Shengliver’s Note: Work or play? Is there a balance between the two? The writer, like her contemporaries, is mired in homework that seems to be running forever, from dawn to the smaller hours of the night, Monday through Sunday.

Shengliver, do you agree we should be slogging all the time without a rest? Isn’t there an English proverb, “All work and no play maketh Jack a dull boy”?

My parents force me to study on Sunday. I just play for a while when Mother will say, “It is time you went back to your homework. Do you know what others are doing while you are having fun?” I am speechless.

If I say, “I want to relax,” my mother will retort, “Everyone can play after work. Now studying is your priority.” I used to believe that she was right. But now the amount of my homework tells me that I am daydreaming. Weekend homework is such that every Sunday the only thing I can do besides my homework is eating and sleeping. There is little time for diversion. There is virtually no time to let off steam.

At 14.00, I should “willingly” go back to the classroom, where we are supposed to study on our own for the afternoon. Every Sunday evening, there is a maths test awaiting us. Now I believe one thing: Weekdays are better than weekends.

Our biology teacher, Ms Yang, is very understanding. Although she cannot change the state of affairs, she encourages us not to be scared. When she learned that our class had won a basketball game last week, she said that we deserved celebration and relaxation. Of course, you are one of the teachers who are sympathetic too.

Well, I admit I can’t change the world, but still I can change myself. I learned it in my Chinese class from Ms Liu.

I will try to make the best of it all. A rose will experience a lot before it comes out. Nothing can stop it from flowering, anyway.