Ma Jinyong：高丽大学选手，第16届21世纪杯全国英语演讲比赛海外选手特别评审奖。

演讲稿：

As one who believes that faith comes from what I see, what I listen and what I feel, I would like to share stories from my life which have enabled me to build up faith in my life. The faith from my experiences is an inspiration to me whenever I encounter hard times. It keeps me motivated to develop my potential to meet the challenges of the future. However, I did not always have faith. Rather, faith developed in me through several turning points in my life.

It started when I was young. I was born into a poor family and I witnessed that a happy home could be destroyed by money. My family members were hounded by creditors and my parents argued almost every day. However, there was nothing that I could do at that time. I had lost faith in other people. But then I slowly began to realize that I should not be looking for faith from outside. Faith does not come from family or even religion. It comes from one’s self and one’s belief in one’s self. Ever since I found faith in myself, I became a proactive and success-oriented person. Here are some experiences that shaped my faith.

The first story is about activeness. When I was a high school student, I studied hard to enter the university. However, I failed and was devastated. I did not know what to do. I lost faith in my high school teachers. But I realized I needed to be proactive and to have faith in myself. So, I started go to a public library at six in the morning and studied more than 15 hours a day for about 9 months in order to take the exam again. Faith enabled me to succeed on my second try.

The second story is about confidence. I served in the Korean Army for 2 years. During the military service, I set a goal that I would go abroad as an exchange student right after being discharged. Many people reacted negatively to this and discouraged me. They had no faith in me and told me my goal was too grand. However, I did not want to accept that. So, I broke down my ultimate goal into smaller goals, made a priority list and executed each and every single item on the list. Eventually, I did go to Canada as an exchange student for about a year.

These situations were at first challenges for me, but they turned out to be opportunities later on. I was afraid and I doubted whether or not I could overcome these situations. However, I believed that I could make a difference in my life. I could do it by harnessing the power of faith.

There is one more story I want to talk about. Last but not least, is the third story of what I love to do. I am studying English and double-majoring in Law. So, when I was a first year student, I wanted to become an international lawyer. But then, I realized that I did not want to do this for the rest of my life. At that time, I decided to enter a whole new area, that is, participating in business marketing competitions. Since I never studied business, I failed the first 5 contests in a row. It was a moment of great trial. I almost gave up. However, I listened to my heart and had faith in myself. So, I kept participating in the contests, and finally I started to win awards in prestigious business marketing competitions.

Faith is a common thread which ties these experiences together. I personally believe that faith comes from what I see, what I listen and what I feel. My past experiences attest to the fact that faith relies on one’s attitude towards life. Attitude is a key factor to how people accept and apply experiences. So, I hope young people can be proactive in terms of building up faith in one’s self through life experiences.

Thank you.