Journal

            This weekend, I spent the entire Saturday on rowing. I joined Purdue Rowing Crew since my first semester of freshmen year, and we, as a school club not sponsored by school, always have to find a way out to earn money. We have been doing stuffs like painting other people’s house, showing support to local community, etc. This time is different. We are doing a fundraising activity that give away all the money we get to one of the organizations in Lafayette.

            The plan sounds as crazy as it is. If you have been co-Rec, you might have notice there are a couple rowing machines, which you sit on the seat and pull the chain as hard as you can. It requires every single part of your body to move, like a simulation of real rowing on water. In our rowing crew, we call that erg, and we have probably at least 50 of that thing. This time, what we were going to do was loading all the ergs onto trucks and took them to Tippecanoe Mall in Lafayette on Saturday morning. Then, we divided into three groups based on time availability. Each group was required to participate at least four hours. We picked one erg and started rowing in front of people who go there shopping. Everyone was required to row at least 32km. The reason behind that was to convince people to donate money to the local organization that helps people in need. I was on the erging machine for around 4 hours, and after that, I was so exhausted. The pain literally kicked in right after I got off erging machine. My legs were trembling because of overly using muscle, and I could barely lift up my arms. My whole body was just so sore at that moment. After all, it was still totally worth it, in my opinion. I was very thankful and it was also my pleasure to have the opportunity help people-in-need.

Reading

            I was casually reading English literature online and found an interesting poem. It is called Never Shall I Forget. It talks about Jewish and World War II. War is brutal and merciless, and what it carves on those victims’ memories is indelible. None of the Jewish people would easily forget what they saw in the concentration camp: so humiliating and inhumane. Those images and pain strongly stick with them even when the war is over for a long time. Indeed, one of the victim from Holocaust, Elie Wiesel, turned his unforgettable and sorrowful memories into an autobiography named Night, and in this masterpiece, the most famous one is the poem Never Shall I Forget. It describes the author himself being sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland with his family and how he valued his life after experiencing all these devilish and ferocious events. Somberness, depression, and death ponderously penetrate through the whole poem. Indeed, in order for Elie Wiesel to express the theme Holocaust, he abundantly uses symbolism, imagery, and repetition, sending ideas to readers in a more comprehensible way.