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Editor's Note: The third SCNU English writing contest, themed "Telling China’s Story", ended with 422 entries from 33 different schools. We congratulate all prize winners on their outstanding performance. Awarded winners have been announced (see results), and all winning entries will be published in this column.
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By Zhang Xiaotong
Reviewing the long arc of China's history, numerous unsung heroes from various age groups struggled for ideals without hesitation and fear, among whom the youth have created an incomparable beauty of hymns. As Chairman Mao said, the world, in the final analysis, belongs to the youth who are as vigorous as the sun in the morning. In a sense, it is the story of Chinese youth that charts an ever upward future trajectory of China.
The May Fourth Movement, which marked the dawn of the New Democratic Revolution in China, has laid the firm foundation of the youth's spirit. Over a century ago, by virtue of the failure at the Paris Peace Conference, a host of college students played a vanguard role in the campaign against feudalism and imperialism by the way of demonstration, petition and boycott. They called on the crowd to fight against invaders as well as the Northern Warlord Government of inaction with the slogan of upholding sovereignty and expelling turncoats in spite of peril and threat.
With joint efforts, the government dismissed the quislings and refused to conform to the unequal contract, signifying the victory of this great movement. The May Fourth Movement has blazed a trail of Chinese youth taking responsibility for our homeland with the spirit of patriotism, advancement, democracy, and scientificity. Under the guidance of these forerunners along with the perpetual spiritual qualities, a multitude of youth take up the baton and make contribution in all walks of life.
Recently, the Battle at Lake Changjin, a film that tells the story about Chinese young soldiers defending our homeland amid fierce cold during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea has been in the limelight and aroused wide public attention. These young heroes overcame enormous odds like hunger, frost and exhaustion, some of whom even sacrificed their lives to confront with the U.S. enemies, which demonstrated their boundless loyalty to the motherland and brought us to tears.
In retrospect, there are countless young warriors similar to them such as Zhang Zizhong, who lost his life valiantly in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and Dong Cunrui, who devoted himself to exploding the fort of enemies during China's War of Liberation. These revolutionary martyrs have carried forward the spirit of pioneers in the May Fourth Movement and exerted considerable influence on all the later generations.
Back to contemporary society, we have witnessed numerous Chinese youth summon courage to chase their dreams. A case in point is the Chinese young athletes' remarkable performance in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. Yang Qian, who currently attends college at Tsinghua University at the age of 21, won the first gold medal for China in Women's Shooting 10m Air Rifle. Her outstanding performance along with the adorable appearance has made a profound impression on the public and set off a great wave of youth.
Afterwards, Quan Hongchan, who born in 2007, shattered the world record of Women's Diving 10m platform with a fabulous total of 466.2 points in five jumps, among which three of the jumps were full marks. At the post-match press conference, the coach of Quan heaped praise on her perseverance and endeavor based on the example that Quan has 200-300 land jumps every day. These eminent athletes represent the generation born after 00's and exhibit the vitality and diligence of Chinese youth.
Apart from the field of sports, we are entering a brand new era full of revolution and innovation, which determines that the area of science and technology is of vital significance. Following the tracks of predecessors, Chinese youth bring the spirit of creation and development into full play and make gratifying achievements.
A team formed by SCNU undergraduates from the School of Psychology was awarded grand prize in the 17th "Challenge Cup" for their project monitoring college students' psychological crisis during the epidemic. SCNU is the only university from Guangdong province to win such a prize, which is also its first special award in the category of philosophy and social sciences.
As is introduced, they conducted a three-stage survey at 22 universities in Guangdong province to monitor college students' psychological crisis during Covid-19 and explored methods of psychological crisis prevention and control. Their accomplishments were applied to the national psychological assistance platforms such as "Xinqing Hotline". Such a group of youth live up to the expectations of their mentors and express their sincerity and determination by action.
Whether the college students in the movement and laboratory, or the soldiers and athletes in the battlefield, they all share a common name called the youth. Chinese youth have the quality of exerting efforts, forging ahead and making innovation, which can all essentially attribute to the strength of faith.
As President Xi emphasizes, faith is the powerful spiritual pillar of a person. Only when we have unswerving faith can we advance and grow without distractions. From these youth, we can definitely experience their faith of pursuing and achieving their own dreams, which may be ordinary and small, yet glittery and splendid.
Chinese youth hold a firm belief that minor advance and achievements can contribute to the Chinese Dream of great rejuvenation and not only are we striving for ourselves, but the whole nation. In the name of youth, we will take on the responsibility and keep pressing forward with the melody of the song of faith. Let us collectively look forward to the achievement of our Chinese Dream.
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