One day, I was reading a book at the café, feeling content, when the coffee in my hand suddenly spilled all over me and onto the floor.

I was entrenched in an “imposter syndrome” when I first met my fellow Cherubs. Compared with their exuberant experiences, my background as a student columnist felt feeble. Yet I asked myself, “Wasn’t this your dream? Surrounded by talented people, you will have plenty of opportunities to learn and improve.”

As social media and video games consume a lot of our time, we read fewer paper books, communicate less with friends and family, and have less fun in real life.

The circles under my eyes had become darker and darker ever since the summer holiday began.

​Wuhan is my favorite place. My mom was once a flight attendant, and my dad a businessman. They were never home, so they shipped me off to Wuhan to live with my maternal grandparents when I was 2. When my mom switched jobs and my dad became an investor, I left Wuhan for Shenzhen to live with them, but my love for Wuhan never changed.

The summer when I was 15, I found myself in the hot, vibrant city of Shenzhen, embarking on a new chapter of my life at RDF International School.

Living in the age of show business is disorienting and disconcerting. Despite being bombarded with a plethora of new information daily, our attention spans are fleeting, shifting from one tidbit to the next in rapid succession. Our minds are filled not with profound insights but with trivial rumors, unwilling to engage in critical thought.

I recently went on an exchange tour to France arranged by one of my teachers. The first day was the most exciting as we were set to visit our new school and meet our host family. We woke up at 6:50 a.m., swiftly packed our luggage, and then boarded the bus to reach the school on time.