1972 - THE YEAR OF THE RAT

Introduction - A Joke
After decades of conducting research experiments using rats, a team of eminent biological scientists announced that in the future they would be using lawyers instead. Two reasons were given for changing to lawyers - the lab assistants don't get so attached to them and also there are some things that even a rat won't do.

The Rat Graduates
According to the Chinese almanac, the year 1972 was the year of the rat. Those who were born during that year are said to be ambitious and honest. Somehow it fits the description of the Year-of-the-Rat CIM graduates. These young men and women graduated wanting, and so in the U.S. where many of them came, they strived and soon got a piece of the American dream. They were not only long on potential and fascinating thoughts, they were also long on concrete achievements.

A rat is considered to be the world's most repulsive rodent, but a rat is willing to take risks, to compete, and has the ability to survive anytime, anywhere, anyplace. It has self-confidence, no distaste for work, high threshold of frustration, and it doesn't procrastinate. It is active rather than passive. A rat person regards life not as an interminable series of tests to be passed or failed, but as a continued learning process of survival, that, taken as a whole, leads on to wisdom and success.

The Memories
In the course of our life, there are events and experiences that enhanced our growth and maturity. These events leave some memories, which, when recalled, can either put a smile or a frown in our face. While some memories are pleasant to remember, others are taunting reminders of what had been and what might have developed from them if only we acted differently. We want to go all the way back to that wonderful moment in the distant past when things were going smoothly - right before we acted on impulse or on what turned out to be a bad decision and ruined everything. But whatever they are, the film of what happened can never be run through for a second showing.

Nonetheless the best way to keep memories alive is to share them with everyone. Pictures are sources of memories of one's family, not forms of family jewelry. Stored in the family albums, they rarely if ever serve its purpose and don't become family heirlooms. They would only gather dusts, and when they fade as they often do with time, memories fade with them and die. Shared with everyone, they would not fade and die. They multiply.

The Web Site
This web site doesn't just contain happy memories. It also contains essential information about the CIM alumni, and some food for thought for everyone. Consider Articles if you want some inspiration and enlightenment, if you care to improve and broaden your intellect, brighten your imagination, and turn your attitude and outlook in life toward a more positive one. Also, it's not uncommon for someone to have built-up tensions with the way things are going these days, fast and furious. Thus perhaps you want to loosen and lighten up. So if you want to pop the cork off the lid of your built-up tension and need some help, try Bundle of Jokes. Laughter as you may have already known, doesn't just help release your tensions, it also helps replace them with pleasant thoughts. It gives you a break so that you'll have an opportunity to look at your life with the use of a telescope instead of a proctoscope. The jokes in this web site can tickle your funny bone if you have any. But don't worry because even if you don't have any, the jokes will tickle your liver and you'll go to bed with pain in your tummy, but with a smile on your face. And if you want to think, and think deep, consider Quotes to Ponder. But if you want to laugh and think later instead, then shake your head, laugh some more, and think again, try Amusing Quotes.

The Smiles They Left Behind
If you want to visit a couple of members to see what they were like almost 30 years ago and you happen to remember their names, the members' web pages are in alphabetical order. Just go back to the front page or click Home. There, you can click on any of the members' pages you want to visit. Pictures were taken from their graduation yearbook. Keep in mind that these members were young and restless, handsome and pretty then, and their smile seems to have left a shadow that may still be able to color your dreams perhaps. Those were the days when these young men and women never had to worry which way the world turned. They turned the world. They had got what it took to do just that. But wait! Some of them may even be prettier and more handsome almost 30 years later. They may have aged but they still have traces of the beauty of youth tempered with the knowledge of experience. Click on Alumni Families to see few of them in the here and now.

Thank you for your visit.