Motivation is the hunger that each of us have to go out and get what we desire. Each of our desires point us in the direction of our own individuality and purpose. Having a purpose gives us moral meaning to our lives. Therefore, we work to achieve our purpose.
Self-value is induced by both the opinions of others and for the sake of self-enrichment. Yet, the main objective of our journey is to prove worthiness or morality within character. The directions we take in life are strongly dependent on that to which we are exposed while growing up, ergo each of our desires derive from our social and cultural backgrounds.
Being an American-born youth living in Nanjing, I have become aware of the variations between Chinese and Western culture in so far as they play a huge role in the ways we bring light to our dreams and desires.
In the past decade, international travel has become more and more accessible, and as a result, multi-cultural communities such as Nanjing have been able to quickly evolve. Take events such as the 2014 Youth Olympics, for example. Thousands of young competitors travelled from all around the world to compete in Nanjing, each bringing along their own individual story of how they got here. Although almost 4 years have passed since the sporting spectacle, it goes to show how much more multi-culturally enriched Nanjing has become. As capital of China in the early 1900s, Nanjing is responsible for a large amount of Chinese history while its cultural enrichment as well as that of other cities like it, represent the overall development of China, in terms of its acceptance of other countries’ ideas and perspectives.
After the Opium Wars (1839-1860) and the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), foreigners were not highly considered in China, a sentiment now prevalent in many other countries in the world. However, in Nanjing, and China at large, a new wave of acceptance and positivity has emerged in recent years. This has inevitably changed the outlook of both host and guest, creating a shift in values and desires at both ends of the spectrum. Moving away from the traditional collective ideologies of the past, many of my Chinese counterparts now show new desires for self-betterment and actively seek out different perspectives and ideas.
One of my Chinese classmates who has lived abroad spoke to The Nanjinger on how travelling and studying at an international school has affected their outlook, saying that, “[They have] developed a better overall perspective of cultures and a more cohesive personality”. In addition to this, they said, “For a certain amount of time, I had thought that Western culture was much better than the conventional and conservative Chinese culture. However, when I was in Australia, I experienced a totally new culture and therefore, changed my mind. I realised that there is no culture that has absolutely no disadvantages”. As a Chinese citizen, this just goes to show how much of an impact multi-cultural exposure can have.
As a former student at the Overseas Family School in Singapore and now enrolled in Nanjing, I have spent 6 years outside of my native country. Living abroad for such a length of time (a considerable proportion of my life) and being exposed to a variety of different cultures has allowed me to notice a lot more about culture itself, especially when I go back to visit the United States in the summers.
Being an international student in Singapore (as one of the most culturally-diverse countries in the world) has resulted in me making friends on a global basis; mainland China, Taiwan, Germany, Korea, India and so many more (not to mention my teachers as well). As I became a part of this international community, I slowly began to realise all of the possibilities that we each have within us.
A person’s social background depends on factors involving their economic status, together with the culture and ideologies of where they grew up, in addition to all of the above as they relate to their family. All of these factors are clearly displayed in the personalities and motivational drives of students at international educational institutions all over Nanjing.
The learning of new languages and the history of different nations is very important for the future, and those aspects themselves give us more desire to achieve something big in life. Being exposed to so many different stand-points opens up our perspectives over life itself and unquestionably reshapes our desires as we figure out more about what we actually want to do in life and how we can make a difference.
Our time spent in Nanjing, specifically within an international environment, encourages the exchange of ideas and ethics between cultures, and can guide us in the direction of our discovering of our own desires and purpose for the future.
