【毕业·声】唐勋哲：主动出击，把“被动”走成旷野 | IHP国际高中

我人生中的前15年都是在北京度过的，这段时光造就了我京片子的北京口音以及北方人的生活习惯。由于母亲的工作调动，我跨越南北来到了广州。陌生的环境、陌生的人；不同的民俗、不同的习惯，广州的一切对于我来说都是一种冲击。我曾在无数个瞬间，脑中浮现出如此贴合当下的描述“独在异乡为异客”。万事开头难，我最初在学校的生活并不顺利，学术上的造诣也不高。

I spent the first 15 years of my life in Beijing, which created my Beijing accent and northern habits. Due to my mother's job transfer, I came to Guangzhou from north to south. Everything in Guangzhou was unfamiliar to me, and there were countless moments when the phrase “being alone in a new place is like being a stranger” came to my mind, which fit the current situation. I had a rough start in school, and I didn't do well academically.

但是随着课程的推进，我渐渐开始适应，适应的开始来自于我的老师Mr. Ripp。三年前的时刻对我来说就像近在眼前，我清楚地记得我们谈到的第一本小说是《动物农场》，这本书像是一把打开心扉的钥匙，我仍记得书中的思想以及隐含的论调对于在封闭公立高中的我带来的冲击。

我从小就是一个对人文历史有独特兴趣的人，初中闭塞重复的知识好像让我的心略微蒙尘。好在Mr. Ripp对于文字的理解以及思想的输出让我焕然一新。随着课程的深入，我越发意识到自己的傲慢以及眼高手低，如今的知识不过蚍蜉撼树。苏格拉底曾说过：认识到自己的无知，乃是开启智慧的大门。在Mr. Ripp的课堂上，每一个观点都值得被尊重，每一次发言都值得被倾听。他的教育增加了我对人文社科的热情，在某种程度上也促进了我的专业选择，我的成长少不了Mr. Ripp的支持。

But as the program progressed, I began to adapt, and the adaptation came from my teacher, Mr. Ripp. Three years ago seems as close as now to me, and I vividly remember the first novel we talked about was Animal Farm, which was like a key to unlock my heart, and I can still remember the impact that the ideas and implicit arguments in the book had on me, who had been a student in a closed public middle school.

I had a unique interest in the humanities and history since I was a child, and the closed and repetitive knowledge of middle school seemed to have dulled my mind. Fortunately, Mr. Ripp's understanding of the word and the output of his ideas refreshed me. As the lessons progressed, I became more and more aware of my arrogance and my short-sightedness. Socrates once said that recognizing your own ignorance is the door to wisdom. In his classroom, every point of view deserved to be respected and every statement deserved to be heard. His education increased my passion for the humanities and social sciences, and in some ways promoted the choice of my major.

“试想一间铁屋子：没有门窗，坚不可摧，里面睡满了酣睡的人。”我一边细读着鲁迅先生最著名的短篇小说之一《呐喊》，一边暗自喃喃自语，“呼唤，唤醒其中轻睡的人，使他们临死前痛苦得不能自已，这样做对吗？”

简短而有力的句子立刻抓住了我的心，甚至在我读完故事的几天后，鲁迅提出的问题仍然在我脑海中挥之不去。我很快就沉浸在鲁迅小说里对社会问题的敏感描述、夸张的人物形象和生动的比喻中。那时，我经常熬夜，完全沉浸在鲁迅的小说中，废寝忘食。鲁迅对社会的强烈洞察力使我在阅读他的小说时受到了极大的启发。他激发了我对社会问题的关注，以及对社会变革进行自我教育的渴望。

"Imagine an iron house: without windows or doors, utterly indestructible, and full of sound sleepers," I murmured under my breath as I carefully read through Call to Arms, one of Lu Xun's most famous short stories, "Is it right to cry out, to rouse the light sleepers among them, causing them inconsolable agony before they die?"

The brief but powerful sentences captured my heart immediately. Even days after I finished reading the story, the questions raised by Lu Xun still lingered in my mind. I was soon immersed in Lu Xun's sensitive descriptions of social problems, exaggerated characters, and vivid analogies. Back then, I would stay up late and be completely absorbed in Lu Xun's novels, forgetting about the time. The intensity of Lu Xun's social vision made reading his stories an incredibly inspiring experience. They sparked my awareness of social issues and my desire to educate myself about the changes in society.

从那时起，我将大部分课余时间用于观察社会现象，关注全球时事新闻，并利用自己的理论知识研究社会变迁。通过这些活动，我发现自己突然走上了一条充满生机、活力和动力的轨道。对我来说，长时间学习社会学理论似乎是我生命中的一段神奇的时光，了解社会的每一刻都值得细细品味。当我参与与社会有关的活动时，一种从未有过的巨大兴奋感将我淹没。

IHP给予了我丰富的社会实践机会，我曾在学校的组织下，多次参与志愿者工作，为贫困地区的孩子募捐，为特殊群体服务，这是因为我内在的满足感，而不是想从他人那里获得回报。此外，各种各样的社会实践经历似乎唤醒了我的道德勇气，使我在遇到相当大的阻力时，也能够坚定信念。我对我周围的不公平现象很敏感，在我的记忆中，闪现着我据理力争，为弱势群体辩护的片段。

未来，我渴望能成为推动社会进步的积极力量。如果有人问我为什么，我很愿意引用我的榜样鲁迅先生的话作为解释：“因为还有希望，希望铁屋子总有一天会被摧毁”。

From then on, I have devoted the majority of my spare time to observing social phenomena, following current global news, and looking into societal changes using my theoretical knowledge. Through these activities, I found myself suddenly on a track filled with great energy, vitality, and dynamism. For me, the long hours of studying sociology theories appeared to be magical times of my life, and every moment of understanding our society was worth savoring. An enormous sense of excitement never felt before overwhelmed me as I engaged in social-related activities. 

IHP has given me rich opportunities for social practice. I have participated in volunteer works many times under the organization of IHP, collecting donations for children in the poor areas and serving some special groups. I feel much more content about engaging in social-related activities out of my inherent satisfaction rather than the desire to earn rewards from others. Moreover, these experiences seemed to reawaken my moral courage, which enabled me to stand up for what I strongly believe in, even when I run up against considerable opposition.

In the future, I aspire to be a positive force for social progress. If anyone ever asked why, I would love to quote words from my role model, Lu Xun, "because there was still hope, hope that the iron house may one day be destroyed."

古希腊哲学家爱比克泰德曾经说过一句著名的话，他说：我们登上并非我们所选择的舞台，演出并非我们所选择的剧本。仔细一想，的确如此，我们这一生中其实自己能决定的东西很少，我们可能只能决定5%的东西，有95%的东西是我们决定不了的，我们决定不了我们的出身，我们决定不了我们的智商，我们更决定不了我们这一生的贵人相助。但我认为，这并不意味着我们就要被动地接受命运的安排。相反，我们应该主动去把握自己的人生，尽全力去演绎好既定的剧本。

正如艾森豪威尔的母亲曾经对艾森豪威尔说：你在打牌的时候即使抓到最烂的一副牌，也要把这副牌给打完。因为你永远不知道再差的牌最后会不会赢得胜利。同样，我们每个人虽然无法完全控制自己的出身、智商等先天条件，但仍有5%的事情在我们的掌控之中。关键在于如何演绎好这些可控因素，充分发挥自己的潜力。

The ancient Greek philosopher, Epictetus, once said: we get on the stage and perform the play that we do not choose. When we think about it, it is true that we can decide very few things in our life. We may only decide 5% of the things. There are 95% of the things we can not decide, we can not decide our origin, we can not decide our birth, we can not decide who will help us in our life. However, I think this doesn't mean that we have to passively accept the arrangement of fate. On the contrary, we should take the initiative to grasp our own life and do our best to interpret the established script. 

Just as Eisenhower's mother once told Eisenhower, "When you play cards, even if you catch the worst card, you have to finish the game. Because you never know if the worst card will win in the end." Similarly, although each of us can't fully control our innate conditions, there are still 5% of things under our control. The key lies in how to utilize these controllable factors to fully develop your potential.

我曾被动地从北京搬到广州，在人生地不熟的情况下，我并没有怨天尤人，而是努力地适应着周围的变化，充分利用好一切可控因素。最终，我在新的环境中，找到了自己热爱的事物、找到了志同道合的朋友、找到了属于自己的生活方式和发展方向。

我们所生活的时代是幸运的，多元化的。互联网时代的到来将获取知识的门槛无限下降。在这个挑战与机遇共存的时代，我们更需要保持开放的心态，不断学习和改变自己。我们要摒弃固有的观念和条条框框，用变化的视野审视这个世界。只有这样，我们才能在这个瞬息万变的时代里，把握好每一次机会，精彩演绎自己的人生。

Just as I once passively moved from Beijing to Guangzhou, I didn't complain about the unfamiliar situation, but tried my best to adapt to the changes and make the best use of all the controllable factors. In the end, I found what I love, my dear friends, and my own lifestyle and development direction in the new environment.

The era we live in is fortunate and diversified. The arrival of the Internet has infinitely minimized the threshold of acquiring knowledge. In this age of challenges and opportunities, it is more necessary for us to keep an open mind, to learn and to change ourselves constantly. We need to abandon stereotypes, and see the world from a changing perspective. Only in this way can we grasp every opportunity and brilliantly express our own life in this rapidly changing era.