“I will learn Chinese!” This idea jumped into my head. It was born of something deeper inside. The idea has changed my life completely. When other people asked me why, I often joked that I was inspired by the nice tank of goldfish in the Chinese restaurant my family frequented(频繁光顾) when I was young. In fact, I started studying it because I was always attracted to Chinese culture, and learning the language is the key to achieving my dream of travelling around China.

I was lucky for many reasons. Back in 2010, Chinese was not as popular with foreigners as it is today. However, my family lent me strong support from my first year abroad in China. Even if they cannot see me often and miss me so much, I still have their support. I was also very fortunate that a Confucious Institute opened. I will always thank for its excellent staff and all the great people I met there.

Ni hao! The word “hello” in Chinese was the first word I learned in my first Chinese class. After class I was filled with enthusiasm and couldn’t stop thinking about “ni hao” and all the new words yet to come. Not only were many more words and phrases waiting, but also the experiences I never expected.

When I was in the middle school, I seldom raised my hands to answer questions in class. When the teacher asked a question, I always lowered my head because I was afraid that the teacher saw me. And I found lots of my classmates were just like me.

One day, in a foreign language class, Mr. Black gave us a lesson. He wanted us to be active in class, so he asked us some questions, but no one answered. “At the beginning of the class, let me tell you a story.” He said.

“When I came to the United States to study, the university often invited famous people to make speeches. Before the beginning of every speech, I found an interesting thing. The students around me always took a cardboard folded in half, wrote their names in bold (粗体) with the most eye-catching color, and then placed the cardboard on their seats. So when the speaker needed the answers from the students, he could see and call a listener’s name directly.”

“I couldn’t understand that my classmates told me the speakers were all top people who meant chances. When your answer was to their surprise, it means they might give you more chances. In fact, I really saw a few students got great chances because of that.”

After listening to the story, I understood that the chance will not find you itself. You must show yourself all the time so that you can find a chance and then catch it.