No pains, no gains!

One day  last summer, I was window shopping with my mom. Suddenly, some

sweet melody came into my ears. It was so fascinating.  "Where is that music from, Mom?" I asked.

Later, Mom took me to a training school where one girl was playing a musical instrument called Guzheng. The music was from there! I decided to learn right at that moment.

But it’s not easy to learn how to play the instrument. I had to practice three hours a day in the summer. I had to wear fake fingernails every time I practiced and the nails hurt my fingers. One time I could hardly hold the chopsticks after practicing. “Mom, it is not fun to play this instrument. I wanna(want to) quit.”  “No, Nancy.”, Mom encouraged me gently,  “You should keep on, my dearie. Remember: No pains, no gains! When you can play a beautiful song with that instrument, you will feel the pains all worthwhile!”

Eventually, I followed what my mom said and kept practicing. Last week, I  passed Band 4 test of Guzheng Playing. This traditional music instrument has been popular in China for more than 2000 years. And I’d like to play my part for its continuous growth in our culture!

That’s all, thank you!

金之楠 2018年12月参加演讲比赛演讲稿