[On Success] High School Filmmaker [关于成功] 高中生电影制片人

After she graduated from high school in the U.S., this young woman attended high school again in South Korea. Her Korean friend in the U.S. told her that Korean high school kids study 17 hours a day, so she decided to experience this herself. And she had another mission: to film and produce a documentary on Korean education system and beauty culture.

I have always been fascinated by her story, and finally I got to meet her last Sunday.

I was waiting in front of Columbia School of Engineering’s building and saw a girl running towards me. I immediately recognized her, Kelley Katzenmeyer, since we had Skyped a few months ago when she was in Korea. I was working on my master’s project then on Asian plastic surgery for my master’s degree at Columbia Journalism School. I found out about her and her project on the Internet.

She was standing right in front of my eyes, apologizing for being late because she was editing her film till 4a.m. that morning and then overslept. In casual clothes with no makeup, she looked so fresh and young, like a high school kid to me. They say don’t judge people from the outside. So true! Hard to imagine this little girl carrying her camera gear around and filming alone at different corners of a Korean school.

She just started her undergraduate studies at Columbia this fall but said she would soon return to Korea for two weeks for more filming work. She told me before she left in the summer, she hired a local filmmaker to work for her so that she didn’t have to be in Korea all the time. How smart!

Look at the great work this young woman is doing! I said to myself and started to reflect on my own past. I told her that in high school, I studied 17 hours every day in China, just like what she saw in Korea. Because of her experience, she totally understands why I was just too mentally exhausted to think about future plans. And Chinese parents usually decide for their children what to study in college. So why would I waste more energy thinking about something that I almost couldn’t change. Fortunately, I came here for college education and learned about different values.

I know that in China, there are millions of good students just like I was, fighting their way out in a highly competitive world. Good test scores being the only goal, they study day and night like machines. I always want to tell teenagers in China: please start making plans for your future at a young age. This is your own life, and you should always find and follow your passion.从美国的高中毕业以后，这位年轻的女孩到了韩国重新读起了高中。她在美国的韩国朋友曾告诉她说，韩国的高中生们每天学习17个小时。于是，她决定亲自去韩国追寻这种体验。她此行还有另一个意愿：去拍摄和制作一个关于韩国教育制度和审美文化的纪录片。

我一直对她的故事着迷，上个星期天，我终于有机会见到了她。

我在哥伦比亚大学工程学院楼门前等待，然后看见一个小女生向我跑来。我一下子就认出她来，Kelley Katzenmeyer，因为几个月前她在韩国的时候，我们用Skype联系过。当时我在写哥大新闻系研究生学位的论文，关于亚洲整形风。我在网络上找到了她和她的项目。

她站在我面前，因为迟到而跟我道歉，说她头一天晚上剪辑她的电影到凌晨4点，然后睡过了头。穿着随意、素颜的她看起来那么年轻有活力，就像高中生一样。别人说不要以貌取人。太对了！很难想像这样的一个小女孩扛着摄像器材，在韩国某个校园的各个角落拍摄。

这个秋天，她刚刚在哥大开始了她的本科学业，但她告诉我说她很快要回韩国去，用两周时间来继续拍摄。她说她夏天离开那里之前聘用了一个当地的摄像师给她工作，这样她就不用一直留在韩国了。多聪明！

看看这位如此年轻的女孩正在做的这些有意义的事情吧。我心里默念，又想起了我的过去。我告诉她我在中国读高中的时候就是每天学习17个小时，跟她在韩国看到的一样。正因为她有过这样的经历，她很理解，当时的我身心俱疲，没有精力去想未来的计划。再说，中国家长通常会帮孩子选择大学时的专业。所以我为什么要浪费时间去想一些我根本无法改变的事情呢？很幸运的是，我来到了这里读本科，学到了不同的价值观。

我知道，在中国，有成千上万的优秀学生，就像我当年一样，在激烈的竞争中拼搏。很多时候，他们像机器一样不分日夜不停学习，好的成绩成了惟一目标。我一直很想对国内正处在花季雨季的青少年朋友们说：请尽早规划自己的未来。这是你自己的人生，你应该找到自己的方向，追逐自己的热爱。