"Life has many challenges, do you want to accept it" address from the Taiwan University graduates from Burkina Faso, the world's poorest country

June graduation season, looking back four years, once thought that the threshold can not be passed, did not expect to one day, but also smile and remember. So think, life of all the difficulties encountered, if willing to accept and face, the strength will grow, the original bar, they are stronger than imagined, but also flexible.

In a speech to the 2020 graduate, Ai Jiaqi, a civil engineering student from Burkina Faso, challenged from the end of his life, thinking that since all difficulties were not available, he would try to accept it. Only in the face, can you move forward, live the desired life and value.

Photo , Screenshot of a Youtube video

You can't choose an environment, but you can choose the life you want

Ai Jiaqi was born in the West African country of Burkina Faso, for him, the first challenge of life is to overcome the lack of education and living resources:

"Only one in every two children has the opportunity to finish high school or go to college, and we don't have many convenience stores, no 7-Eleven, no family, this is the so-called Third World country. 」

He grew up in a poor environment with out of water and electricity, and few people who had access to education, perhaps a class of classmates, the next class will not come, because children must help with housework, or because of disease and death. So it is a precious opportunity to be able to sit in the classroom and study.

Ai Jiaqi also knows that education is the way to get yourself out of poverty. With this desire, hard reading and hard work to earn living expenses, he ended up at Burkina Faso's best-known universities. The first challenge in life is an environment that is not a choice, but do you want to limit yourself and become a passive recipient, or do you want to seize the opportunity to try and make yourself at the helm of life? (Extended Reading: Never Stop Thinking and Acting!) From Jobs to Michelle, life-changing commencement speech)

Self-reliance, there is hope

The second challenge of his life was to fly to Taiwan.

After winning a scholarship from Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ai Jiaqi decided to fly from Burkina Faso to Taiwan without much thought. After landing, he found that he can not Chinese, English ability is not good, can also graduate? He can only work hard, study Chinese, make up for English, through the language verification examination, into Taiwan University study.

However, he found that the challenge will not be because you overcome the end, too late to catch your breath, the next directly into your life - when the teacher began to take calculus, he can not understand anything, so he had to find a way to solve, ask teachers, ask teaching assistants, ask students.

"Only self-reliance can hope." 」

Another change is coming soon, and Ai Jiaqi is heading for a third challenge in 2018. In his sophomore year, Burkina Faso announced the severing of diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which was not only a major shock to Taiwan's international diplomacy, but also cut off the source of tuition for students in Taiwan and Burkina Faso. He had to choose between staying in Taiwan looking for another livelihood, or flying to China to receive local scholarships.

In the end, he chose to stay, he said, he already enjoyed taiwan's study life and human touch.

Life's challenges will always come, all you can do is try to overcome the law

Staying in Taiwan, economic sources are the first problem, he found a way to get a scholarship to Taiwan University, find opportunities to work in Taiwan, despite environmental changes, in four years of university, he lived hard, hard study, as the Taiwan University Protocol Ambassador, the captain of the football team, but also as the Student Union Minister of International Affairs. Ai Said:

"I survived, and I lived a wonderful life."
"The challenges in life are also very material, but I have the intention to accept it, the environment is not ideal, Burkina Faso all the way to Taiwan, very fortunate, very open, very cherished." 」

This sentence "survived", many hard-won. He told himself that life was all the challenges that he could not choose and expect, but he was willing to face and accept. He's lucky because he has faith and hope - "Reading can change lives" Yes, the environment is limits, poverty is limits, language is limits, but imagination has no boundaries, it leads you to move across the gap between rich and poor, the high walls of cultural systems. Read: Sheryl Sandberg's Graduation Speech: Practical Hope To Overcome Fear

So, graduates, you dare not imagine, five years later, ten years later will stand where, what kind of things?
If you dare to think, the heart will take you far away, across the obstacles, to reach a wide future.