‘IACE’ girls from girls’ school
As
freshmen in the university, our conversations usually start with,‘Which
school are you from?’
However,
my answer always brings controversy. I graduated from the only girls’ school in
mainland China, Shanghai NO.3 girls’ middle school.
Due to the stereotype, many of my mainland
friends regard girls’ school as something out of date. Talking about girls’
schools, they would naturally refer to those girls from respectable families,
wearing chirpaurs. I can understand them
since girls’ school truly faded out through the history of mainland China.
Therefore, I always have to avoid the embarrassment
when talking about my middle school by answering all those questions that I
have already answered for hundreds of times. ‘Only girl students?’ ‘Do you have
male teachers?’ And even ‘Do you have lesbians?’ All I want to say is that we
are just like the normal girls. We like to dress up and we would like to have
boyfriends.
Taking a broad view into the society, whether
the advantage of going to girls’ school overweighs the disadvantages is still
debatable. An online research shows that only 15% of the people agree that
girls’ school is good for girls’ growth.
Although I truly love my school, I still
have to say that single sex school can really bring some problems. And the most
serious one, from my perspective, is the vision of love. We are segregated from
boys in the age that we are the most curious about them. That is to say, in
that period, we learn boys from those TV series more than the reality. Then
comes the problem, the main character in the TV series is always extremely
handsome and gentle. However, when we enter universities, our fairytale breaks.
And that brings the gap between boys and us. It takes some time for us to get
along with boys naturally.
However, never can I deny that girls’ school’s
education truly brings some differences. Because of the absence of boys, we
have to do all the things by ourselves. It is normal for you to see girls in my
school to stand on the tables, trying to clean the ceiling fan on their
tiptoes. Nevertheless, the experience of depending on us ourselves has influence
on our future life. I still remember the first day I arrived at the student residence,
a boy offered to help me carrying my luggage; I was surprised and refused his
kindness, which embarrassed him.
That is the reason why I think most of the
girls from my school are very independent. They are powerful enough to live
their own life.
Except
for the influence from the daily life, girls’ school always offers some special
courses for girls’ growth. For example, in my school, we are required to learn
sewing, cooking, piano, drama and Shanghai opera. People in my city always say
that the girls who graduate from my school are more versatile and virtuous. As
for me, I should be very grateful to my school. It allows me to develop in an
all-round way so that I found no difficulty in living in Hong Kong by myself.
In addition, girls are usually more exquisite
and sensitive than boys. Therefore, in order to get along with the schoolmates
well, we have to care more for others, otherwise, conflicts are unavoidable. That
is to say, girls’ school’s life may build up a caring character for the girls.
In a word, people would like to call the
girls from my school: ‘IACE’ girls. ‘I’ for independent, ‘A’ stands for able, ‘C’
for care and ‘E’ for elegant. The four letters have become the letters of my
life. I’d like to spare no effort to achieve them. Not only me, but most of the
girls from my school have the same pursue. And that is the glamour of the girls’
school.
Interesting and unique viewpoint. I'd say that for someone of your background, you should be proud of your upbringing. Being special is always a good thing.
回复删除I would like to point out that the same problems occur for all-boy schools as well, as no contact with the opposite gender often gives them the wrong impression about girls as well. I'd imagine that they would be equally shocked seeing you 'standing on tiptoe to clean the ceiling fan'.
~Wei-fan Chang