My Shahe-Beihang Story

There is only a month and a half left before I leave Shahe, this “broken” place. Unexpectedly, I have already stayed here for almost two years, so now is the most suitable time to write my Shahe-Beihang story.

Looking back, I have gone from fresh meat to old cured meat. The initial freshness I felt toward college life has long disappeared, turning into day after day of busyness with coursework. Sometimes I really want to change my state and live the college life I once imagined. But when facing the larger system, I feel my own smallness and helplessness, and can only comfort myself with “for the interests of the country and the nation.” Here I do not want to complain too much. I only want to share my two years of experience at Shahe-Beihang, to give later students a reference and leave myself a log for future review.

I come from a place very close to Beijing: Shanxi. Like everyone else, I came through the Gaokao. As for the trivialities of the Gaokao and filling in college preferences, those could themselves be written into another book, so I will not elaborate here. When I first came to Shahe-Beihang, I was full of longing for college life like all freshmen. I can only blame myself for being too naive and believing the big promises drawn by high school teachers. At the beginning, according to my imagination of an ideal college life, I joined many student organizations, including clubs and the student union. I slowly stopped participating in many organizations later and automatically withdrew, but I alone maintained my presence in the university student union. Speaking of the university student union, that could also fill a book. The coincidences, human relationships, and social sophistication inside would definitely attract attention. Looking back now, the relationships in the student union have become one of my few remaining channels of communication with other departments. Especially after becoming a dead-homebody, such opportunities are even more precious. But soon, because of geography, I will have to leave the department. Thinking about it, I feel a little reluctant. Although I later also participated in some volunteer activities and “Zhujiao” work, meeting many interesting people, this kind of student work lasting two years was the only one. As for how I became a homebody, that is a story for later.

I have decided to use a whole paragraph to talk about my study at Beihang, because it completely destroyed my ideal college life. First, there really are many things to learn in college. At first I also studied step by step, but still felt overwhelmed. Even after experiencing many exam seasons, I still do not believe I have the ability to “learn one semester in one week and one course in one day.” Fine, I admit I did not study properly during ordinary times. Second, after you adapt to this kind of rapid learning, you discover that some coursework does not end there. Especially in the field of Computer Science, many labs require debugging. Even if your design is good, bugs are unavoidable. When you encounter mysterious errors, besides “believing your code is correct,” “drink more hot water, restart and try again; if it still fails, split the problem” is also a method. Honestly, restarting really can solve many mysterious errors sometimes. Finally, let us talk about “self-directed learning,” which everyone loves to discuss in college, and how to use free time. In college, after completing necessary coursework, everyone really does their own things and spends a lot of time in strange places. Some write novels, some write code all day, some play games from morning to night, and some stay in study rooms all day. Someone said, “At Harvard, among socializing, sleeping, and studying, you can only choose two. Most people give up sleeping.” Although Beihang is not that extreme, there is still a time-allocation problem. A baby like me who loves sleeping had no choice but to give up socializing. Fine, I admit I am again making excuses for being a homebody. Over the past two years, I dare not say I surpassed my roommates in anything else, but in sleeping, whether in time or frequency, if I claim second place, nobody dares claim first.

College life is already almost halfway through. The other half is destined to change somewhat because of pressure from further study or employment and will be constrained by reality. Thinking about it now, the two years in Shahe were still the most carefree and pure.
The past is worth missing, the present is worth cherishing, and the future is worth anticipating.

In short, happiness is enough.