The Ride to Growth
A Small-Town Youth’s journey to the broader world
Leo Lei’s journey is how he frees himself from a stagnated city he dislikes and the limitation of personal growth at school. Leo, an only child, who is a student majoring in biology and pharmacy at UNC, had always felt he was trapped in Jinan, a city in a northern province called Shandong in China. But his connections to Jinan such as his family and how he was raised and grew up make himself couldn’t detach from it. Shandong has a large province population; however, the economic development level is not comparable to places like Shanghai and Beijing. Therefore, the pressure of academic competition of GaoKao, an education system of university admission, and societal expectations is intense. His decision to break free is to decide to study abroad, in a place that is more liberal and has more opportunities.
Why Leo Decided to Leave Shandong/China
Shangdong Students are Disadvantaged
Shandong Province is among the four provinces in northern China that are notorious for having an overwhelming number of students but only very few top universities. Shandong only has two 985 and 3 211 universities but has 980 thousands of admission test participants.
“It was the most depressing time I have ever been through. I moved away from home and the dorm and lived on my own just to get away from distractions to study. But the housing condition was terrible.”
Leo Lei
Conservatism and Bureaucratism
The neighboring province Hebei is the worst province in the rat race, and it has a famous school called Heng Shui High School that is very inhumane in pushing students too hard to study there is always news talking about students getting depression or committing suicide there. Even though Leo decided to study in an international school and apply for university abroad. His school is still affiliated to Chinese high school and the atmosphere was hugely affected by the majorities. Jinan’s constraints are not only in education but also in societal atmosphere and expectations. Unlike big cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen, Jinan lacks economic potential because it felt behind in newborn industries by other places and the overall population in Jinan is conservative and Bureaucratic. Many people set becoming a civil servant as their ultimate goal.
Leo and Cycling
Leo spent his teenage years spent in a cycling team in Jinan, showing the initial dreams and passion he had for the sport. However, the limitations of Jinan and the academic pressures were affecting his enthusiasm for cycling so did his team partners, they eventually gave up. But it is still a precious experience for him.
Leo’s experience with cycling was not as smooth as people thought. He rode for around a total of 4000 kilometers during 4 years with people range from like from primary school to adults. They traveled to different parts of China and passed a lot of weird roads, such as those without light during the night, those are super bumpy to ride on, and slopes that are exhausting to ride through. But he is still happy with it since he makes new friends with different people, sees different things as he goes to different communities, and gets to see more of China outside Shandong. However, as an older kid on the team, he struggled to keep up with the team partly because he needed more exercise. He also mentally struggled because he thought that others, especially those who were younger them him would make fun of him.
Leo eventually performed very well after all his hard work. He became one of the best cyclists on the team after feeling disappointed from the first ride and making hard work to improve himself. He took over responsibilities to take care of those team members who might also be left behind just like he was and gave them company and encouragement. He overcame his physical and mental struggles which is a priceless experience of his growing up. Unfortunately, due to academic pressure and parents and his expectations for universities and his future, he quit during high school near upperclassman years. Now, he is in UNC away from his home studying biology and pharmacy.
Those who I cycled with all quit during high school, and I feel like there is no way to go back.
Leo Lei
Interview Video With Leo
Source:
https://www.zhihu.com/question/278412152/answer/2134154055
https://cn.dreamstime.com/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%9C%B0%E5%9B%BE%E7%AA%81%E5%87%BA%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%9C%E7%9C%81%E5%9C%B0%E5%9B%BE-%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%9C%E7%9C%81%E5%9C%B0%E5%9B%BE%E7%AA%81%E5%87%BA%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%9C%B0%E5%9B%BE%E8%AF%A6%E7%BB%86%E5%B7%9E%E5%92%8C%E5%9C%B0%E5%8C%BA%E8%BD%AE%E5%BB%93-image255548254