Farewell

       Just like the oracle in the movie the Matrix said, “Everything that has the beginning has the end”. Now, it is toward the end of Bridging course. And I never expect it will come so soon that it seem I have just walked in our CELC #03-03 classroom yesterday and just seen tutor’s and classmates’ friendly face.

       Chinese people believe that, “In this huge world, we met not because of coincidence, we met because of destiny”. So we should treasure every people in our lives. I still remember my anxious feeling when I try to find my name in the white board after our pre-test. When I found out there were more girls than boys in our class, I knew that I would experience a fairly unique bridging course.

       

        And it is true. Under the lead of monitor Mengnan and assistant monitor Yunsheng and suggestion of “evil consultant” Xiaoxuan, we carried out a lot fun and “healthy” games and activities, such as “please close your eyes at night”, “werewolf” and “guessing number”. And we recorded a lot of funny video of the game losers. At this place, I should say sorry to Jiadong for trapping him so many times in “guessing number”. Besides games, the two outings are both memorable. I still remembered that all of us sitting around next to the sea in the dark sky, eating together in the hawker centre, riding bikes in the heavy rain, having barbecue and the hotpot in RV and waiting for the thunder getting away.

       In addition to all kinds of activity, I also went through a fantastic learning journey that I would never forget. Tutors were amiable and shared a lot of stories with us. They are more likely to be friends than teachers which help reduce the feeling of missing home. I have never thought that class can be fun and relaxed. Especially when tutor brought us some snacks, I hoped I can keep on this bridging course all my life.

       But bridging course does not mean an end. We are still in NUS, in Singapore, in this world. We are still friends. I know that one day we will meet again, all of us.

unforgettable period

Bridging course is coming to the end; I have experienced an unforgettable period. I remembered that the first time when I came into the small classroom, I felt curious and a little nervous, because I needed to face to many strangers, including our tutors. But only a few days later, the only feeling left was happy. I was happy to have seventeen lovely new friends and four erudite tutors. I was happy to have this small classroom which likes our home in Singapore. Everyday I learnt many new things from our patient and humorous tutors. For our leader Ms Khoo, she is very humorous. In her class, even a little thing, she can teach us in a vivid way which makes us study happily. For Ms Leo, her knowledge is bottomless, each time I communicated with her; I could enjoy her intellectual opinions. For Meena, she always tells us to be confident and makes us work in group, which helps us learn how to work with others. For Viven, she only has one morning with us per week, but I can also learn many things from her. She is very amiable. For my dear classmates, Shuwei and Kaiwen, you are my two buddies; we eat together, study together, play together and help each other. Monitor, you are a lovely girl who brings our class many happy things, just like what jiadong had said, you make our class like a family. Wangzi, Taining and Wu yue, I admire your wisdom, your eloquence and knowledge are impressive. For Xiaoxuan, Jiadong and Shuman, we are in the same research group, I am glad to work with you. I know I am very lazy, so sorry for my mistakes and thank you for your hard work. Anyway, we are a happy group, and I think we will get a good mark. I cannot write all of you, but each of you is my good friends that I will never forget. I will treasure every minutes in the left bridging course with you. And I hope that we can be good friends forever and all of us will succeed in the future.

Lost in life

Lost in life

Those days, I suddenly felt confused of my life, though it is common for a youth to powdering over her life and exploring the essence, the process is really painful. Maybe I am standing at a turning point, a point between my normal life and university, a point towards a mysterious future, which leads to my confusion.

The main puzzlement is that I am dying to know the world, to get closer to the world, but I do not know how to approach this goal.

To live up to it, I downloaded various newspapers in my mobile phone, I updated them twice everyday. I browsed them, TIME, Los Angeles Times, BBC news, VOA, ABC news and many other Chinese famous newspapers and journals. The more I read, the more panic I am. On account that I found out the world is changing in a speed out of my imagination, I cannot control it, and since I found that, I cannot pretend everything is still anymore. I am afraid that I will be left behind, I am afraid that I will be an idiot who cannot say any word when everyone around her is exchanging opinions about a topic.

To avoid this depression, I tried to flick through those materials I download no matter where I was. However, the expense was I did not contact with anyone in china in two weeks. And then I felt uncomfortable again. What if they forget me since I am miles away, what if I am destroying my social network which took me plenty of time and energy to build? I do not know the answer, I am too scared to figure it out, and all I can do is to fix it up as soon as possible.

The life is hard, isn’t it? Even though I am just a pre-university student, even though I have no need to deal with the love issue which is another troublesome but unavoidable question, I have already lost. I have to admit that I freak out, but the only thing which is in my heart is that give the life your very best, keep fighting. I believe one day I will find my way out of the misty life.  

How to be more persuasive?

If you want to be a politician, you need to persuade others to support you. If you want to be a successful businessman, you will talk to your cooperators and make an agreement. Even in our daily life, there are times when we want to persuade other to follow our desires. If you don’t have the power of persuasion, other people will tend to ignore your opinions and when you are a leader, you might be seen as a dictator. Here are some suggestions from Internet for you to be more persuasive.

     Abraham Lincoln once said: “If you wish a man over to your ideas, first make him your friend.” Good attitude is better than confrontation and violence and nothing is stronger than softness. Deliver your opinions in a gentle way and create a good atmosphere. If you deny people’s opinions directly, they will feel lose their dignity and try to prove you are wrong. So you should show respect to people and protect others’ self-esteem and raise different ideas friendly.
    Threatening people can also persuade people to follow your ideas. In negotiation, when the opponents have raised tough conditions, you should make your standpoints clear as well. But you should control the degree of threatening, because if you compel them too much, the cooperation may break up from there. And you’d better still keep in good mood and attitude. Explain the situations and consequences reasonably, and maybe give them some choices to compromise.
   Try to find your common interests and satisfy their need. You can indicate them that you are not enemies but friends. You would like to offer help and achieve your same purpose. Considering things from their angle and remove their defense.
   To conclude, when you try to persuade others, don’t put them in a opponent position and gain your own benefits. If needed, you can also use the smart skills of negotiation. Maybe in our life, persuading others is not such a serious thing and we all can handle it. But I hope these suggestions can help you in important moments.


  

Where there are friends, there is happiness

Last night, I called my best friend in junior high school for the first time since one year ago. Actually we have never talked so much since we came to different high schools. We mentioned our crazy experiences and talked about the current life. Some of the experiences which I already totally forget are really hard to believe that it was me. We honored the old days and encouraged each other on the phone. The communication with the old friend makes me know more about myself and feel warm. With the support of friends who know me a lot, I feel more confident and happier in my life.

     Friends are what we should treasure in whole life. They accompany us to walk on our life path, offer help and support whenever needed and add meanings to our life.
     Friends reserve many experiences of us. We may lose ourselves when we go through a lot in society, but the friends will make us behave ourselves and believe in ourselves. They know what kind of person we really are because we have spent so much time together. Also, when we talk about the past time together many years later, we will be surprised to hear what we have done and feel fortunate to have shared the golden times of each other.
     Friends stand by us when we are in difficulties. When we feel lonely in an unfamiliar environment, we can share the happiness and sadness in life with our old friends who will always be with us. Making friends in a new place helps us to adapt to the environment, because we can grow together and overcome difficulties with each others’ help. If we have problems, friends are ready to help and encourage us.
     Friends make life more meaningful. When you enjoy snack or entertainment with friends, you will have more fun than enjoy them by yourself. Friends are trying to make your life happy.  Life will be monopoly without the laughters and jokes among friends. When you can help your friends, you will also feel satisfied .
     Friends are important to us in our life. We cannot forget the old friends or ignore the new friends. When you offer your love to the world, the love will be returned. Only if you offer your friendliness, can friends come to you. Therefore, we should be willing to make friends because where there are friends, there is happiness.

The time we spent together

  Time goes by, and our six-month English bridging course is coming to the end. I think it good to spend a happy time with all members in group 3.

  In these five months, we have a lot of unforgettable memory together. When we went to the beach in the recess week, we were caught by a heavy rain when we rode bike and everyone got wet. Xiaoxuan was so lucky to borrow a dry T-shirt from Yunsheng. After dinner, we sat in a circle on the beach to play games. It is a fascinating game and many people had to do some embarrassing things. And on 1^st of May, we had hot pot in RV hostel. On the morning of that day, our three boys with monitor and Xiaoxuan went to supermarket to buy many things for lunch. It is interesting to do shopping, although in the end we cannot eat them at all. Furthermore, killer game is also a special activity in our group. We always play it during the noon and monitor is the person who is almost taken away by the hunter.

  Five months is not a long time, but it leads us to know and make friends with each other. Although we may not study in the same classroom in the future, our friendship will keep forever.

Are you strong enough to succeed?

      We are all on the way of pursuing our goals. But, are we strong enough to succeed?
      First, I wanna to share Lady Gaga's, one of the most popular pop singers in the world, story with you. Lady Gaga was of great talent in music; she could compose a piano song when she was 14. When she was 17, she was admitted by the Music faculty of New York University. Every year only 20 students can be admitted around the world, Lady Gaga was one of them. It sounds brilliant. However, after a period of time, she thought the school was not consistent with her dream. So, without hesitation, she quitted and started to sing at a night pub. Gradually, she reached today's height.
      Frankly speaking, her story touched me a lot. I dare not to quit a predigious school to pursue my dream. For me, the decision even sounds unrealistic and even lunatic! Lady Gaga is strong enough and she deserves to succeed. Although a lot of people hate her style, but we cannot deny her persistence and strong-mind on the way of pursuing her dream.
      If you like something and have interest in it, just go all out for it. As long as you are strong enough, even the God will give way to you!