Shengliver’s Note: A lot can happen in 7 days! In this entry you will read a teen’s look-back to her past week.

How busy and exciting a week it was!

Last week, it was our turn to take charge of keeping the school running by being on administrative duty. In my school, all the classes have an opportunity to do it before they are graduated. I feel we were more labourers than administrators.

My class was divided into different teams, each team responsible for a task. I had to look after fallen leaves on the grounds. My team members and I swept them off the yard and took them to the dump three times a day. It was back-breaking because leaves are always falling this season.

What’s more, I had got to stand at the entrance to the third-floor canteen to keep order at dining hours. Therefore, I had to rush to the canteen and have a quick meal before the other classes swarmed in. Eating too fast made me feel awful.

After a long day, I wanted to hit the sack as soon as possible, but I had one more task before I could call it a day. I was ordered to monitor girls’ dorms after 10.35 every night. My mates and I had to eavesdrop on the dorms, lest some girls were still up after the curfew bell, which violates dorm rules. Every morning when I was roused by the alarm, I felt my entire self aching. Another daunting day began!

Yesterday, sophomores trekked to a ‘beautiful’ destination located in Yunxian, which is called Cherry Valley. It felt like the Long March. The long journey helped me to better understand what the Red Army soldiers got through in the 1930s on their long journey from Jiangxi to Shaanxi.

Our steps became slower and heavier as we were progressing. Some complained but no one gave up halfway. After four hours on the road, we finally reached what the organisers called a beautiful destination. It was deep autumn, so there was no trace of cherry blossoms around despite the name Cherry Valley. A barren landscape greeted our eye. We sat down in a field, where we ate the packed lunch we had prepared.

To my disappointment, on the way back in the afternoon, some boys, who were a lot more muscular than me, got on a bus. Shame on them!

What delighted me was that I beat the challenge without anyone’s help. Some girls had their bags carried by the boys. Heavy as our class director is, Mr Yu behaved calm and relaxed throughout the hike. Obviously climbing hills daily has built him up. Our English teacher, Shengliver, walked like a little swallow, so that I could hardly catch up. Well, more great things than bad happened on the round trip.

It was an exhausting but exciting week, all things considered.