I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn’t like attention drawn to myself. And unless assigned (指定) a seat by the teacher, I always chose to sit at the back of the classroom.

All this changed after I joined a sports team. It began when a teacher suggested I try out for the basketball team. At first I thought it was a crazy idea because I didn’t have a good sense of balance, nor did I have the ability to keep pace with the others on the team and they would laugh at me. But for the teacher who kept insisting on my “going for it”, I wouldn’t have decided to give a try.

Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts (选拔赛) was only the half of it! Luckily, I passed them. When I first started attending the practice sessions, I didn’t even know the rules of the game, much less what I was doing. Sometimes I’d get confused and take a shot at the wrong direction—which made me feel really stupid. Thank God, I wasn’t the only one “new” at the game, so I decided to focus on learning the game, do my best at each practice session, and not be too hard on myself for the things I didn’t know “just yet”.

I practiced and practiced. Soon I knew the rules and the “moves”. Being part of a team was fun and encouraging. Very soon the competitive part in me was winning over my lack of confidence. With time, I learned how to play and made friends in the progress—friends who respected my efforts to work hard and be a team player. I never had so much fun!

With my improved self-confidence comes more praise from teachers and classmates. I have gone from “hiding” in the back of the classroom and not wanting to call attention to myself, to raising my hand—even when I sometimes wasn’t and not 100 percent sure I had the right answer. Now, I have more self-confidence in myself. Every time I come across a challenge, my teacher’s “going for it” rings in my ears.

My childhood was a painted picture of sunny sky and rolling green fields stretching to the horizon. It tasted of sharp berries and smelt of sour grapes. My family lived in a cabin(小木屋) in the countryside but I lived in my mother’s arms. They were so delicate but strong, her red hair falling around me like a curtain separating me from the world.

Childhood was simple. The borders of my village were the furthest my troubles went and monsters only lived in the pages of books. Every day was a waking dream of running races and muddy knees. My village was archaic, dying cabins housing dying farmers with dying traditions. There weren’t many children but me and the other boys; boys of butchers and sellers formed our own group.

They called us wild. I suppose we were. Trees and mountains formed our playgrounds and fights broke out as easily as sudden laughter. Liberated from the restrictions of society, we would bound into the woods, deeper and deeper until we found a lake which, with a wild yell, we would jump into all at once.

My most vivid memories from boyhood center around that lake. Water shone brightly and the sounds of our screams broke into the outcry from birds. The shock of cold water against sweating skin would wake every nerve in my body and my bare feet would hit the sinking muddy bottom. As we submerged(淹没)， time would suspend， movements slowing as bubbles rose around us.

I was drowning. I was living. I was living. I was drowning.

For timelessness or a second (both felt the same), we would suspend, curl up, and then be forced back out into breathing air.

We should have known that it wouldn’t last forever. Yet, even under the best circumstances, there’s something so tragic about growing up: to have your perspective on the people and life around you change;to always struggle to reach a mirror only to find yourself tall enough to see your reflection one day. And find, a different person staring back out at you.

Sara Kays, a 22-year-old girl, is a rising star on online-video-sharing platforms. She not only uses TikTok (抖音) to promote her music but also posts songs to get feedback (反馈) from her followers.

“It’s been cool to engage with people that way” said Kays, who has been using online platforms to realize her music dream. Now, she is famous on TikTok with about 1.3-million followers. She released her breakup song Remember That Nigh? in November 2020. The post blew up, getting almost three million views in a matter of days.

Kays has loved singing since she was young. At 11, she got a guitar from her mother and then started to sing while playing Gradually, people started asking her to play at restaurants and she also started to post some live videos on YouTube, gaining her more and more followers. At 17, Kays turned to songwriting to help her deal with the confusion in life and serve as an outlet for her thoughts and feelings.

“I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to release songs and that all these people are listening to them online,” said Kays. “It’s been amazing.”

Different from other content creators who update their content frequently, Kays updates on a weekly basis, and only posts-videos about her songs and related stories, such as singing, playing the guitar or ukulele, shooting music videos. Her videos are always simple, and the recording process is pretty simple too: she edit the vocals and video in her room.

Now, Kays has signed with a music company. In Kays’ eyes, people like her songs and videos because she writes about life experiences and emotions of the youth. “I just sing and share my feelings about divorced parents, body image, loneliness and mental health,” said Kays. “I want more people to know they’re not alone with the struggles in their lives.”