Two majors in university
As soon as the college entrance examination in 2011 is over, my heart has already flown thousands of miles away. I can’t wait to leave my hometown to see the outside world. Volunteering is no exception. They were all filled out of the province, and they were finally admitted to the landscape major of Southwest University, , more than 1,500 kilometers away from home.
Many students may not be familiar with garden design major. To be honest, I am just the same when I just entered university. I don't have much ideas about what major to study, and I chose it based on my feelings when I filled out my volunteers. Seeing the professional courses on the curriculum schedule, diseases and insect pests, turfgrass, garden design... I know every word, but I am confused when I look at it together.
What caught me even more unprepared is that painting is a compulsory course for our majors, and I have no basis in painting at all, drawing, watercolor, pen drawing ... I even have to learn from writing a pen. At that time, our studio was on the seventh floor and there was no elevator. In order to save time to practice, a few classmates and I often slept with a few newspapers in the studio when we were tired, sometimes staying for several days.
Freshman copy pen drawing
Although the grades are still passable, in fact I have not been enthusiastic about this major, and I do not plan to engage in design work in the future, so I study The enthusiasm is getting lower and lower, and almost all of the freshman and sophomore grades have passed the pass. Later, there were some classes that were not named.
I used to think that college life is like in a movie, with a group of like-minded friends doing things that they like together. But the director may have forgotten that the university still has classes that he doesn't like, and there is anxiety about the uncertainty of the future.
is in the junior year,Many students around me have already decided on the next step, including postgraduate entrance examinations, internships, public examinations... and I still hesitate. The role of "student" seemed to come to an end, and a few steps forward, I was about to be in the whistling society, but I was still absent-minded.
"Is my school days destined to end in regret?" I asked myself more than once.
"I really don't like the profession, so just learn something else you like." I tried to persuade myself more than once.
So, I started to take the second major of English from the first semester of my junior year, and it was also to prepare for future employment. The second major has a two-and-a-half-year course. It stands to reason that it should start in the second semester of the sophomore year. In order not to delay graduation, I applied to take all courses within two years. At the same time, I no longer evade the courses of my major, so almost all classes are full seven days a week. Except for classes, I spend the rest of my time in the library. My classmates say that I seem to be a different person.
I also started to practice reading and listening in scallops. I still read a few chapters of the original book every day. I have read more than 80 books. During the winter vacation, when there was nothing to do at home, I practiced intensive listening frantically. At most, I heard about 500 sentences a day. This is probably the one thing I've been holding on the longest.
The book I finished reading in Scallop
When I graduated from my senior year, I completed my second major in advance, passed the fourth and eighth degree, and also won strong48 English major "outstanding graduate" title, the performance of this major has also improved by leaps and bounds in the next two years.Although they are not as good as the big guys, most of them can test eighty to ninety points.
Finding the answer amidst constant trial and error
After graduation in 2015, I turned to a job with my good friends and got dizzy. Looking for a suitable job is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Thinking that English is my strong point and I also took a second major, I decided to find an English-related job to try.
After several interviews, I went to a game company to do overseas operations. The main job at the beginning was to configure gift packages for foreign players through experience games. A year has passed, and I have been able to stand alone in my work, but it has also reached a bottleneck period, and the promotion opportunities are not great, coupled with the frequent jet lag, the irregular life makes me miserable, and finally I chose to leave.
Later I went to Hangzhou again, did community operations, did PBL project-style teaching... After switching a few jobs, but always did not jump out of this circle, I can not feel my progress, and the company The various internal competitions also made me struggling to deal with. Many people may think that I have no continuity. Indeed, I have been wondering what kind of life I want in the past few years, and I am too busy to think about it. I can only find the answer through constant trial and error.
In 2019, I occasionally chatted with a colleague. He told me about the experience of working and traveling in New Zealand . I was heartbroken after hearing this. "Since I am too tired to live here, otherwise I will go for a walk and have a trip of my own?" I want to take advantage of the gap year, slow down, and give myself a chance to think and rest.
after the decision,I started to prepare IELTS and application materials. Fortunately, English has not fallen since my work. I only prepared for a week, with 7 points for the first exam. When the visa is issued in April, I will set off.
I went to Australia. During that year, I worked as part-time job for a period of time, and then traveled when I saved enough money. I'm not too picky about what job I do, but I focus on experience. I did farm work for an old couple for two weeks, then went to , Queensland, and picked tomatoes for a month from the farm in the harbour town of Bowen...I went to Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast... …There is no deliberate strategy plan, and every time you go to a new place, you can feel comfortable. feel the most authentic humanistic customs , suddenly I want to go somewhere and turn around and leave.
Picking tomatoes on the farm
I have also met many partners who come out to work and travel like me. We work together during the day, and go for a walk on the beach at night, chat, and have parties. Although we have different backgrounds and different situations in the past, it does not prevent us from getting along as equals, walking together for a while, and then bid farewell to each other to greet the next journey.
in Sydney
Someone asked me, does this experience of part-time work travel help my future career development? Unfortunately, it may not help much, but before I set off, I told myself not to pursue utilitarian purposes, just to experience another kind of life. This year, I did slowly become calm, and I have a memory of not changing my daughter, and I really understand that there is no distinction between high and low in work, but only in the division of labor.Maybe this is one of the reasons why I came to Yunnan to take part in poverty alleviation work.
Join the agricultural poverty alleviation team
After returning to China in early January 2020, I seriously and carefully considered the next step. I don't want to be trapped in the grid of reinforced jungle as before, day after day, but I can't get a sense of accomplishment. I want to try the possibilities beyond "9 to 5".
At this time, I thought that before going to Australia, I had played in a classmate's house in Yunnan for a while, and she followed her father to do agricultural poverty alleviation work in her hometown. Perhaps this is an opportunity to try.
So in March I came to Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan. When most people hear about Yunnan, they think of Dali Cangshan and Erhai, the ancient town of Lijiang, but they rarely come to red river between the dense forests of this plateau. The village where our base is located used to have very inconvenient transportation. In some places, there was not even a decent road. The villagers stayed in the mountains all year round and could not get out, and the economic situation was worrying.
But in fact, here has abundant light and heat resources and clean soil , climatic and geographical conditions are very suitable for the growth of some tropical and subtropical fruits, such as mango, passion fruit, papaya, orange ……It is a pity to abandon the land without plowing it.
The mangos and mangoes grown in our base
The father of the classmate is a man with a sense of land. He started poverty alleviation work in the local area a few years ago. He contracted more than 40,000 mu of wasteland, hired villagers to plant fruit trees, invited experts to train them in planting and cultivation techniques, and finally sold the fruits.
technicians are training farmers
After I came here, I am mainly responsible for online and offline publicity, contact and organization of trade fairs inside and outside the province, and other sales work. These are actually not difficult, but for me who is a bit "social fear", communication is not a small challenge, and this job must be communicated with all kinds of people. I still remember that the first time I held a trade fair, I bit the bullet and introduced our produce and fruits to customers, but it was a bit unsatisfactory. But there is a first time in everything, now I am very skilled and bold.
I have seen the photos here a few years ago. The hills are barren, young and middle-aged people have walked out of the mountains, the villages are deserted and poor, and now the mountains are full of greenery, We have planted seven or eight in our fruit garden. Ten kinds of fruits, full of hope and anger .
The past and the present here
I have lived here for nearly two years. I have become more experienced and comfortable from the various discomforts when I first came, and I also like the free and comfortable life in the mountains. . I remember when I first arrived, I couldn't understand their language at all. Even Mandarin has a strong accent, and I have to ask several times to understand it.
My classmates always tell me: "It doesn't matter if you don't understand it, you can talk with you more by listening." I often chat with local people and follow "parrots". Now I can understand a lot of Yi language , and I can say a few more words.
I like the cuteness and simplicity of the local people. Although they are poor, they still lead a hard-working and dignified life. Over the past few years, We have helped more than 3,000 poor households with a total of more than 10,000 people . Their smiles from the heart gave me a sense of accomplishment and made me more motivated to stick to it.
When mangoes are harvested
is written at the end
People often say that "the meaning of life is to toss and toss". Whenever I make a "tossing" decision, I am often both expectant and uneasy, but I believe that only in the constant "try, give up, and try again" can I find my true self.
I was always eager to find an answer, about the answer to "what kind of life do I want?" After coming to Honghe, I started to learn to slow down and experience work and life with my heart, and When I stopped rushing to my destination, I found that there were scenery everywhere along the way.
Maybe I will never be at the top of the pyramid, and maybe in the future I won't have extraordinary achievements in my work, but what does it matter? As long as I am still doing meaningful things and still have my own way of living, that's enough.
In the end, I want to thank my enlightened parents. They never tell me "what should a girl be like", "what should a girl be like", but listen to me patiently and support every one of me. Decided whether it is going to study abroad, work in Suzhou and Hangzhou, or come to Yunnan to help the poor. Maybe I will leave here in the future, but no matter where I go, I believe I will have the courage to try and make mistakes and start again.
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