I am just 20 years old. But I used to sometimes wonder how much time I had left: My diet was erratic, I lacked vitality, and my attitude was apathetic. I just liked to indulge myself and have a good time. But that all changed the day I met him.

    His voice was beautiful and he seemed to know everything. Like many other students I was aimless — but he was different. He was focused and dedicated. He told me he wants to help me escape mediocrity. I was dying to be a better person, to stand beside him, so I started to listen…

    “Learning, therefore realize shortcomings; teaching, therefore understand difficulties.” This is an aphorism from Confucius. I decided to try. I took on a subject that had always frightened me — geography. In the past I thought it was too difficult so I would give up quickly. But this time he was by my side giving me gifts of encouragement. At last, I managed to make progress in my toughest subject.

    Unfortunately, I am from a relatively poor background and can barely make ends meet. He advised me to take advantage of my abilities. So I got a part-time job helping children with their English. At first, I was frustrated. I found it difficult to explain what I knew to my little students and several of them decided not to attend my lessons. I turned to him for help. He used to tell me everything, but this time he unexpectedly refused to help me.

    I was shocked and indignant, and I was forced to find the answers to my students’ questions on my own. I looked in dictionaries and checked reference books. The parents of my students were soon happy — and I was over the moon. In addition, during my research I stumbled upon different ways to teach English and, much to my surprise, I found that these new methods were not only helpful for teaching my students, but also for my own studies. I wanted to share my joy with him immediately — and he said he was happy for me like he always did.

    So who is this mystery guy? He is THE FUTURE. And the gifts he gave me are the rewards for my hard work — knowledge, patience, independence, critical thinking and the value of learning and teaching. With these gifts, I will become a better person.