(Minghui.org) My husband and I have two daughters. My younger daughter is currently studying at Fei Tian College, and tours with Shen Yun Performing Arts. I’d like to tell you why she chose to attend Fei Tian and why we agreed with her choice.
Beginning of Predestined Relationship
My younger daughter was a bright child. Besides getting all As in school effortlessly, she also had many ways to sidestep being corrected by her parents and elders. She is kind but when she is up to mischief, it got on everyone in the family’s nerves. She once made her older sister so furious that she complained to me, but she had no evidence. She could only say, “I know she’s doing something bad but I can’t catch her.”
After my mother moved to Canada to live with us, conflicts between her and my younger daughter escalated.
My mother was an outstanding teacher in China. She was well respected, and placed great importance on following tradition. My siblings and I never dared to argue with her.
However, my daughter grew up in Canada, and in school, children are taught that everyone is equal. Furthermore, she had a sharp tongue. My mother said, “If you say one sentence, she has ten sentences to argue with you.”
My mother was once eating cherries and she and my daughter had an argument. In her anger, my mother broke her tooth because she accidentally bit down on a cherry pit.
There were countless such incidents that made me feel helpless. I didn’t want to see my mother upset with my daughter but I didn’t know how to help my daughter understand the meaning of filial piety in traditional Chinese culture.
Choosing a School
This situation continued for several years. Finally, my daughter was old enough to attend a university. I was glad that at last conflicts between my daughter and mother could be temporarily set aside.
As a violinist, my daughter did not have many schools to choose from. There were relatively more good music schools in the U.S. However, the school fees were around USD50,000. On top of that, there were living costs amounting to tens of thousand dollars per year. This was hard for families like ours to afford. Although many music universities in Europe offered free tuition, the cost of living was exorbitant and she would have to learn another language.
There was something else I was most worried about, which is, once she leaves home, without reminders from family members, faced with today’s complicated society, could she resist temptation and distinguish between right and wrong? I spoke to friends who had children in universities. The feedback I got was that your worries are not unfounded, and some told me about their negative experiences. This made me even more anxious.
In the end, we narrowed the choices down to two universities in Canada, and Fei Tian, which is in the U.S. The accommodations and tuition fees are free. Students can get practical experience at Shen Yun. They also go on tour and perform in top theaters around the world. Such an opportunity for a student in the performing arts is hard to come by. The students also receive an allowance. I had a friend whose daughter was studying at Fei Tian. Her daughter grew up with my daughter. My friend and her daughter were full of praise for the school, and I felt assured after listening to them. My daughter also hoped to attend Fei Tian.
However, since Fei Tian was relatively new, my daughter’s teacher didn’t know much about the school’s standards. He urged her to choose a university in Canada. My daughter began to have doubts about Fei Tian.
My Daughter Decides to Enroll in Fei Tian
That March, Shen Yun gave performances in our city during the spring break. The organizers asked my daughter if she wanted to be a volunteer and she happily agreed. I was a little surprised by her quick response. Such jobs are monotonous and boring. My daughter loves new things and challenges. I asked her, “Are you sure you want to do this?” She replied, “This is something I can do. I want to do it.”
During those few days, besides sleeping, she spent all her time volunteering for Shen Yun. She went into the theater to watch the shows. That year, Shen Yun gave ten shows in Vancouver, and my daughter saw eight of them.
Afterwards she told me that Shen Yun’s music was different. The more she listened, the more she loved it. Even while she was doing other things, she said the music kept playing in her head. She said her bad thoughts went away, and that she felt optimistic, and the future felt bright.
Emperor Shun, who composed the music Dashao (an ancient Chinese classical song and dance piece), resolved the San-Miao rebellion not through war but through music. Confucius once said, after listening to Dashao, "One forgets the taste of meat for three months." I found it inconceivable reading these stories, but after hearing my daughter’s experience, I realized that the power of music is beyond measure.
After my daughter helped with Shen Yun, she was busy recording her performances and preparing materials to enroll in various universities. All three schools she applied to accepted her and offered her scholarships. However, after auditioning for Fei Tian, she chose that university. “I love Fei Tian,” she told her teachers. “It’s like heaven.”
She often called me after she went to Fei Tian and told me about her new friends. Leaving her family, entering a new environment, and facing professional challenges, I felt the immense pressure she was under. At the same time, I also felt her deep love for Fei Tian, the teachers, and her classmates.
I thought that the problems she had at home would surface in her new relationships. She occasionally told me that she had a conflict with a friend, but these were resolved in the end. I observed that she was starting to learn to look at her shortcomings instead of finding fault with others.
Three months later, I accompanied my mother to visit relatives in the U.S. We went to visit my daughter along the way. In that short time we noticed that she had changed from a willful, spoiled girl to a mature person who knew etiquette and was considerate of others. My mother and I were impressed by her transformation. My mother was so moved that she kept crying. My daughter also could not help tearing up when she spoke of her transformation.
She told me, “Thank you mom for reminding me to study the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance when I was at home. You made me memorize the teachings but I didn’t understand why. I now realize that if you hadn’t been strict with me then, I don’t know what I would have been like now.”
Analyzing how she went through such a huge transformation, she said, in the past, although she was studying the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, when it came to specific matters, she still felt things were unfair.
“My friends also told me it was unfair. I seldom thought of other people’s feelings. However, at Fei Tian, everyone studies the teachings of Falun Dafa, and everyone knows the principles taught in the books.
“Here, my friends remind me to see things from the other party’s perspective.” She said that when she thought that way, she was no longer upset. She gradually understood how important it was to improve one’s character in cultivation, and she felt good about her improvement.
Seeing the changes in her lifted a weight in my mind.
Growing Up in Shen Yun
A few years later, my daughter’s daily schedule is now full on. Besides completing regular university classes, she is on tour for months, and time is tight. At the same time, she has broadened her view, and is no longer a willful little girl.
She only has a short break every year, and she visits her former teachers. They are in fact reputable musicians. One teacher told her that, after hearing a recording of her latest performance, he hadn't expected her to improve so much.
When he asked why she chose to go to Fei Tian, my daughter said she truly wanted to be a Shen Yun artist. I heard her say something similar to her former violin teacher.
She said, “There are countless Falun Dafa practitioners in China whose families were broken apart because of the persecution. Their organs were harvested. My family was once persecuted in China, too. I love to play the violin but I want to be a Shen Yun artist because only Shen Yun tells people the facts of the persecution. Only when people realize the truth will the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners be lessened until it ends. This is what an artist should do.”
I truly understood why she loved Fei Tian College so much, and why she was so passionate about volunteering for Shen Yun. It turns out that the persecution of Falun Dafa, including the suffering our family went through, left a deep imprint in her young heart. Her love for Fei Tian has a deeper meaning, however. She was still young when we lived in China, and she could not fully express her feelings. She could only say, “I want to be a volunteer for Shen Yun.”
I am gratified to see her making progress in her skills while leading a busy life. At the same time, she is now able to use her skills to help Shen Yun spread the message of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance around the world, and tell people the truth about the persecution suffered by Falun Dafa practitioners. I hope their efforts can help end the inhuman persecution in China.
Time flies, and the day came when my daughter graduated from Fei Tian. The entire family attended her graduation ceremony. We traveled a long way and we did not have time to prepare flowers for her. She did not mind.
She was happy that we came. She bought delicious food and introduced us to her friends. She pulled a girl over and proudly told us, “This is my younger sister.” The girl appeared a little shy and I answered at once, “Great, we welcome you as the third child in our family.” Everyone laughed. I know that my daughter wants to share the joy in her life with us.
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