On the 3rd of October in Italy, there was a major strike in protest of the Israeli government's interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla. The Global Sumud Flotilla is a non-governmental fleet that aims to send essential supplies to the people in Gaza. According to the labor union, over 2 million people took part in the strike across more than 100 cities in Italy. Demonstrators sang songs for Palestine and waved flags as they marched through the streets.

I'm deeply moved. On the one hand, I see that people can be united and organized in a very short time when they witness injustice. On the other hand, demonstrators were fighting for people in Gaza, who live far away from Italy and are completely unrelated to their daily lives.

For over a century, ever since people from different countries formed the International Brigades to go to Spain and fight for the freedom of the Spanish people, this spirit has never vanished from history. As long as this spirit endures, I can believe that the beautiful world I dream of will one day become reality.

I was so moved and inspired that I wrote a poem：

霹雳惊雷动九霄，呼歌裂云旗漫桥。

万心同涌千里浪，官舟安敢逆滔滔？

非为稻粱争寸利，但求公义满天晓。

仁火千秋燃未绝，信知桃源路非遥。

It is inspired by the board game Great Western Trail that I played with my dear colleagues yesterday. I misjudged the pace of the game and invested too much in the late game rather than focusing on the quick points. By the time my investment started to pay back, the game was already ending.

I think it might be similar to life. Human life is only a few decades. Yet we have to spend so much time growing into a real 'human being' before we can achieve anything.

First, we have to acquire all the fundamentals just to survive. For example, we must learn to read, to move, to speak, and most importantly, to think. Based on these, we shall learn to absorb information about the world and to make sense of it. These gradually help to build up a worldview, which still requires persistent adjustment. In the meantime, we also need to look inward, to understand what kind of person we are, and thus to discover what we may be truly motivated to do among all the various possibilities that life presents. Only then can we have the ability to identify a goal worth pursuing.

It took me more than twenty years to reach this point. However, identifying a goal is only the beginning of a true 'human being'. A human being should strive to understand how to reach the goal; they should develop the necessary skills and keep working toward it.

However, this is only the ideal case. In real life, we would face uncountable difficulties and setbacks, often needing help from others and spending huge amounts of time and energy to overcome them. Even those who are fortunate enough to temporarily avoid such obstacles must still be prepared, leaving even less time to focus on the goal.

That's why I realized that it is not easy for one to achieve one's own goal in only a few decades. Nevertheless, let me finish with a line from a poem：

多少事，从来急。

天地转，光阴迫。

一万年太久，只争朝夕。

三日行山逾百里，尘心渐与得安宁。

雪峰巍峙连云汉，翠甸柔波漾午晴。

涧引野芳穿隘去，豁开天地一时明。

湖涵霁色浮空碧，风送铃音入耳清。

虽言精力消磨尽，却有甘泉涤倦情。

四海相逢皆一笑，何须同语共乡名。