Write on the front:
Gu Ailing said in the documentary "My Time and Me": "The most important thing in life for me is to find something you like and enjoy it; the second important thing is to change the world." ”
What is worth learning from the growth process of the genius girl Gu Ailing? Hope this article can bring you some inspiration ~
Wednesday | Vision
The full text totals 3174 words, and the reading time is 8 minutes
On February 8, 2022, the talented girl Gu Ailing won the gold medal in the freestyle ski jump at the Beijing Winter Olympics, winning the third gold for the Chinese delegation!
The 18-year-old rising star is a typical "other person's child".
Not only is she proficient in piano, horseback riding, archery, surfing, long-distance running, etc., before winning the championship, she spent three years to complete the four-year high school course on her own, and was admitted to Stanford University with a high score of 1580 (equivalent to the Chinese college entrance examination) (out of 1600 points).
This fall, she will start a new life as a ski champion at the Winter Olympics and a freshman at Stanford University.
After Gu Ailing won the championship, the most talked about is her history of "learning to ski at the age of 3, winning the junior group championship at the age of 9, winning the World Cup championship at the age of 16, and winning the Winter Olympics at the age of 18", it seems that this beautiful girl was born for skiing, gifted and difficult to meet opponents.
However, when I read the interview about Gu Ailing on the Internet, I found that this was not the case.
Gu Ailing's growth experience is not a life of opening and hanging, but the result of extensive attempts, careful choices, and rational planning.
So how did she find her talent and make it a living and full source of her life?
Try it out and play by nature
In 2003, Gu Ailing was born in San Francisco, USA. She grew up living with her mother and grandmother (actually her grandmother), and every summer she would follow her mother back to Beijing to visit her relatives.
She received a traditional education in the United States, but she also memorized the multiplication recipes taught by her grandmother.
Mother Gu Yan likes to ski, in order to ski wholeheartedly, she gave the 3-year-old Xiao AiLing to the toddler training camp on the snow field. Gu Ailing looked at her mother's excited back and began to crawl and roll in the snow.
In fact, when she was a little older, she started trying everything that interested her, piano, ballet, horseback riding, surfing, long distance running, basketball, rock climbing... skiing was just one of them.
After school, she often has to go 3 places in a row to attend different interest classes. Speaking of this, she seemed very happy.
In a video file, 13-year-old Gu Ailing climbed a tree in his yard like a mischievous monkey, sitting on a branch and happily rocking left and right.
Gu Yan looked at her daughter in the courtyard and smiled, "She has been going to the house since she was a child. ”
Gu Ailing, 18, said in an interview: "Freestyle skiing flies, there are a hundred, a thousand different, you can do whatever you want. It's really equivalent to flying up, being a bird, flying for several seconds! ”
Being able to "fly" is something that makes Gu Ailing addicted.
When the reporter asked Gu Yan how to cultivate her daughter so well, she denied that she had any "parenting experience", and replied after repeated questioning by the reporter: "When Ai Ling first went to school, the teacher said: Don't correct the children's typos, don't hit the children's creativity; praise them less for their intelligence, more praise for their efforts." I did just that. ”
Her daughter loves to "fly", and Gu Yan has been driving her daughter to the snow field for ten years to "fly". After every fall, the mother always hugged and kissed her daughter and said in her daughter's ear, "I'm proud of you." ”
Mom said to Gu Ailing: "You don't have to thank me, I love skiing, I have such a good playmate of you, the level is still higher than me, it should be that I thank you!" ”
"I want to change the world"
When Gu Ailing joined the American Confederacy team at the age of 8, she was the only girl on the team.
At the age of 11, Gu Ailing studied at a girls' high school and gave a speech on the stage at the school.
In her speech, she said:
"In today's world, men are more likely than women to participate in sports-related careers, and some argue that this is simply because men's muscles are inherently larger and stronger than women's muscles.
Over time, stereotypes have evolved into a negative definition of female athletes, who are often denied the right opportunity to play sports because of their gender. ”
When the news of Beijing's successful bid for the Olympic Games in 2015 came, Gu Ailing and her mother experienced a historic moment in Beijing. The cheers and excitement of the people around him made Gu Ailing very infected.
At that time, 12-year-old Gu Ailing said to her mother: "I want to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics, and in 2022, please come to see me!" ”
Gu Ailing, 16, said: "The combination of all these experiences has made me more identified with my female identity. It also makes me want to advocate for women to join in sports extreme sports and general sports. ”
Gu Ailing's judgment is very accurate. China needs a national female sports icon to encourage and promote more women to participate in sports.
"I can do better on skiing"
Many people don't know that Gu Ailing, who has a lot of hobbies, once faced a choice: long-distance running or skiing?
When Gu Ailing was in middle school, she liked and was good at long-distance running.
At the age of 11, Gu Ailing won the third place in the women's team, the first place in the women's 12-year-old group, and the second place in the under-14 group in the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Private School 2500-meter cross-country competition.
Gu Ailing said: "Maybe I can run into Stanford with long-distance running." After all, going to Stanford was my dream since I was 6 years old. ”
But when Gu Ailing finished the ski race, a certain feeling in the race changed her mind, she said: "I may be able to do better on the slopes." ”
To be able to resolutely abandon the path closer to her dream and choose a thorny path with an uncertain future, I think it may be a strong sense of self-identity: "I can do it, and I can do better!" ”
Skiing is a very injurious sport, and Gu Ailing once fell into a concussion during training.
Her mother once persuaded Gu Ailing to give up skiing because she was worried about her injury, "It's good to go to piano, or ballet." ”
Gu Ailing himself confessed that he often felt scared: "Everyone only sees that you are so cool, and you have won the gold medal." But I'm afraid of backflips, I'm afraid of getting hurt," and "A new action that I'm not doing will be scared, afraid of getting hurt, or landing on the wrong ground." ”
Then she said, "But if you make it, the moment you land on the ground will feel very, very happy." ”
She has a strong pursuit of bravery and self-challenge, she wants to be "the first person in the world to do this action", and has a heart that is eager to reach the top.
A balanced lifestyle
Throughout Gu Ailing's competition, there have been several first-run failures, but with a steady mentality, the second and third slides have been played to the extreme, and finally won the championship. Including the big jump qualifying tournament for this Winter Olympics.
Where does a good mindset come from? Gu Ailing mentioned one word many times in the interview: balance.
In her opinion, a balanced lifestyle is important. Doing different things helps keep the passion alive.
In addition to being a ski champion, she is an 18-year-old who enjoys eating with her friends, playing video games, and traveling. Getting a driver's license makes her very happy, because it can "travel by car".
She said into the interview camera: "Don't forget that I'm only 17 years old , I'm still a teenager, I'm going to do some of the things that teenagers do." ”
She has been sleeping at least 10 hours a day, and still does. She calls adequate sleep her "secret weapon."
She traveled alone to unfamiliar areas for long training, packed her own suitcases, and learned to be independent. When the coach can't go because of the new crown epidemic, although she can't hide her disappointment and anxiety, she still tells her mother, "No problem, I can solve it myself."
When the goal of attacking the gold medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics was determined, Gu Ailing first had to face his identity as a high school student and the scarcity of training time.
As a full-time high school student, Gu Ailing only has time to participate in training on weekends, and she balances the things in her life through rational planning, and is 100% involved in ski training, which makes her progress very rapid.
But this alone is not enough, Gu Ailing believes that he can not complete the intense academic work as a high school student, but also ensure enough training time.
So Gu Ailing made a bold decision to complete the last two years of high school in one year through self-study. After getting your high school diploma in advance, you will prepare for the Winter Olympics.
Set goals, plan rationally, and maintain passion.
For the praise of the outside world about "talent", Gu Ailing's own view is: "I may have some talent, but I think it is more about hard work, time and a balanced lifestyle. ”
Conclusion
For a talented girl like Gu Ailing, Chinese parents are envious of her unparalleled talent, and if they know a little, they will be surprised by her powerful internal driving force.
However, from her upbringing, this talent search path is not out of reach: widely tried, respected nature, determined as early as possible, and gained a sense of competence and value.
What runs through it is the right to hold a sexual companionship and give the child the right to make his own decisions.
Then, even if our children can't become top talents, they can at least become a person who has the courage to make decisions and can live out of themselves.
Some of the sources used in this article are:
1. Documentary "My Time and Me"
2. The second season of the documentary "Top of the Ice"
3. Documentary "Into Gu Ailing"
Author | Su Kuang
General education enthusiasts
Psychology enthusiasts
Obsessed with learning, love to nurture yourself
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