

To my surprise, he answered almost immediately, without the slightest hesitation:

“Wonderful human being. She’s a wonderful human being.”

In other words:

“She’s a wonderful person. A truly wonderful person.”

He said it so naturally that it seemed he did not even have to stop and think about it. That spontaneous response made a particularly deep impression on me.

At the time, I never imagined that so many years later, I would still remember those words.

Ever since then, whenever I hear the word “wonderful” in English, I can’t help but think back to that conversation in the WATG office. I remember Steve, the designer who had come from the Hawaii headquarters, and I remember the words that came so naturally from him:

“She’s a wonderful human being.”

In reality, you don’t always need to look at someone’s résumé to know how well they have done professionally. And you don’t necessarily need to hear how they describe themselves.

Sometimes, the most interesting evaluations come from other people.

Especially when someone doesn’t know that you are going to hear what they say, and has no reason to deliberately praise you, a spontaneous compliment may actually be the most genuine kind.

Steve had no idea what my relationship with Xiaohong was, nor did he imagine that I would remember his words for so many years. He simply heard her name and naturally responded:

“Wonderful human being.”

Those words have always made me feel warm.

Looking back many years later, I think the fact that Xiaohong was able to work at a top hospitality design firm like WATG—and to leave such a positive impression that a senior designer from the company’s headquarters, someone who had worked with her, immediately responded “wonderful human being” when he heard her name—says a lot about how well she must have done there.

What makes me even happier is that we were not only classmates; we also shared the experience of being students at the same university.

To have someone speak of a fellow alumnus in that way is, in its own way, something to be proud of for South China University of Technology.

But over the years, I have gradually realized that this invisible connection among alumni has another very interesting meaning.

When one alumnus does well in another country, that person can often create opportunities and make things easier for younger alumni who come later.

This influence is not always intentional or planned. Sometimes it may be nothing more than a chance encounter, a familiar name, or a piece of work from years ago. Yet something that seems so small can help someone who comes later avoid many unnecessary detours.

That reminds me of another experience from my own life.

When I was a graduate student at the University of Southern California (USC), my advisor was a graduate of Harvard Graduate School of Design. Several years later, another younger alumna from our university, Yang Yang, applied to a university in North Carolina and received a graduate scholarship.

As it happened, my former advisor had also moved there around that same time and became the department chair.

And so, a very interesting “alumni chain” was formed.

Yang Yang and I were fellow alumni from South China University of Technology, but later, after we both came to the United States, we became connected again through our shared academic advisor.

Even more interestingly, when Yang Yang was working on her thesis, my advisor gave her one of my papers from years earlier as a reference and example.

Looking back now, I probably never imagined that a paper I had written many years earlier would one day be used as a reference by a younger alumna from South China University of Technology who had later come to the United States.

And at the time, I certainly never imagined that some of the experiences I accumulated while studying and working in America might, in some small and unseen way, become stepping stones for younger alumni who came after me.

That is actually a very meaningful kind of legacy.

The people who come before plant the trees; the people who come after enjoy the shade.

One person goes out into the world first and establishes a foothold in an unfamiliar environment. When those who come later venture out, they may discover that someone has already left a few traces along the way—a name, a piece of work, a mentor, a company, or even simply the words:

“I know this person.”

These things may seem small. But for a young person who has just graduated and arrived in a foreign country, they can be incredibly valuable.

That is why I have increasingly come to believe that being an “alumnus” is about much more than simply having attended the same school.

The real value of an alumni connection is that after someone has gone far enough, they can still leave something behind for those who come later.

It might be a little trust.

It might be an open door.

Or it might simply allow someone to know:

“Others from our school have already walked this path.”

And when I think about Xiaohong’s story today, I find Steve’s words even more meaningful.

When that WATG designer, Steve, heard her name all those years ago, he said without hesitation:

“She’s a wonderful human being.”

Perhaps that was not only one of the best compliments anyone could give Xiaohong personally.

From another perspective, her professional achievements in the United States also helped build a little more trust and confidence for the younger alumni from South China University of Technology who would later leave China and pursue their careers in America.

Just as my own experiences may, without my realizing it, have helped pave a small part of the road for those who came after me.

Each of us may unknowingly become a tree along someone else’s path.

When we plant that tree, we may have no idea who will one day come and sit beneath its shade.

And perhaps that is one of the most beautiful and meaningful forms of legacy among alumni.

So now, whenever I hear the word “Wonderful,” I think not only of Xiaohong Wu.

I also think of all the Chinese students and South China University of Technology alumni who have worked hard and built their lives far from home, as well as the paths that people like us—the “ones who came before”—have walked in America.

Perhaps every one of us has, at some point, walked beneath the shade of a tree planted by someone else.

And without even realizing it, perhaps we have already planted a tree for those who will come after us.

Wonderful.

A simple English word that, because of one casual conversation many years ago, became one of the warmest words in my memory.

“A wonderful human being.”

Those are words I still remember, even after all these years.