(Clearwisdom.net) In autumn 2003, Sammie, a Chinese girl, was admitted to Manchester University. Sammie was only sixteen and had lived in the UK for only a year and a half. She was the youngest person in her class. Three years later, Sammie was looked at with new eyes because of her excellent dissertation. The college awarded her the Sociology Prize for her outstanding grades and special contributions. The prize was awarded to two students. The other was a student from the UK.
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Nineteen year old Sammie at the university graduation ceremony |
Sammie s success in her school work is not only an encouragement to Chinese students who have come and studied in the UK but arouses our curiosity as well. Isn t the tradition for Chinese students to quietly immerse themselves in hard work? Is that what made her successful? To find the answer, a reporter interviewed Sammie.
When in year two of primary school, Sammie was chosen by a TV station to be trained for two years in a film and TV class. She hosted children's programs several times at a TV station and dubbed for cartoons. Sammie s school was a key school. When orchestras from abroad and government institutions visited her school, she also hosted performances in English.
About often showing her face in public, Sammie did not say much. She only said, "I didn t feel that I was really meant to this show business. I prefer doing something behind the curtain."
Sammie is very much interested in literature. She likes going to the library, reading books and writing essays. She always wanted to be a writer. Perhaps benefiting from reading extensively, Sammie not only has been coming out on top in her grade but is a good student of good character as well. From the point of view of the reporter, Sammie's extraordinary experience should have logically paved the way for her choosing media studies, but Sammie did not entirely agree.
"When I was nine, my parents divorced. My heart suddenly dropped into a deep valley," Sammie said slowly.. "But later on, it was because I found my own faith, Falun Gong, that my heart not only resumed to the state of peace but my study results became even better."
When she was ten, Sammie s mother was so down in spirits because of the divorce that she suffered from myocarditis. She went to see doctors everywhere but it did not help. One of her colleagues introduced Falun Gong to her. After giving it a try, she felt it was very effective. From then on, she started practicing seriously. Gradually she not only became healthy but was in a cheerful frame of mind as well. Sammie had the opportunity to read the practice's main text Zhuan Falun. She could not tear herself away from the book from the moment she began reading it, and she thought the book was very well written.
At that time, there were practice sites in many parks. Every morning and evening, as well as on weekends, the mother and daughter would go to practice the exercises. Practicing Falun Gong enriched their lives. No matter what the weather, everyone went to the park to do the exercises.
When asked, "Why does everyone persist in doing the exercises?" Sammie answered without thinking, "It is simply because the guiding principles are righteous. Currently, those who do the practice include people who have jobs, students, elderly people and the grandchildren they bring with them. After a busy day, everyone is eager to come because they believe it is a noble thing to share their experiences in cultivation after finishing the exercises. Previously, people would feel indignant when they had conflicts or they were wronged at their work places, schools and homes. After practicing Falun Gong, they share their opinions about how to look inward. That sort of calmness and sincerity influences everyone. I would describe it as a field that is very pure, it is a Pure Land."
However in July 1999, the whole situation in China suddenly changed. The official attitude toward Falun Gong abruptly changed and slander was heard everywhere. The police went to parks to keep watch, preventing people from practicing. Whoever did the exercises was arrested. Such a situation for Sammie, who had never experienced the Cultural Revolution, was very difficult to understand. She felt very constrained.
"And yet it was also a good opportunity to think, what sort of media is it in China?" said Sammie. "The present media in China serves the regime controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. That s why civilians are deceived."
She has High Aspirations Though She is Young
In that year, there were over five hundred students applying for the media course at Manchester University. Only seventeen of them were selected. Except for Sammie, they were all UK students. Sammie was only sixteen years old at the time, the youngest in her class. There were fourteen students left when they graduated three years later. Among them, Sammie was the outstanding one.
In her statement, Sammie had talked about her thoughts about different media systems between China and the UK and her previous experience. This made her teachers firmly believe that she was the student they wanted.
However, pursuing her studies was not all clear sailing. Sammie felt that it was an entirely new experience for her to study at Manchester University as she had never studied at a higher school or learned any preparatory courses in the UK before. At the beginning, she did not know how to take notes. She even doubted if she was capable of finishing the course. Even so, she held on, depending on her will power and earnestness.
When she finished her first year at University, her results were not outstanding. When she was in her second year, the difficulty of her school work increased in one blow. Sammie was thinking of doing her own project research then. Naturally, she chose the difference of media systems between China and the UK.
Besides spending time in the library reading extensively, Sammie also did volunteer work for an international Chinese radio station, an austere challenge for Sammie who is introverted by nature. Even so, she was deeply attracted by the work. "It is because the tenet of the radio station is to let ordinary people in China say what they want to say and voice their grievances, which is not allowed in China," said Sammie.
Sammie found that her volunteer work did not interfere with her college work. On the contrary, the work helped her see some social problems more deeply. When she graduated from three years study, Sammie s dissertation "The Chinese Media under the Mix of Party Logic and Market Logic" made her teachers look at her with new eyes, for which she was awarded the Sociology Prize.
Little "Grown-up" in Her Daily Life
You are wrong if you think that Sammie s success was based on her only devoting her mind to her academic work and project research. In her daily life, Sammie not only studies, her life is composed of her faith, volunteer work and social awareness.
Sammie s mother works in a city in the UK, which is far away from her daughter. In her free time, Sammie has to arrange properly for her food, clothing, shelter and transportation, and the basic necessities of life.
In Sammie's work for the radio station, she has done many things such as gathering news, collecting information, editing, writing and programming. She had to consider her academic work first and then arranged her time well.
In the consortium of the University, Sammie was chairwoman of the Falun Gong Association and always offers free exercise instruction. In order to help people learn about the persecution of Falun Gong, she held regular discussions about human rights. She often participated in activities to raise awareness.
The Courage to Pursue "Truthfulness"
Sammie sighed with emotion, "Mainland China needs a real independent media. Only in this way can the Chinese people voice their opinions, learn the truth about society and then make their own judgments. Only doing it like this is good for the Chinese people. "
Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200702/37858.html
Category: April 25 Events
