The Prodigal Son

Tien-feng, a first year middle school student, queried about his history of frequently changing schools, sighs, "I don't really want to think about that stuff, it was very tortuous and therefore difficult, difficult and therefore harsh."

In first grade in primary school, Tien-feng was far more gifted than the other students. The principal of the primary school in his neighborhood said that there was little they could offer him except to sit in the library and read all day. He suggested to his parents that they transfer him to an institution with a special class for gifted students. Thus in second grade Tien-feng entered the gifted class.

But Tien-feng could not adapt to the advanced class. He was often hit by the teacher. Of course he was not hit for poor grades; usually it was for something like not having his handkerchief, forgetting his tissue paper, or talking in class. In his meticulous calculations, "on average I was hit 5.4 times a week, with an average of 3.6 strokes per time."

However, this was nothing compared to being ostracized by his fellow students. Competition in the advanced class was intense, and, in Tien-feng's words, "I was the most gifted student in the gifted class." "Most gifted" means his IQ plus his "smart-ass" quotient. Tien-feng's grades were excellent, often attracting jealousy. On several occasions he was the first to turn his exam paper in; the other students would ask Tien-feng to give them a look at his paper, and when he refused it might come to blows. There is a hole between Tien-feng's left and right cardiac atriums, so that he is frail; when his classmate struck him, Tien-feng did not fight back, but simply collapsed to the ground. Only then did his mother realize how serious the situation had become, and she allowed him to leave school.

Tien-feng's "gifted class experience" left him with deep doubts about the meaning of life. He once tried to commit suicide, which scared his family terribly.

After leaving school, Tien-feng went to the children's philosophy classes offered by the "Caterpillar Foundation." He was very happy with the way they discussed things in class, but even more importantly, he made real friends there. Later his mother found a private primary school in a suburb of Taipei. When he said to the teacher,"I don't like to be treated as special," and the teacher replied, "Here, every student is special."He decided to go back to school.

Because of his health, Tien-feng isn't much for sports. Also, the primary school couldn't satisfy his intellectual needs. He began to feel bored, and once again left school.

When you get to this point in the story, his mother Li Ya-ching cannot but express her gratitude to many people who lent a helping hand. Many people who were strangers to the family heard about Tien-feng and came forward to meet the boy: Yang Wen-kuei, a children's guidance counselor at the Taipei Municipal Teachers College, Yang Maohsiu, a teacher from the Caterpillar Foundation, professors from National Taiwan University. . . .University professors engaged him in conversation,university students played bridge with him, and in this way, with friends who shared his feelings and intellectual abilities, "within a year he returned to normal," says his mother with deep gratitude.

Through the thorough planning efforts of Teacher Yang, Tien-feng, who normally would now have been in the fourth grade, was placed in the sixth grade at another private primary school. Furthermore, he only went to class three days a week, spending the other three days getting guidance at the Taipei Municipal Teachers College. During this year, Tien-feng had older friends with whom he could discuss mathematics, computers, or bridge; finally he could sleep contentedly at night.

For his fifth year, Tien-feng went to Germany with his father, who went there to further pursue his own education. Tien-feng had already received permission to attend a German middle school, but found out that the hole in his heart that had healed had reopened; because of the high quality of heart surgery in Taiwan, they decided to return early.

Middle school marked a new stage for Tien-feng. He is now the class leader, and gets along well with his classmates. "The students in this class are the elite of the school, and have a lot to say, so going to school is like socializing." The reason going to school is "socializing" is because classes are too easy: The teacher can't offer him a bit of help in computers, the subject which gives him his greatest sense of accomplishment, and "it is hard to offer him much" in physics or mathematics. Only in chemistry does he still have something to learn.

Even today Tien-feng doesn't like to do the assigned homework. For example, instead of a weekly journal, he turns in an essay each week on a topic of his own choosing. He especially likes to write opinion pieces, discoursing on the proper way to write an essay or on his views of the middle school study options program. . . .

"Generally speaking the teachers really appreciate me. But there are some teachers who think I am overconfident. As is commonly said in youth culture, I'm known as a 'smart-ass." Sometimes teachers will try to punish him for reading non-class material like Eight Parts of the Dragon during class time by asking him some difficult question, but they rarely get the upper hand. Tien-feng has by no means the highest grades in the class, but he couldn't care less.

Teachers sometimes lose their tempers or even resort to corporal punishment, but he feels that his teachers now are not bad. At least after hitting the students they won't feed them that line, "I'm doing this for your own good."

After "socializing" at school all day, Tien-feng goes home to "work." He buries himself in the library, struggles with the computer, plays games, designs programs, or researches physics' "chaos theory."

Tien-feng not only likes to delve deeply into natural science, when the muse calls him he writes poetry or short stories.

Tien-feng is also fated to be attractive to the opposite sex. In Germany, a little girl "was enamored of me to the point that I couldn't stand it." These days he has three times as many female companions as male.

Tien-feng has a nine-year-old brother, Hao-hao. Hao-hao also doesn't care much for school, early study hall, disciplinary teams, teachers who rely on intimidation . . . . "It's not that I dislike everything about it, but I dislike it overall," says Hao-hao.

Because of his own experience, Tien-feng told his mother that it was right for his brother to feel unhappy at this point, and that his mother should stand behind him. His mother is quite unsettled by the younger one's refusal to go to school. A well-intentioned principal found out that Tien-feng's mom wanted to start up her own school, and privately said to her that he thought that most primary schools would be the same way. If Hao-hao really didn't want to be in school, then he could only wish him well and send him on home!

Not long thereafter, Hao-hao moved to attend the school run by his mother, and Tien-feng is really hoping his mother can open a middle school that he can attend.

Adults often ask quite annoying questions like, "What do you want to do when you grow up? "Tien-feng has heard that question 100 times. He says that once he sat down and figured it all out. He found that he is capable of doing 30 different types of work, and will probably end up going into computers.

But are you happy now? Tien-feng replies: Isn't it first necessary to define what you mean by "happy"? "I think that I don't cause problems for others, and don't get frustrated with myself or give up on myself, so I'll keep on living!" Asked whether this doesn't sound a bit pessimistic, Tien-feng just shakes his head and then replies with conviction, "not at all."

[Picture Caption]

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Tien-feng looks like he has an artistic spirit, his computer skills are five times those of his dad.

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The younger brother likes to take on the older brother in computer games, or else they play chess or checkers.

The younger brother likes to take on the older brother in computer games, or else they play chess or checkers.