(Minghui.org) My son was six years old when I began practicing Falun Dafa. I’d like to share how he was repeatedly blessed for upholding Falun Dafa when I was being persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
I worked far away from home and could only come back every few days. When I studied the Fa at home, my son Mingyu (pseudonym) would join me. As soon as I mentioned Fa study, he would immediately stop whatever he was doing and read with me, even if he was watching his favorite cartoon. He accepted Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance as his guide to be a good person. He was kind, cheerful, and polite. After he started school, he was a good student, and his teachers liked him very much.
The CCP started persecuting Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999, and I was illegally arrested and detained several times. Mingyu’s Fa study was interrupted, and he suffered a lot. He experienced slander from classmates, misunderstandings, discrimination, and isolation from teachers, and he developed a rebellious mentality. When he was in middle school, Mingyu frequently disobeyed school regulations, and the teachers often called me to complain. They also sent him home to reflect on his behavior, sometimes for three to five days, sometimes for a week or longer. His grades plummeted.
At the end of his freshman year in high school, the school tried to expel him for talking back to a teacher. He was not allowed to return to school for a long time after the next school year started. I appealed to the county government. With Master’s help, the problem was resolved that day and Mingyu continued his high school studies. However, his grades dropped to bottom of the class. Mingyu chose to study art at college even though he had no foundation in this subject.
The summer before Mingyu started his sophomore year in high school, a fellow practitioner organized a meeting for children of fellow practitioners where they studied the Fa and did the exercises together. My son read the Fa fluently and persevered in doing the exercises, including the Falun standing stance (holding the law wheel), for which he was praised by fellow practitioners. Afterwards, Mingyu’s mindset started improving. Although he hadn’t studied the Fa much since the persecution started, the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance had taken root in his heart.
Mingyu maintained righteous thoughts during the years I was persecuted. When he saw someone slandering Falun Dafa online, he would talk with that person, explaining that Falun Dafa was good. He told his classmates that the CCP had an international reputation equivalent to the Nazis, and that foreign companies wouldn’t want to hire a CCP member. When his classmates got worried about receiving currency bills inscribed with truth-clarification information as change, he reassured them, saying, “I’ve also received bills like this before and spent them all. They are real money, so there’s no problem spending them.” Mingyu also picked up any discarded truth-clarification materials he saw and disposed of them properly.
Most importantly, he informed fellow practitioners as soon as I was arrested. When he and relatives visited me at the detention center, Mingyu brought me a hand-copied paragraph of Fa from a fellow practitioner. At the police station, seeing my dry lips, Mingyu went straight to a police officer and asked, “Uncle, where are the cups?” He then got water from the dispenser and gave it to me to drink.
In China, students attend high school for three years. At the beginning of their senior year, students go to special classes for the subjects they want to study in college, until the winter break. Mingyu and several classmates went to a training class in the provincial capital and he studied sketching, gesture drawing, and painting for the art college entrance examination. Mingyu didn’t have a particular college in mind, and applied for several. When he noticed a college had a low application fee he applied for that one as well.
Students wishing to attend art college need to take the Provincial Art Unified Examination, which is held in winter, and some colleges also have their own exams. Then they need to take the National College Entrance Examination, which is held in summer. When his training class ended, Mingyu took the art unified exam.
After the unified exam, the confident students went home. Those who were less confident planned to pay extra for their admission and also went home. Mingyu waited alone at the dormitory for his exam results. He was crying when he called me while he waited; perhaps he felt depressed because he was alone.
I comforted him and said, “Keep a calm mind and don’t overthink things. The results are already decided; if you are to go to college, no one can take this away from you. Don’t be sad, and don’t put pressure on yourself.”
He calmed down and then completed the required college exams by himself. After some time, the results came out. Mingyu was only accepted by one college—the last one he had applied to.
He then went back to high school and began reviewing the academic subjects for the National College Entrance Examination. However, at this point he started thinking about giving up.
He looked online and realized that the college that accepted him had consistently high admission scores. Its design program was very famous locally, although it had an overall tier-two ranking, and its admission scores were close to those of tier-one universities. It also required a minimum admission score in English.
Mingyu was not proficient in his art subjects nor confident in his academic subjects, and his English was poor. These factors undermined his confidence. He initially thought that the college was unremarkable and should be easy to get into. After he learned more about it, he felt hopeless and stopped studying hard.
His teacher called us, told us the situation, and asked us to encourage Mingyu. His father and I talked to him, “Since fate has opened this door for you, don’t waste it. Give it a try; we can’t give up!” He agreed, persisted in his studies, and worked hard.
The college entrance exam was held in July, and was divided into the Comprehensive Science Test and the Comprehensive Liberal Arts Test. Mingyu took the Comprehensive Liberal Arts Test. Everyone felt the questions in this test were tricky, but Mingyu did well. His overall score exceeded the general college admission requirement by 40 points, and his English score exceeded the subject requirement by more than 10 points.
In early August, after the college admission process concluded, the provincial admissions office released the required admission scores for all the universities applied to by students in this province. Mingyu nervously said, “I checked online; the university I applied for has the same admission score as my exam score, but I don’t know if I got in.”
I suggested he call and ask. He dialed the university’s admission hotline. After a brief explanation, the admission officer said, “Congratulations! You’re on our admissions list!”
Mingyu was very happy and said excitedly, “Mom, I’m so lucky! Now people can see that a Falun Dafa practitioner’s son made it to college!”
Mingyu’s environment changed significantly in college; unlike the oppressive years in elementary and middle schools, college life was relaxed, and he devoted himself to studying. He had diverse interests with a broad knowledge base, and reading the Dafa books gave him wisdom. He often offered unique insights to teachers’ questions in classes, and several teachers liked him very much. Some of them visited Taiwan or other countries, and had open perspectives. When they talked about Falun Dafa, the teachers’ words were always positive.
Mingyu changed his major in his sophomore year and graduated smoothly after four years of study. Just before his graduation, the college’s rank was upgraded from a tier-two institution to a tier-one institution.
The year he graduated, Mingyu learned that a classmate had been admitted to a prestigious university in Beijing for postgraduate studies; it was a top-tier institution in China and a dream school for most students. Mingyu remembered that this classmate didn’t study very hard, and his grades were not outstanding. His admission greatly inspired Mingyu so he wanted to apply.
After he graduated, he prepared for a few months and took the entrance exam for postgraduate studies. The exam included four subjects: politics, English, design theory, and hand-drawing. He scored high in design theory, but fell short in English and hand-drawing, so he failed the exam. Later, Mingyu learned that his classmate had actually prepared extensively beforehand.
Mingyu wanted to try again. His father suggested that he work while preparing, and he agreed. In the following year, he attended a drawing training class and studied intensively. After the training ended, Mingyu began reviewing English and theory courses. He planned his studies and created a detailed schedule to follow.
At that time, Mingyu’s father also started studying the Fa, so I suggested Mingyu join us. He adjusted his schedule and joined us to study the Fa from 6 to 8 p.m. every day, until just before the exam.
By then, Falun Dafa practitioners had begun suing former CCP leader Jiang Zemin, the chief perpetrator of the persecution. People who understood the truth about Falun Dafa were signing petitions to sue Jiang Zemin. The day before Mingyu left for Beijing to take the exam, I asked if he would like to sign the petition. He looked at the form and then signed it immediately.
Mingyu went to Beijing. He was relaxed during the written exams, which lasted several days. He passed the test smoothly and did well in all subjects. His English and hand-drawing scores had significantly improved. He met the required total score and proceeded to the second round with an interview. Before he left for the interview, I said, “Don’t be competitive; be peaceful, kind, and cooperative.”
On interview day, each candidate went into the room individually while all the other candidates waited outside nervously. One major planned to admit only one of the two candidates, so they were anxious. Mingyu, however, was relaxed. He chatted with everyone, saying, “Man proposes, God disposes. We do our best and accept fate. Whoever gets admitted, we congratulate him. If someone fails the test, we are still friends, not enemies.” The atmosphere became friendly. We heard that in previous years, candidates were wary of each other and didn’t communicate much. Later, we learned that the major that planned to admit only one of the two candidates ultimately admitted both candidates.
Mingyu felt nervous afterwards because his interview was shorter than the others; the teachers only asked him a few questions, then said he could leave. He thought they were not interested in him. When we called him, he had just left a classmate’s house and felt dejected. We later learned that Mingyu’s interview was short because the teachers did not want him to make any mistakes. Mingyu was admitted to this top university for postgraduate study.
Everyone was surprised. Mingyu’s uncle was stunned for a while upon hearing the news and then asked his wife, “How did he get in?” Even my fellow practitioners were surprised because they knew Mingyu’s background. But everyone understood this was a blessing from Dafa!
Mingyu’s repeated good fortune during his ongoing education was not accidental; these were miracles from Dafa. I am sharing Mingyu’s experiences with everyone with the sincere hope that all sentient beings can return to tradition, return to their original true nature, return to kindness, and bathe in the boundless grace of Falun Dafa.