中英文/图：李慧妍
——幸福学堂 颜群宇（校长）
Everything was dreamy and wonderful when I first stepped on the land of America. Before the end of 2015, my life was composed with math quizzes, physics formulas, English classes with a Canadian teacher, bursting laughter along the hallway, and weekly published magazines. The catastrophe of my life was merely dropping out of the top 20 of my class. However, by the moment I stepped out of the airplane that brought me to America, I soon grew at a extraordinary pace……
Soulmates and buddies exist wherever you go. However you need to devote effort, time, and bravery when seeking for them. People say you can just step away when facing people you do not like, but on the other hand these people somehow will still make up a part your everyday routine. And someday you will have to learn to accept their accompany. In my opinion, adapting means neither approving, nor compromising. It is simply a way to keep yourself happy. Most people’s motivation comes from the dissatisfaction of the current situation. Therefore, while trying not to be involved in too much drama, we need to understand our goals and expectations for ourselves. Through the assistance of time, people will eventually have a acquaintance with people that will become their life long friends.
我一面悄悄百度了踌躇而雁行的典故，一面为自己的文学素养自惭形秽了一会儿。学识的积累让自己让自己有更多选择的权利，也让自己与更优秀的人产生共鸣。学习和进步的动力最终应该源于“想要”，而不是“应该”。
An eloquent way of explaining why people learn is to say people become a better self with far different breadth of vision through the nurture of books and knowledge. When you put it plain and realistic, it is to gain the right of having options and the ability to pursue a life within one’s desire. When I was younger I looked down upon any pursue of money. I promised myself to become a writer who wanders around the world, and live above and beyond the shallowness of the material world. However as I grew out of my dreamy bubbles, I understood that although money does define who you are, it is still essential to people’s life. And knowledge is the direct method of acquiring money. However, money is not the only thing people gain from knowledge. On day when I was browsing through Zhihu (an app similar to Quora), I saw a post like this: (pic). While I quickly googled the literary allusion from the post, I felt embarrassed for my lack of literature attainment. Knowledge not only gives you the right to choose from more options in life, but also brings you closer to people that are outstanding and successful. Our motivation of progression should be originating from “I want to” rather than “I need to”.
Mr. Yan still teases me with the one time when he caught me crying for the up coming finals till today. And it it true to say after you got shot by a gun, you won’t even notice when somebody cut you with a knife. Sometimes we cannot force the environment to change, but we ca always work with our own perspectives and attitudes. It is okay to feel hurt and cry about it, and it is okay to have days that aren’t so bright, but it is important to never give up trying. There is always hope, even if the storm roars now. Someone once told me that there is no suffering designed just for you. And there so many amazing possibilities await. When a heart is trained to toughen up, the hardship weakens without notice.
My first acquaintance with 幸福学堂 happened because of an English course, but I truly got to know it during the summer of 2016. Although it might seem short, I learned a lot from the faculty and students there. There is ingenuity and thoughtfulness within and outside of each course of 幸福学堂. Their exploration of the true essence of learning and education continues till today. Perhaps there are always pioneers for great projects, and I believe that is what 幸福学堂 is.