Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Ying Chang Compestine
Hope. It is something that most Americans cannot fully understand. We live in a prosperous and stable nation. We have plenty to eat. We do not fear for our safety. Our government is just. We do not truly know what it is like to hope for a better life. We might hope for more money or a better job, but these things mean nothing if there is no food at the stores or you cannot go to work because you have been imprisoned for imaginary crimes.
Ying Chang Compestine is someone who knows about hope. It was an important part of her life during her childhood. Ying Chang was born in China. She grew up there during a very difficult time, a period called the Cultural Revolution. It was a time of social and political unrest. Jobs were scarce. Education was deemed unimportant. There was never enough food. Even worse, the people had no rights. Anyone could be targeted as an enemy of the revolution. Intelligent people, those wealthy enough to own land, and minorities were most likely to suffer. They were imprisoned, attacked, harassed, and even killed as enemies of the revolution.
Ying Chang Compestine remembers one picture from her childhood that was a symbol of hope for her family. It was a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. It was a gift that Ying Chang's father, a surgeon, received during medical school. An American doctor who had come to teach at the school gave the picture to him. He treasured the picture. He put it up in a gold frame on the mantle in his home. Ying Chang's father promised her that one day, he would take her to San Francisco to see it in person.
