Hello, teachers, students, and parents, my name is Yishen Wu.
Bar Mitzvah is an annual ceremony organized by Curionesty College for students who have reached the age of 17. Participating in this ceremony means that the students are saying goodbye to the “childish” stage of their lives and are moving towards maturity. The Polynesian Tiguan Piñon people will paint the bar mitzvah boy with a blood-like mixture of turmeric and coconut oil to symbolize the boy’s “death”.
I’m not a big fan of formal events myself, probably because I’m a very spontaneous person who doesn’t like to be tied down by rules and regulations, which is one of the reasons why I chose to come to Curionesty College.
At the age of 14, just entering puberty, I came to Curious with rebellion and impulsiveness. At that time, I was anorexic, addicted to games, socially inactive, and often quarreled with my parents, which was almost the darkest period of my life. First of all, I would like to thank all my teachers for not giving up on me, and thank you all for putting up with my little temperament, and also thank my parents for being tolerant of me, and thank my tutor, Mr. Bo, for his teachings to me.
That semester in ’18, I attended my classmates’ bar mitzvahs for the first time, and on that day, I put on a suit and tie, looked at my outfit in front of the mirror, and imagined that by the time of my own bar mitzvah, I might have solved some puzzle of the century, or I might have been able to travel the world without a care in the world, and unfortunately, I had done none of those things. Until a few weeks before my bar mitzvah, I was still scratching my head over what to write for my speech, still worrying about the future, always feeling like everything was ethereal, and never finding meaning in my seventeen years of life.
When I chose to come to Curious, it was more like entering a utopia, where there were no mountains of homework, no boring classes, and no need to get up at 7:00 a.m. in most schools, but to this day I realize that I was actually wrong. In Curious, although there is no system of all kinds of restrictions, but we need to face the difficult problems of life earlier than public school students, but also more personal independence, to be completely separated from parents, alone to face life.
Here, all learning is done on your own, and if you don’t follow the rules and deduct to the appropriate credit score, you have to leave. And you need to do more planning for your future, and where to go after graduation. This is one thing I don’t want to face, I don’t want to grow up, I don’t want to face these “problems of the century”, I used to think that when I reached that age, I would naturally be able to see the direction of the future, or at least have a plan, but the reality has dealt me a heavy blow, none of these things have come, the future is still a mystery. Because of this confusion, I especially envied the public school students who had no other worries except for homework, while I myself had all worries except for homework.
During this time of confusion, I wanted to escape from the reality of my impending adulthood – the uncertainty of my future, the need to earn my own living, and the fact that I could no longer use my age as an excuse for doing something wrong. Maybe it was to “get back” for growing up, or maybe it was to have fun and vent in my short-lived “childhood”. At that time, I ate after waking up, ate and played with my cell phone in bed, and then in the evening, when my friends from the public school got out of school, I went out to ride with them, usually from the evening of the first day to the early morning of the second day, trying to forget my inner anxiety through the physical exertion.
Also because I had no qualms about playing by myself at that time, I would often run around the country with a few friends carrying my bike on my back, got to know more seniors in the circle, and participated in a lot of national competitions. It was the fastest time for me to grow my skills, and it was a special joy to start from the bottom of the pack and end up with a championship. But even with such passion, I still didn’t want to take it as my future career. I was afraid that I would hate it after turning my hobby into a career, and it was a painful transition from spontaneous to forced, and to put it more vulgarly, I didn’t have 100% confidence in myself, and I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to earn any money by relying on the hobby. This fear gradually became a burden for me, and every day when I opened my eyes, I started to worry about what I would do in the future. But I’m grateful that I have this hobby, at least it keeps me from becoming a social asshole.
Of course, I asked many of my former classmates about their plans for the future, but I got the same answer: maybe I’ll go to work in some organization. So the whole 2020, I have been outside the social mixing, also went to do a number of jobs, have done supermarket logistics, also into the Western restaurant, through these to experience, to see if working is really a particularly good life. However, during the working period, every day I was very tired and tormented, standing and working for eight or nine hours a day, only one day of rest a week, and living a life that could not be seen to the end, and the wages I got in the end were not even enough to support myself.
That year’s experience really changed me a lot, I don’t want to be like those people, working from nine to five to support the family, by the mortgage, car loan pressure dead, don’t want their future is so boring. In contrast, learning can be too happy. After thinking about this, I returned to Curionesty College again this year, hoping that through my own efforts, I can change my friends around me, no longer narrow-minded, and not just because I don’t want to study and go to work.
Maybe by the time I turn 18, I will be forced by life and financial pressure to do those jobs and things I hate to do, but I hope I will always have the drive and courage to pursue my hobbies. At the same time, I will be able to let go of the fear of the future, no longer choose to run away, but to turn around and embrace it openly. Thank you all!
附：邬懿珅妈妈的成人礼寄语
Dear Yi:
In the blink of an eye, you have grown into an adult. In our eyes, you are a thoughtful, individualistic child who is becoming more and more understanding and is slowly transforming into an adult.
Adults, to have responsibility and value. Responsibility, is the most important sign of adulthood, is to have to bear in life, learning. When you have the ability to choose and act independently, you also have the corresponding responsibilities and obligations. Only those who know how to be responsible and can be responsible can become a truly respected person.
Value, every life in the world, have irreplaceable meaning and mission, everyone has their own value. Whether in school, at home or in society, I hope that you can give of yourself, dedicate yourself and do good deeds. A person with values lives a happy and fulfilling life.
Son, in your future growth path, we are still your strong spiritual support. No matter where you go, no matter you succeed or fail, happy or sad, we will always love, support and trust you.
Cheers for your today and blessings for your future.
–Love you forever, mom and dad.
–Bat Mitzvah Message from Mrs. Yishen Wu
Writing：Wu Yishen&Wu Yishen’s mom
Editing & Typesetting: Gege
Photo：Bottle
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