¶ … talent, experience, contribution or personal quality you will bring to the University of California. Close your eyes and create a picture in your mind -- if it is possible to picture silence in the form of an image. Or turn off your radio, your television, and listen to the silence and stillness around you, a silence that echoes -- like the silence in a concert hall before a performance.

A young girl, clutching an instrument, an ancient instrument from the history of the Thai people stands trembling in such a silence. She is only six years old, but she feels ancient. Six...

Indeed, as her parents reminded her just before she left her home, she stands face-to-face with the second princess of Thailand, the youngest performer to be given such an honor on behalf of the Thai people.
That child was myself, living in Thailand, many years ago. It a world I remember well -- as well as I remember that performance that day. Although I feel the intense pride in…