How to do well in your freshman year of high school

Author: Zhong Miao Miao / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Maturity Begins with the Right Life Positioning
The initial step toward maturity is to give oneself the right life positioning. If one wants to mature quickly, achieve success, and unleash their greatest potential, in addition to correctly understanding themselves, it is essential to correctly position their life. Levey was a renowned American physician and pharmacologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1936. Born into a Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany, Levey had talents in art, painting, and music. However, his parents, who were Jewish, had experienced discrimination and persecution firsthand and constantly urged their son not to pursue ideological fields but to specialize in science and technology. Under their guidance, he abandoned his original interests and talents and enrolled at the University of Strasbourg to study medicine.
Levey was a diligent and determined student who was not afraid to start from scratch. He believed that focusing on one specialty would lead to success. With this mindset, he quickly immersed himself in medical studies. He was drawn to his mentor's knowledge and dedication, and under his guidance, his academic progress was rapid, and he deeply realized that medicine offered a vast field for talent.
After graduating from medical school, Levey conducted research in medicine at various universities in Europe and the United States, making significant advancements in pharmacology. Due to his academic achievements, the University of Graz in Austria appointed him as a professor of pharmacology in 1921, where he began researching neurology. Through experiments on frog vagus nerves, he first demonstrated that certain chemical substances synthesized by nerves could transmit stimuli from neurons to responsive organs.
As a Jew, Levey, despite being an outstanding professor and physician, like other Jews, suffered persecution from the German government. Authorities arrested him, confiscated his entire property, and revoked his German citizenship. Later, he escaped Nazi surveillance and eventually reached the United States, where he obtained U.S. citizenship and was hired by the New York University School of Medicine to conduct specialized research on diabetes.
Levey remained fully focused on every new research project he undertook. Soon, each of his studies yielded groundbreaking results, and he made significant contributions to medical research. It is evident that mature individuals, who identify their positioning and work toward a single goal, ultimately achieve success, while those who fail often "work hard" around multiple goals.
A wise person once said that even the weakest life can achieve something once it focuses all its energy on one goal, while the strongest life, if its energy is scattered, will ultimately accomplish nothing. All roads lead to Rome, but you can only choose one. Life is the same—there are many paths to success, but the key is to choose the one that suits you best and walk it unwaveringly.
If you want to overcome blind ambition, find your life positioning before taking action: create your life's compass. Everyone possesses immense potential, hidden within them like the treasure trove of Alibaba.
Classmates, how should you position yourselves? When you are idle, walking, or chatting, consider these questions: "Why am I here in this world? Why am I here? What is my goal after entering high school? What is the meaning of my life?" If you want more specific questions, try: "What am I good at? Who needs me? What brings me joy? What efforts should I make? What are my strengths and weaknesses? How can I leverage my strengths and overcome my weaknesses to achieve my goals?"
Classmates should also frequently communicate with their close friends, whose opinions may be relevant to your positioning. You can also talk with respected teachers or elders, share your feelings, and ask for their support and guidance in achieving your positioning.
Archimedes said that with a fulcrum, he could move the Earth. The "fulcrum" he referred to is similar to the concept of "life positioning" and "core competitiveness." Everyone's life content and quality are different, and each has unique potential and characteristics. Wu Han and Qian Zhongshu were both mathematically illiterate when they took the entrance exam for Peking University, scoring 15 and 0, respectively. Yet later, one became a famous historian, while the other became a renowned scholar and writer with expertise spanning both East and West.
In daily life, "geniuses" are indeed rare, and the IQ levels of most people are similar. The reason some achieve success while others lead mediocre lives depends on whether they can quickly discover their potential and interests in practice and ultimately develop them into strengths.
The saying "Nothing in life is wasted, it all depends on positioning" holds true. Regardless of your background, appearance, or education, as long as you choose a position, grasp a direction, and stay firm in your beliefs, success will be within reach. Only then will your life and existence be meaningful.
Ambitious but unrealistic, or inconsistent in effort—like fishing for three days and drying nets for two—will lead to a mediocre life and ultimate failure. P50-52