(Minghui.org) I studied at Fei Tian Academy of the Arts and Fei Tian College for nearly ten years and received a bachelor’s degree in Chinese classical dance. I participated in the Shen Yun global tour seven times, and I’d like to share with you what I learned and how I grew as a person during my time with Shen Yun and Fei Tian.
Teenager: Deciding to Join Fei Tian Academy of the Arts
My mother started practicing Falun Dafa shortly after I was born, so I grew up in a Falun Dafa cultivation environment. She took me to nearly every Falun Dafa activity she participated in since I was a toddler, including weekly group Fa study, various truth-clarification activities, and cultivation experience-sharing conferences. My mother said I was only two years old when I attended a Fa conference and met Master. From the age of four I accompanied her when she went to the Chinese Embassy to send forth righteous thoughts every weekend. I’ve always felt that Dafa is good.
I didn’t like to dance when I was young. My mother signed me up to learn ballet, but after one class, I didn’t want to go anymore. She also wanted me to learn Chinese dance, but I didn’t like it either. My mother respected my decision and didn’t have me take other dance classes.
But after watching a Shen Yun performance, I wanted to join Shen Yun because I thought it was beautiful and meaningful. When I was 13 years old, I was admitted to Fei Tian Academy of the Arts.
My father was a little hesitant about letting his daughter study dance full-time. He was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find a good paying job in the future. However, I wanted to give it a try, and he respected my decision. No one forced me to go to Fei Tian. At the end of my initial interview at the school, I was told: It will be difficult, can you do it? I nodded. So I entered Fei Tian and tried for a few months. At the end of the trial period, the principal asked me why I wanted to stay in Fei Tian. I said, “To help Master save sentient beings.”
From beginning to end, the decision to dance was my own choice.
Youth: Growing up in Fei Tian Academy of the Arts
Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, Fei Tian College and Shen Yun Performing Arts don’t just train world-class talents in dance and music. I also learned how to be a good person, cultivate traditional aesthetics, learn traditional virtues and values, and become a resilient person—I feel these are incredibly valuable. I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn about and help showcase the profound culture of China.
The school taught us that if we want to dance well, we must first be good people. From dancing, I learned traditional virtues such as resilience, the spirit of cooperation, inner beauty, and also practical skills on how to keep one’s body in the best condition.
The academic courses taught me traditional values such as loyalty, filial piety, self-discipline, etc., by studying ancient Chinese and Western cultures. These important values help me understand what is good and bad, and enable me to keep a clear mind despite society’s chaos. I also learned Chinese and English language skills. All of these are lifelong skills I can use in all different kinds of environments.
We students also study ancient poetry, art, history, and language to enrich our understanding of humanity, life, and the universe. I’m deeply grateful for this experience because it completely changed my understanding of what it means to live a meaningful life. We used the wisdom and virtues we learned to enrich our performances and pass on this cultural heritage to the audience in the form of elegant dance and music. Since Fei Tian provided us with full scholarships, we students didn’t have to worry about money.
I’m also grateful that Fei Tian didn’t allow us to use smartphones or play video games. That is truly being responsible to the students. Smartphones can easily distract and interfere with people, and I’m glad that my youth was spent studying an ancient art form, reading good books, and preparing for tours. These experiences brought more meaning to my life than the time I might have spent on my phone.
Joining the Shen Yun Performing Arts World Tour Broadens My Horizons
During the nearly ten years I spent with Fei Tian and Shen Yun Performing Arts, the school worked very hard to ensure the quality of life for students: eating well, sleeping well, having a good learning environment, the opportunity to have fun, relaxing, and enjoying rich cultural activities. For Fei Tian students, clothing, food, dormitory, equipment, education, transportation, and so on are all provided free of charge, and these facilities are of high quality. The trainee artists also receive stipends to cover any other costs they might encounter while touring.
The local coordinators that host Shen Yun book rooms in safe high-end hotels to ensure that the artists can get a good rest. During the Shen Yun tour, I stayed in more than a hundred high-end hotels, but never paid a penny, which is an experience that most young people cannot afford.
Performing in top theaters around the world is also the dream of many artists and a precious experience in my life.
On campus, there are also recreational facilities such as basketball courts, ping-pong tables, walking trails, pool tables, libraries, and more. Students can hang out with friends or take a shuttle to New York City. During the tour, the company takes the artists to various high-end restaurants, shopping malls, sightseeing tours, etc. During our breaks, we were often free to explore different cities. After a performance in Taiwan, my friends and I would often hail a taxi and visit the local night markets.
During holidays such as New Year’s, Thanksgiving, Mid-Autumn Festival, Christmas, and others, the Fei Tian organizers prepare special banquets, and everyone gets together to relax and celebrate.
All the teachers in Fei Tian also sincerely try to help every student. During my time at Fei Tian and Shen Yun, I never felt like I was a commodity, and I’m very grateful for the education and extraordinary care I received there.
Shen Yun was established to help revive the 5,000-year-old traditional Chinese culture, which is full of wisdom, virtue, and beauty. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is exposed through some performances and thanks to Shen Yun’s efforts, an increasing number of people know about the persecution taking place in China. Under the Chinese communist regime, countless people have died as a result of brutal persecution, and the awareness Shen Yun raises helps those Chinese people who are still being persecuted.
Pursuing a University Degree
After leaving Shen Yun, I returned to my hometown to pursue a degree in media in order to join the media to spread the truth. Many of the course credits I earned while studying at Fei Tian College were recognized by the university, and I was able to complete my second degree in 18 months. I got an A in every course, received scholarships every year, and was nominated for an honorable mention in an entrepreneurial competition.
In my first semester at the university, I wrote a paper on censorship, exposing the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong and hate propaganda, and cited different academic articles. The professor gave me a 100/100 and said that this was the first time she gave a student a perfect score in her ten years as a professor. My experience at Shen Yun inspired me to stand up for the truth and let people know about the persecution happening in China. Every semester, I incorporated exposing the CCP and presenting the truth into my papers from different angles.
Thanks to my time at Fei Tian, I learned self-discipline, how to do my best, and humility. Without the values I learned at Fei Tian, I wouldn’t have been motivated to do everything to the best of my ability.
I think Fei Tian’s classes are great because they focus on teaching students universal principles and how to live an ethical and successful life. What we learned can be applied to various fields, including personal relationships, and different fields of study and work. When I attended a regular university, I needed to study a lot of abstract ideas, most of which had no practical application in other areas of my life, study, or career. Much of what I learned will be outdated in a few years as well.
After graduation, I joined the media group and began teaching dance part-time at the Shen Yun Arts Proficiency Assessment Center and the local Minghui School. I’m very happy to pass on what I learned at Fei Tian to others.
I cherish my experience at Fei Tian and Shen Yun. I’m extremely honored to have had such an opportunity to learn and grow, and to contribute to promoting China’s traditional culture and ending the CCP’s persecution. I appreciate Fei Tian and Shen Yun from the bottom of my heart.
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Category: Perspectives
