In September, two things happened on campus at the same time. A group of people stood on the athletics field letting out the string, sending kites chasing higher skies. A group of people bent down, gently painting an unspoken thought onto a stone. One reaching skyward, one turning inward. The 2nd 'Fengyang Cup' Campus Kite Festival, themed 'Dance with the Wind · Wind Carries the Future,' and the 'Stone Light Unspoken' Campus Stone-Painting Activity have both concluded successfully. Looking back, those kites that took flight and the stones left on campus are exactly the two sides of youth: one running outward, one settling inward.

The 2nd 'Fengyang Cup' Campus Kite Festival

Tying youth into the wind

A bamboo strip, a sheet of covering paper, a few strokes of paint — what can they become? The answer was on the athletics field on the morning of September 10: they can become a kite that flies.

As the activity opened, bamboo strips, string, glue, and covering paper were laid out across the field. Following the tutorial, students built the frames — whoever's structure was crooked or whose string was loosely tied was 'rescued' on the spot: 'only when it's tied firmly can it fly high.' Once the frames took shape, the most free-form step arrived: the painting. The same blank kite grew dozens of different looks in dozens of hands. The liveliest spot was the launch zone — some succeeded on the first try, the kite shooting straight up; others ran and stumbled again and again, while classmates laughed and shouted 'one more time!' The moment the wind came, the string went taut in their hands, and the whole field looked up.

Stone Light Unspoken

A pebble holding an unspoken thought

If the kite festival was a lively run, then 'Stone Light Unspoken' was a quiet corner in the crowd.

On the afternoon of September 8, the 'Stone Light Supply Station' set up its booth on the fourth floor of the library. Pebbles, acrylic paints, brushes, and aprons were all free. Students took a blank stone and a materials kit, sat down, and could paint — a sentence, a small picture, a signature, a date. No theme, no skill requirement, and no name written. There were no judges here, only stones waiting for you. All afternoon the booth stayed busy yet never noisy; bending over a stone, people naturally grew gentle. When finished, you could take it as a keepsake or leave it at the 'Stone Light Corner' — years later, passing by, you could point it out to someone beside you: 'That one — I painted it.'

Two activities, two lessons

The kite taught this: dreams deserve a long line; no matter how high it flies, the string stays in your own hand. The stone taught this: not every thought must be shouted out — it can also be set down gently, given a place to rest.

One makes us look up, one makes us look down. Upward is the kite; downward is the stone. And standing in between is us. Youth has never had only one way of being written — it can be written in the sky, or carved into stone. These two activities have ended, but the autumn belonging to Maple Leaf youth is only just beginning.