"Read a hundred times, its righteousness appears"
In September 2009, I stepped on a train to Chengdu to start my university career in a city more than 3,000 kilometers from home that almost needed to travel across the country.
Before that, I had never been out of the province, and I had left the county town a handful of times. In those days when there was no 12306, it was hard to buy a long-distance train ticket.
My father sent me to school, and the 48-hour green car tossed us around enough, obviously it was my own choice, and I complained to my father several times without understanding. Finally got on the bus to the school, listened to the ticketing aunt in a dialect we can't understand the station, along the way we are constantly sighing, the city is really big, the bus has been running for an hour and has not arrived at the station...
The first time I left home, I was curious about everything new, but one thing was clear from the day I went to college – I had to learn a skill in those four years so that I could support myself after graduation. Such a not-so-grand goal was very difficult for me at the time.
I was studying computers, a very ordinary school, a major that wasn't so hot at the time. Moreover, before I went to college, I had little exposure to computers, and professional classes were like heavenly books for me. After a semester of studying C, I still can't figure out what the "input" and "print" inputs in the dark console mean. What exactly can programming do? What can I do after graduation? I was lost.
In the first semester of my freshman year, I decided to change my way of studying, using the library as a second classroom and books as another teacher. I think I still have plenty of time, and the next three and a half years, no matter which technology I teach myself, will be enough for me to get a job in three years, and what I need now is to figure out what I like to do.
I have read a variety of books, involving various industries, mobile phone repair, computers, automobiles, teachers, veterinarians, agriculture-related, etc., all I have not been exposed to want to find to read, professional books are tired, I turn over magazines, famous works for recreation.
I remember that when I was in high school, I saved money and bought a football magazine, which would spread throughout the class until it was turned over, and now these books can be borrowed for free, and every time you finish reading a book, it is equivalent to saving dozens of yuan! I was even complacent about my discovery.
Study in the library
After a year, I still couldn't find the direction I was particularly interested in, until one day, I inadvertently opened a book about the production of web pages, and after reading it, it seemed as if I suddenly opened the trick, as Jobs said, one day all the seemingly unrelated points were connected. Turns out that's programming! Programming turns out to have this effect!
Although the content of this book seems to be very general now, for me at that time, it was undoubtedly a master who led me through the door, just like a self-taught martial arts practitioner who picked up a copy of the Yi Jian Jing.
The next time, I began to type the code against the book, knocked out one and changed the book, slowly, I made the first simple website myself, became more and more interested in programming, suddenly became a "thigh" when the class course design team, and also began to take various scholarships...
At that time, I liked to read a lot and liked the atmosphere of studying in the library, but considering family conditions and other reasons, direct employment was a more realistic option. So I gave up the idea of further studying in graduate school, entered an internship at an Internet company in my junior year, and officially joined the company after graduation.
Three years ago, instead of working as a teacher, veterinarian, or phone repairman, I became a programmer.
"It is not enough to be sorry, but it is not a violation of the wish"
Most of the colleagues who joined me at the same time are from well-known key universities in the province, and I am the one with the lowest academic qualifications and the slowest response. Although I am diligent and sincere every day, after working for more than half a year, the leader's evaluation of me is still: good attitude, but average ability.
I can't refute this assessment, but I'm also very unconvinced. I don't believe that my abilities stop there, and I don't want to see myself a few years later as an obscure little worker.
So I turned down all the invitations to meet after work and sat in front of the computer on weekends to teach myself programming. Perhaps infected by my attitude, the gods in the company are also particularly willing to help me, often sacrificing their rest time to discuss technical issues and patiently teaching me, which has benefited me a lot.
Once practicing in the company until late at night, when I came home, I saw the same hurried late return pedestrians, and saw the rare bright moonlight in Chengdu, I suddenly remembered a poem by Tao Yuanming: "The clothes are not enough to be sorry, but the wish is not broken." "When I can feel my progress, even if I get up early and greedy day after day, I am willing to eat it.
After another year, I gradually felt that the work at hand became easier, and the leaders began to recognize my ability. By this time, I already had a better place to go, and after layers of interviews and written tests, I entered a long-dreamed multinational IT company.
When you come to a new company, challenges follow. Not only did I have to learn new technologies, adapt to different work rhythms and frequent business trips, but also improving my English became my urgent need.
English has never been my strong point, reading and writing are not good, and speaking and listening are even worse. At this time, I just had a little savings, I was reluctant to spend it on the training class, and I developed the habit of self-study for many years, so after trying a lot of learning software, I stayed at Scallops.
My high school homeroom teacher once said: "Learning is like hitting birds with a stick, when there are birds all over the ground, no matter how you swing the stick in your hand, you can hit a few, so don't ask me how to learn, as long as you start learning, you will definitely have gains."
I didn't make a strict study plan for myself, as long as I had time every day, I would take turns brushing scallop words, listening, and reading several times, memorize 200 words, practice listening for a while, read a few articles, and finally consolidate the new words encountered that day.
I think everyone is similar, fragment time is a "weapon" for learning English. Waiting for the bus, waiting in line to buy breakfast, before going to bed... I would subconsciously open the scallops to learn a little.
The work provided me with a language environment, and there were also colleagues in the group who had great English, and as long as I wanted, I could find people to practice communication. So about oral practice, I only have two lessons: don't be afraid to say wrong, seize every opportunity to open your mouth; Slow down the speed of speech, do not deliberately pursue advanced expression, starting from saying simple words and sentences.
After more than a year, my listening, speaking, reading and writing skills have improved significantly, my speaking has become more confident, more logical, coupled with the usual diligent practice of technology, I have been able to be independent in my work, and I have also won the opportunity to travel abroad.
First time on a business trip abroad
After that, I was even more crazy to learn English, the room was plastered with post-it notes with new words, and I found various opportunities to practice speaking every day... Two years later, I made a bold decision to work abroad. It's not easy to make this decision, a foreign country, no money and no relatives, too many unknowns, do I really do it? After four years of high school, I barely got admitted to an ordinary undergraduate, and now I have to go out to study and compete with the world's masters, will I come back in disgrace after the probationary period?
But maybe I am not a "peaceful" person in the first place, I long to go far away, eager to feel a different life and work. Moreover, the age of twenty-something is a capital that I can toss and turn.
Anyway, I took this important step with my eyes closed and got an offer from a software engineer at a company in Australia through a remote interview. Because of the long-term insistence on learning English every day, IELTS got 7 points without much preparation. In the summer of 2018, I packed my bags again and came to the continent to embark on a new adventure.
Ready to work in Australia
"Long winds and waves will sometimes"
Now that I have become a technical backbone of the sensor software engineer and the group, I am about to usher in the fifth year of my foreign life.
Coming out of the northeast countryside in 2009, looking back on the past is like a dream, it seems that the higher you fly, the farther away you are from your hometown, but there is my eternal entanglement. My hometown raised me, and my university changed me, and those four years made me have a strong desire for knowledge, developed good study habits, and started a virtuous circle.
I'm average, but as Lincoln put it, "I walk slowly, but I never walk backward." And I've also been lucky to meet a lot of people who have genuinely helped me along the way, which has always made me grateful.
Finally, I would like to use a poem by Li Bai to encourage everyone: "Long winds and waves will sometimes hang on the clouds and sails to the sea."