[Malaysia] Fu Zhi Ying, Zhejiang University

At Zhejiang University, there is a well-known saying that both teachers and students are familiar with, which is “Students of Zhejiang University are shinning like stars.” As an overseas student, I often wonder what I should do to be regarded as “shining like a star”? Compared with other academically successful peers, I seem to be ordinary and unremarkable. What am I capable in and good at? These thoughts have been lingering in my mind.

In February this year, passing through the village gate surrounded by buffalo skulls and red ribbons, bathed in the joyful songs and laughter of the Miao people, I arrived at a Miao village lying in the huge mountains of Zhangjiajie with ancient charm. Before entering the living area formally, the commentator AJie stopped at the bulletin board of the village and guided us to take a glimpse at the stories about Miao people. We have learned that the village was originally a deeply impoverished area. However, with the policy support of the central government for around 10 years and the efforts of local residents to overcome difficulties, the development strategy of “promoting their self-restoration ability and preserving their culture heritage” has helped safeguard the basic rights of survival, dignity, and freedom of the ethnic people. The ruthless, rootless, futureless, and voiceless growth is avoided. Silver forging and tourism industries are systematically developed. Multi-household poverty alleviation is achieved. Consequently the thriving Miao culture leads to the existence of a vibrant, rustic yet magnificent world in the eyes of foreigners, including me.

We walked along the small main road of the village and saw an elderly man and his disciples drawing silver wire by the fireplace. It seems that they have become accustomed to the arrival of passengers since our gaze did not bother them to hesitate for a moment. The movements on their hands are still smooth and efficient. Deep inside the village, we observed that more elderly people wearing folk costumes and silver jewelleries were selling local specialties such as tea and root of kudzu vine outside the house, while there are very few young people. With this doubt in mind, we walked into a narrow wooden house and chatted with an old lady there. It turned out that most of the middle-aged male villagers work outside in order to improve their life, including the brother of Ajie, the commentator . Although the family of the old lady makes a living by tea leaves business, as the tea plantation is located on the top of a mountain near the village, she is too old to go that far. She can only sell tea leaves to tourists as she does now. In this small room, her warm and cheerful greeting made me suddenly feel sad. Before leaving, I bought a silver ring with a leaf shaped design, symbolizing “plain sailing” according to the local culture. With the blessings of these hardworking Miao people and this unforgettable memory, I returned to Hangzhou.

When collecting preliminary information for my graduation thesis, I learned about a story of Ms. Huang Wenxiu when doing research on the theme of poverty alleviation. As a master student from Beijing Normal University, she resolutely gave up the opportunity to work in the city after graduation and returned to her hometown, that is Baini Village in Baise, Guangxi Zhuang AR., to take the role of the First Secretary stationed in the village. With such perseverance, she still cared about the safety of the village before misfortune fell to her, and fulfilled her mission to the end of her life. This touching story motivated me to start searching for what I can do for this city and this land as an international student. Therefore, I signed up for the volunteer project of Asian Games. I wrote the stories about the inheritance of Miao Village and uploaded them to my personal social media pages. I pay much attention to the vulnerable groups around me and am ready to provide help at any time when they need. I am going to choose The Financial Development of Impoverished Areas as the research topic of my graduation thesis. I constantly remind myself that the vision and background of college students from prestigious universities do not necessarily mean that we have the ability to do anything we want. Instead we are endowed with responsibilities and obligations to the society. To that end, it is even more important to maintain the attitude of “having learned the how vast the universe is yet remaining tender-hearted”. That is , we should show concerns to the small things that are within our power before carrying out grand narratives.

Hence, I finally came up with an applicable answer to the question that has been perplexing me for several years. As a college student, in addition to climbing upwards, I must also take root downwards. I must not only forge ahead so as to benefit the public with what we have learned, but also harbour deep love to the land and people here. This is the reflection I have made on my study in China. It is an answer sheet I have given supplementary to the academic learning in university. It is also my own path to “shining like stars”.