Reminiscent: a brave story of mine

Believe it or not, I used to be quite brave. And if you want to listen I will tell you the story...

Tengfei Tower. This is one landmark in my university: Xi'an Jiaotong University. When I first entered it, I was curious about everything: huge campus, grandiose library and most importantly, the various activities. I took part in four clubs and countless activities and among them is the debate competition. That's the beginning of my story...(photo from Internet)

Me and my best friend Yue Sun. Yue is one of my best friends in university. Actually I am quite hesitate about whether to participate in such a competition. You know, I am not good at debating and quite shy when speak in public. It was Yue who encouraged me a lot and finally I agreed to challenge myself and have a try! (Photo by our friend)

LITANY

To my upright and tenacious farther! I always love you!

You are the aspen and the oak,   

the marvelous evergreen and the pine.   

You are the spartina native to the salt marshes

and the sunflower under the sun.   

You are the imperial lion in the prairie
and the free eagle soaring in sky. 
  

Sunflower

However, you are not the mimose in the grassland,   

the epiphyllum in the garden,   

or the mouse ready to escape.   

And you are certainly not the lamb flinches in the sheepfold.   

There is just no way you are the lamb flinches in the sheepfold. 
  

Lamb

This I Believe

What is BELIEF and what's my core belief? It seems to be a quite broad question. By reading numerous stories in THIS I BELIEVE, I begin thinking this question seriously. We can believe in everything: believe in Peace Can Happen, believe in Becoming a Parent Is a Gift, believe in Never Give Up, and believe in I Am Not My Body! The core belief we have is what we say to ourselves when we are alone and it supports us when we things do not go well.   

I believe

For me, I believe all difficulties are not as difficult as we think and we can conquer them by taking the first step bravely! 

We are Together!

Finding Friends with you is a good idea to start a journey! We can have fun when travelling, encourage each other when facing difficulty and share our ideas when discussing around the table. That sounds like so great! So I use Google to search people who want to be brave, who love life and who enjoy thinking and reflection. Below are the treasures I find:

Friends

Coffee With Hallelujah

What an interesting blog name! Actually it’s my English teacher’s blog. Despite she declares it’s a blog about art and there are a lot of fantastic pictures drawn by her, I can read more than art: her positive attitude towards life, her original ideas about humanity and her feminism. All these are very inspiring to me! Open your mind, be creative! Fear not, be yourself! I have so many to learn from her!

Hallelujah Truth's Friends

3rd 4th day: Breaking Down

Oh, I have to say I fail to take out my plan these two days.

Yesterday I did went to the seminar about Hyperplane Conjecture, but since the English ends at 12 and that is exactly when the seminar begin. So I missed the first part and did not know what the lecturer is talking about! Alas, I should prepare for it before.

Seminar

The rest of yesterday I was busy with rewriting my Research Proposal and totally forgot kicking away the yellow pig! Perhaps I should think out some "punishments" so that I could keep on reflecting every day. But I am afraid this will make this journey less enjoyable. Oh, oh, what should I do? My dear, friends, do you have any suggestion?

Second Day: Finish Research Proposal

Yesterday I did finished my Research Proposal and send it to the professor I want to apply for. But this morning I received his reply saying that my proposal is too dilute. Multiscale modeling is a totally new area to me but I only spent two days to read literature in this area. So what I wrote are all generally ideas about its development. But to be a PhD student, I must pinpoint the specific area I want to indulge in! Deadline is Nov.15, I must hurry up!

This afternoon, I am going to attend a seminar about Hyperplane Conjecture, a totally new area too. It is a great opportunity for me to train courage. So I will force myself to ask a question or talk with the professor. It’s much harder than asking question to Ruth. But the harder it is, the more I can learn from it.

Say hello to the new day!

New Day!

 

First Day: Be Brave to Ask a Question!

I should write this yesterday! But I “forgive” my tardiness because I am quite satisfied with my performance yesterday: asking Ruth a question in class.

Since I knew I have a task to finish, I remind myself at the very beginning of the class: find something you are not clear about, stand up and speak out loudly! But I have to say that does affect my listening. Instead of paying attention to the lecture, I kept on finding question. Yes, asking question should be a natural and spontaneous action and I am not good at that. Finally I got a chance and asked a small question. It is so minor that I now forget what it is!

As the saying goes, opportunity favors the prepared mind. Then there came the chance: Ruth asked us what we’ve learned from the activity! I tried to organize my language but just at that moment, Ruth decided to choose a student to answer. Oh, she must be upset about us inactive Chinese guys. What should I do? Stand up despite I am not well-prepared? Or let the great chance slip away. A voice appeared: do wait for the perfect idea, just go for the good one! Then I raised my hand! I am a little surprised by that! I achieved!

Stand out!

I find that asking question is not as easy as I think but stand out is not very hard! Just be brave!

Tomorrow, oh no, today, will be a diligent day! I plan to finish my Research Proposal about Multiscale Modeling. It’s gonna be very challenging, but I have to because the deadline is around the corner! I am ready!

Research Proposal

 

At the Beginning of the Journey!

Welcome! Welcome to my blog! Welcome to kick away the yellow pig with me! I will write down my journey of overcoming my laziness and timidity. As long as you like thinking, like reading and like challenging yourself, welcome! Let reflect every day and overcome our weakness during this journey!

Welcome!

As I said in “about me”, I am an idealist and have a lot of dream. But laziness and timidity make me lost a lot of great opportunities. I do not want to flinch behind and regret afterwards, so I have to change! Every day, I will give me an “assignment”, either about “brave” or “diligent” and then I will try to finish the next day! It’s gonna be quite interesting at first but very challenging to keep on doing.

The first day of my journey is a brave day which may provide me the courage I need. My first task is asking Ruth a question in class! Sounds like quite easy but I am sure I can learn a lot from that. Oh, I am eager to begin!

Asking Question!

Are you with me my dear friends? Do you like reading and reflecting? Do you have the same problems as me? Do you have similar dreams with me? Do you want to have a change? Let’s start! Let’s kick away the yellow pig in our heart! Let’s go!

Journey