Student Work Spotlight - You Only Live Once
Last Friday was our International Women's Day. It is a day dedicated to promoting a gender-equal society, free from bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. Additionally, it serves as an occasion for women to celebrate their achievements.
To correspond with the International Women's Day, a film titled "YOLO" was recently screened during the Spring Festival, and it achieved tremendous success. The film portrays the journey of a woman who overcomes challenges and emerges as a confident individual through perseverance.
This week we have the privilege of featuring one of our Year 7 students, Rachel Y, who will share her reflections and opinions after watching the film.
The sweat and pain in training lead to realizing the significance of growth and progress. After Le Ying was aspirated to become an amateur boxer, regardless the cold days, raining nights, or early mornings, she kept on training. I play ice hockey and has been through all kinds of similar trainings, which were extremely hard. In order to have me kept up with the boys, my coach offered additional strength training. I was very exhausted but wasn’t allowed to stop until I caught up. Muscular soreness would go on for whole night or even days, but the next day I still had to bite the bullet and went on training. Within a year, actress Jia Ling went from an overweight woman to a muscular boxer. Her body suffered in pain but eventually her persistence helped her get through this stage. and the only way that helped her through this suffering stage was persistence. With persistence, we broke records, became faster, higher, and stronger.
Loving yourself is based on knowing how to choose and reject. Childhood Le Ying couldn’t reject friends’ requests, she would give both her only two apples to friends; grown up Le Ying couldn’t reject unreasonable requests from family members and friends, she shamed herself in front of the public and lost her apartment. After boxing, Le Ying’s father asked her about the two-apple again, and she smiled, ‘depending on my mood’; facing her ex-boyfriend’s invitation, she also smiled, ‘depending on my mood’. Unable to refuse is a result of being tied up by one’s mood and not willing to express one’s thoughts; unable to refuse is a result of caring the others over oneself. Determined to complete one boxing game, Le Ying brought herself a life goal. Once the goal is clear, once inner conflicts are settled. Everything conflicting the goal can be rejected; everything in favor of the goal can be insisted.
Life is full of countless ups and downs. On the game day, the boss of the boxing gym repeatedly persuaded Le Ying, ‘if you can’t stand, call an end anytime’. Soon, Le Ying was beaten so hard and knocked down timelessly, she managed to get back on her feet and firmly replied, ‘no, this is not ending, I want to “win”’; an audience in the movie theatre murmured in my back, “she didn’t win”, at the mean time, the movie screen just flashed Le Ying’s first ever post in WeChat moments, ‘had won once’. I believe that the statement ‘had won once’ doesn’t only mean win or lose, but to win over the previous herself, to replace old memories. Sometimes I lose a game, but I can feel that my skills are improved, it also counts as a “win”. Winning back self -recognition, meeting self-expectations, holding on to the end of the game, they should be true definitions of ‘winning’. Most importantly, it only matters if you only think you had won.
YOLO! We only live once, so let us “win” once!
Each woman possesses her unique qualities. The day serves as a reminder of the importance of gender equality and acknowledges the significant contributions of women. We extend our gratitude to Rachel Y for her insightful and thought-provoking article.
