12年级，高三了，如果你还看到一个吃饭、睡觉、走路无时无刻不在摆弄玩具的学生，脑子里冒出的第一念头是不是“不务正业”？

可是，如果你还知道他的其他头衔：北京剑玉大赛冠军、赞助商广告代言、11所不同国际高校的offer，拿到被誉为“公立常春藤”的罗格斯大学的offer……

此刻的你，又在想些什么？

他不是天才少年，也不是全能男孩，曾经听不懂课、考不及格、沉默寡言的他也曾怀疑：“难道我就就这么差吗？”……

是什么让他重新拥有自信？又是什么让他奋起直追？

不妨一起来听听青苗2021年毕业生Leo这几年的成长历程。

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A G12 graduate-to-be, playing his kendama whenever you see him. Does this worry you?

Champion of Beijing Kendama Competition, sponsor advertising spokesperson, offers received from 11 universities worldwide, including Rutgers University, which is known as a ‘public Ivy League’ college…

Knowing the above, what do you think now?

Not a genius, not a super boy, used to wonder why he did so bad at school…

What brought confidence back to him? What cheered him up?

Today, let us hear the story of BIBS 2021 graduate Leo.

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Hi, I’m Leo from G12. This is my 6th and final year at BIBS, and I will be leaving for college soon.

I joined BIBS at G7. My English was not that good, and I had a hard time understanding my teachers. My biggest wish by then was not to fail the exams. Luckily, my roommates and homestay teachers were very helpful, and I completely that year without much problem.

However, when G8 began, I was assigned to the EAL (English as an additional language) Class because of my poor English. I was very upset at first. But soon I realized there was a lot for me to learn in that class. So, I accepted the assignment and began to study hard. There was an exam I must take before going back to the regular class, and I blew it up twice. I almost gave up. But with the continued encouragement and support from my teachers and classmates, I aced the last exam with the highest score in the EAL class.

虽然以EAL班最高分回到班级，但平平无奇的我在学校里只能说是乏善可陈。直到9年级的一天，我最好的朋友Harry偶然把“剑玉”带到了学校，从此为我的人生打开一扇别样的窗口！

一开始我和大数人一样以为剑玉就是一种普通玩具，并且看着很幼稚也没有什么难度。可当我真正上手时才发现绝没有想象中那么简单，连一个最基础的动作都要花费好几个小时才能成功完成。无论是当时我们身边的同学，还是走到今天我一路遇见的人，他们绝大多数人都是凭着好奇想来试一下，但不出五分钟他们就都说太难了，全都头也不回地离开了，可偏偏就我一个人不仅没有放弃还越来越着迷。

那时候北京已经有所谓的“团练”了，就是北京玩剑玉的朋友们定期聚在一起互相切磋技艺、交流进步。还记得第一次和好朋友Harry去团练时，我就成功解锁了一个半年左右玩家才会的招数。那一招我拍视频一直拍了1个多小时才成功，虽然累的满头大汗，但当我把视频发到我们的微信交流群里，所有人都表示震惊了，各种夸奖随之扑面而来。那种前所未有的成就感让我这辈子都忘不掉它，晚上我都是笑着睡着的。从那以后我就开始更加努力练习了，那时候我们“团练”还是作业制的，每周都会发布不同难度的招式，然后你有一周时间去练习并且拍视频发到微信群里，我每周都会坚持打卡。

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Not long after that there was a kendama competition in Beijing, and I registered. Not surprisingly, I met many top players there. I had a hard time and thought of giving up. But a month later I realized that kendama is what I love, and I cannot give it up.

I started practicing even harder. I took my kendama with me to school, when I went out, even in my bed at night. Last October there was another kendama competition. I was not sure at first as I didn’t want to lose again. But my friends encouraged me to take this opportunity to demonstrate what I could do. There was a moment I thought I was losing again, but I overcomed myself and won my first champion, which brought me to a bigger stage of more brilliant kendama players in China. I’d like to think that my hard practicing paid off.

在青苗的六年里我有过高兴有过伤心，这些难忘的经历都会一辈子刻在我身体里。我非常感谢青苗每一位老师给予我的支持和鼓励，感谢Sonja老师在申请中对我的帮助。感谢父母以及好朋友们的陪伴，没有你们也没有我的今天。我还很想感谢我的妹妹，我们是龙凤胎，这六年来我们形影不离，我们并没有非常聪明，也没有非常出众，有时候我们也会想难道我们就这么差吗，但是现在我们都用努力证明了自己！目前我们分别拿到了11个不同大学的offer，也拿到了我们最想去的罗格斯大学的offer！非常庆幸我们能这样一直互相陪伴着对方！

最后再说说剑玉，剑玉对我的启发和影响真的很大，没有剑玉也许我现在还很迷茫，每当我一拿出剑玉的时候，那就是我最自信的时候。如果一定要对学弟学妹们说一点建议的话，那就是我希望大家都能够找到自己真正喜欢的东西，因为我就是在对剑玉的坚持和热爱中才发现了更好的自己！谢谢大家。