乔雨澄 东北师范大学
Good morning/afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen,
When I was reflecting on this topic, a beautiful poem by Langston Hughes occurred to me: “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams, for when dreams go, life is a barren field frozen with snow.”
I shivered a little at the author’s description of life without dreams. What a heart-breaking scene it is! Then a question popped up immediately, “Is my dream still alive?”
If you ask me, “What is your dream?” Well, believe it or not, I want to be a musician. I can still clearly recall the tranquil starry night a decade ago. I was sitting on my father’s lap, and suddenly enchanting rhymes of a mysteriously melancholy melody came from afar. It seized my heart tightly. Father told me that it was a traditional Chinese musical instrument called “Guzheng”. It was the first time I had heard of it and at the same time I made up my mind that I would devote myself to a musical career.
In many inspirational stories, girls like me will stick steadfastly to their dream and eventually live up to it. However, in real life, I am standing here, telling you what I dreamed of before I became an English major. You may say, “Poor girl, so you have deserted your dream, haven’t you?”
Before I give you my answer, I’d like to share with you a story from a movie called “Old Boys”. It features two eponymous boys of the post 80s generation who are talented in singing and dancing and had dreamed of being famous stars. Despite their plain and monotonous life, their ambition burned secretly. Once, by chance, they got an opportunity to perform on a TV show. In that contest their wonderful performance deeply touched numerous ordinary people. Actually, these old boys represent many real people fighting for their dreams, like Susan Boyle and Paul Potts from Britains got talent, the migrant singers Xuriyanggang performed in the Chinese Spring Festival Gala. They’ve all overcome the harshness of reality and realized their long buried dreams with absolute enthusiasm, striving with admirable passion and courage.
Speaking of me, with similar passion and courage, I have endured pressure from school work while never allowing my dream to escape from my heart. Almost everyday I manage to spare some time to polish my skills, totally immersing in my own performance. In a campus-wide music contest, I won the title of “promising music star”. My love for music has never ceased developing in spite of the pressure of everyday life. On the journey full of formidable obstacles, “Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing” will always be my motto in the never-ending quest for my dream.
Dear friends, hold fast to dreams, for if dreams stay, life will be evergreen, with blossoms never fading away.
Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams fly, life will be energetic, soaring to the vast blue sky.
Thank you!
