Shengliver’s Note: 6 pm June 9 is a milestone on the education journey of Chinese teens. It marks the end of high school and the start of college.

Every year June sees big exams come and go. A few days ago, this year’s university entrance exam, notoriously cutthroat and competitive, took place at YYHS.

Two days prior to the exam, we Year 10 and Year 11 classes prepped the classrooms and the hallway. We wiped the windows, the blackboard and the desks. Simultaneously we mopped the floor. We even got down on our hands and knees to scrub it where chewing gum had stuck. It was exhausting. The desks were aligned in perfect rows and columns. Finally, the headmaster, followed by his entourage, came and inspected the room, spotlessly clean. The boss nodded in approval. That meant that the job was done and we could go. The arena was set for the examinees.

Before leaving for home, I stood in the front of the room, imagining how the candidates would be feeling during the following three days. Confident? Nervous? Anxious or something else? I had no clue. One thing I was sure of was that they would put on their best show in their last high school battle.

It is two days since the exam ended. With the grads gone, the campus has quietened down, and school has come back on track for YYHS freshmen and sophomores.

On the way back to school on the evening of June 9, I came across the warriors heading home from the battlefield, triumphant and relieved. It was not only the end of their high school war but also the beginning of their independence. Leaving behind adolescence, they could not wait to embrace adulthood.

The moment I realised that I will be just like the victorious fighters two years from now, I turned my eyes away and walked ahead towards the campus.