Nine Days In A Rural Town

Apart from travelling, summer vacation is also a time when groups of university students begin going to rural places to experience life. I became one of those students this year. Together with other classmates, I spent nine days on a rural place in Shuibian Town, Yingde City, Guangdong Province.

Though I harvested precious friendships and unforgettable memories there, I never expected these at the beginning, the result of which was totally tough and unbearable.

An approximate four-hour抯 bus ride was just a small part of the story, considering how shocked we were the first time we stepped into our dormitory. The floor and the beds were covered with dust. The rooms were not equipped with water, which meant that we had to get water from the taps downstairs to do the washing and take the bath. In the middle of the summer, we didn抰 even get a fan. I must admit that this first impression made me feel regretful at the time.

But soon everything got better when we were assigned our own positions and started working. I worked for the community service center and my major job was to help the directors there record some data. A few days after I started working, I gradually got used to the lifestyle there. As a result, I began to view my experience of going rural from a completely new angle.

I began to understand that this was a life that should be experienced by all our university students. It抯 important for our privileged individuals to think of the lives of those less privileged. We have access to good education and a pleasant living environment. Living in city where all resources are abundant, we forget to cherish the things we have and those we own. But let抯 have a look at those childish faces that are so eager to learn more, but have to drop out of school to help with the work of their parents. Or look at the glaring smiles on the farmers?faces when the sun finally shines so that their crops can continue to grow. I finally realized that to live is to cherish, to cherish the things we own, no matter how minor they are.

Furthermore, I began to understand the responsibilities we carry. As university students, it抯 our responsibilities to help those in need. In rural areas, most people don抰 have a good command of computers so, in order that they not lag behind the world, they need to learn more. I was so happy to help them with these things. Although my efforts were not great, and the things we taught were simple, the feeling of really helping others and witnessing the improvements they made was truly joyous. When we were helping people in this rural area, we were also fulfilling our goals.

The experience of going to rural area, and those memories it brings are really meaningful. It抯 like a nine-day lesson, one in which I experienced a different way of living and learnt how to cherish, how to devote, how to care for the lives of other people, and how to accept the responsibilities that we university students should take on.

A picture of us in front of our workplace