My wonderful RA, Tinsley Lin

My Research Assistant was Tinsley Lin. I met him through a happy accident when I first came to the university and he showed me my dorm room. Tinsley was there to help when my daughter-in-law and I moved my belongings into the dormitory. He was then assigned to me for the rest of the semester. I always had so many questions…principally due to my lack of Mandarin skills…that I became an annoyance to those in the IB office and the HR Department. They were especially upset when I came to the offices during lunch hour. I clearly am not used to such a sacred hour, as my university always has someone on duty to answer questions and address concerns. We believe in offering services at the convenience of our “customers.” I often wondered why services stopped for one hour every day. I don’t think it is a good example for businesses to follow! Tinsley became my go-between so that I would no longer annoy and upset so many people. I would write down my list of questions, and he would return, most times, with the answers. He is the person who pursued the reasons why I was not paid on time. He found me a safe office chair after I fell to the floor not once but twice on the old chair that was in my office. Office personnel thought I was asking them to buy me a new chair! I was NOT. He was able to borrow one from his TA Professor. Tinsley is the one who got me copies of my tax payments so that I could get the Tax Certification paper required to complete my US income taxes. Tinsley accompanied me to the nearest location of the Far East Bank so that I could complete a wire transfer. He is convinced that our good relationship helped him improve his English scores from the mid-400s to the 700.s He is now determined to go to the U.S. to study, and I am clearly supportive of his goals. I was VERY dependent upon his good nature and good will for the necessary help when no one else was able to assist me. And I thank him publicly again...