College Life
College life for me has been full of too many stories and experiences. They have helped me grow, become stronger and I have benefited a great deal from them. I am now a senior in college. Looking back on my college life, I truly feel it has been very rich and fulfilling.
In college, the most pressing and also the most important thing is what I call the beginning of our journey on the “road to unlock our sense of gratitude.” That means to share and grow with like-minded schoolmates, to enter into each other’s life of study and learning, and with mutual help and the unity of love, to make college life more fulfilling and meaningful.
I began embarking on that road as a freshman. From the beginning of the journey as a baby, figuratively speaking, to the time I became a leader on that journey, the most conspicuous change in me was the total transformation of me from being an introvert to an extrovert. This journey, through a fellowship, provides me with a sense of family. I feet a deep sense of love from everything that goes on in the group — from the arrangement of routine matters, planning of events and the camaraderie of fellowship members. This love does not come from oneself, for by oneself our love is limited, imperfect and temporary and ….But love from above is entirely different. I am very grateful. I realize it and have experienced it.
In addition to study I also lead a fellowship. My parents are advancing in age, and I am becoming more mature. I insist on work-study and no longer wish to use my parents’ hard earned to continue my college education. Thus I decided to work to support myself.
At the beginning I worked as a supervisor in my dormitory, I also took on the job of delivering breakfast later on, and then opened my own workshop. This has allowed me to experience the joys and sorrows of life. Our college has more than 10,000 students, many of whom are aspiring entrepreneurs. Quite unexpectedly my proposals were approved and accepted by the college. Thinking back, what happened was pure grace. I am particularly indebted to my college language instructor who discovered me and gave me an opportunity of building a brand name. It was that which led me to consider applying for a workshop which I eventually did. What took place before and after the workshop was led by God step by step according to His will. Our weekly fellowship now takes place at the workshop. I have made a lot of progress in my spiritual life since I was a freshman!
Talking about my college life would be incomplete without talking about my best girlfriends, and there are more than one. We have a special relationship and maintain a tacit understanding of each other. A mere eye exchange would be sufficient to know what is on each other’s mind.
We live together, study together, and also spend our leisure time together. What impacts me the most is our dorm meeting. At the meeting everyone puts aside her mobile phone and everything else so we can talk. We share information about our families, what we understand of ourselves and of others, and what happened to us or what we heard that are interesting. In such an environment there bound to be laughter and crying, and then we embrace each other and bless each other. Through this kind of sharing we gain more understanding and patience in life. I am grateful that I have the privilege of having them in my college life. No matter wherever we may end up to, the imprint of each other will always remain in our hearts.
When you read to this point, you must think I am an uninteresting person and say “Aiya, have you given any thoughts to love?” Many of our professors do encourage dating, but I have my own way of looking at it.
Among my dorm mates I am considered a “weirdo” as far as “love” is concerned. I have not dated, but it is my wish that my love and marriage would be something that could be a help and an encouragement to other people. Love is what many young people pursue and look forward to. While I know of too many irresponsible concepts of love, it is my opinion that since love is created by God Almighty, we should ask Him first and not enter into it blindly based merely on sight and passion. I fully realize how young people are attracted by the power of love. But putting aside one’s own idea and instead go and seek God’s will in matters concerning love will see Him pointing the way to us, and we will know which one is really the person we have been waiting for.
Notwithstanding such rich college life, there are other things I like to do in school. I dearly love sports. I have participated in sports events ever since middle school, so I would not even think of letting any sports opportunities go by in college.
Our College Games takes place annually, and only freshmen can participate. To someone who loves sports like me, this certainly is not enough. In 2014 I took part in the Yangzhou Jianzhen International Half Marathon meet. At first I wasn’t at all sure I had enough stamina to go through it because the course was 21.0975 kilos long. But I was finally able to conquer my apprehension and ran without fear in the meet, bearing in mind the spirit of marathon competition – tenaciously striving to succeed without stopping, challenging ourselves, going beyond our limits, perseverance, and never giving up. When we keep going, we are bound to find a different self. In the marathon there was an 83-year old man and a 4-year old child. Their age difference was 72 years. That shows the attraction of sports! Sometimes I like to think of our lives in terms of the marathon. From the first kilo to the 2nd kilo, to the 7th, 10th, 12th, and the 20th kilo we can see a different self with the advance made after each kilo. Slow pace does not matter. The important thing is to keep forging ahead.
Indeed my college life has been very colorful. Whether it was the activities I took part in, the events in which I participated, or my good friends, they all have helped me to recognize a different self. I hope every one of us will have the opportunity to recognize that different self in the future in our lives. Let’s run straight to that goal!