Hou Leyi, Southern University of Science and Technology

With the excitement of adapting myself to a new life, I was finally admitted to the Southern University of Science and Technology. Once here, I was so happy to find that there are many wonderful clubs for me to choose from and when I first found out about the national flag team, I fell in love with it immediately.

I took part in the first training and quickly realized that the discipline of this is incredibly strict. First, I was supposed to ask the instructor for admission and report to join in the ranks. We had to stand in military posture, then came the goose stepping. Everything was new to me which made me feel curious, but soon my interest wore out. It started to be unbearable for me to stand in the hot weather for three hours and repeat the boring motions.

I was about to withdraw, but when I first went to rehearsal, I totally changed. When the lights were on my face, when there were neat steps around me, when the flag was rising and it was my teammate’s tough face that was reflected in my eyes; when I was surrounded with the passionate whistle and loud military order, I was totally shocked. I felt energy rising from my feet!

So when I stood at a military posture, the figure of my instructor would float in my mind, reminding me to keep still and let out the loudest whistle. I learned to straighten my chest and abdomen, pinch my back and put my toes apart for 60 degrees. A couple of days later, we eventually became a whole team! The most important thing about forming a collective is for all to be working with a singleness of purpose and joint effort. The first rehearsal wasn’t good, but we didn’t lose our heart; instead we paid attention to the angle of the gun and focused on the uniformity of our whole team. Finally, the ceremony came, which was a complete success. In a flash, my heart was filled with pride and I knew my efforts had paid off.

After the ceremony, we had a celebration party. In the party, the highlight was that we found the different sides of instructors. They were so lovely. Each of them showed their different characters. Our chief instructor can not only dance but also has a magnetic voice. What’s more, he can do one-handed push-ups and single foot squats. He is really versatile, and I do admire him.

I am so grateful to the national flag team of SUSTech for giving me this valuable experience. It taught me that sweat waters the flowers of success.

In the end, I want to say I will try my best to devote myself to the national flag team and be responsible for participating in every single training.