2024: Dare to Hope

New Year Message to Readers

From theeditor-in-chiefJialiang Tang

As the ball drops onTimes Square in New York, fireworks light up the Champs-Élysées in Paris, andfake snow falls under the Twin Towers in Nanchang, 2024 has arrived with bangsand whistles. Standing at the prow, looking out at the rough seas ahead, we areboth hopeful and scared, determined and hesitant.

In 4 days, thisnewsletter will be three months old. As we grow out of infancy and into childhood,our readers and contributors are growing alongside us. For us all, then, 2024will be a year of growth.

Growing up is hard,we get it. Growth comes only after an elbow scrape, a sob, and a tear. Growthis a one-way street down a lonely alley, wandering through brambles and fernswith friends that must go away, a home that you must leave behind. Growth iswanting to see every ocean, every mountain, but still caring for every bird,every stretch of grass. Growth is waking up every morning and saying, "Iwon't give up!" Growth is dancing on a volcano while carrying a mountainon your back. Growth is a journey of no return, out of childhood andadolescence into the mysteries of adulthood.

Growth requires thatwe hope for the best but prepare for the worst, reach high but be ready to sinklow, look at the stars but keep your head in the gutter. Sometimes it seemslike growing up is the hardest thing in the world. When getting home past tenafter a 14-hour school day, longer than most working hours in the world, orlooking out the window on your way home from school on a Saturday afternoon atthe happy crowds thronging the city center, it really feels like ours is thehardest "job" in the world.

We hear you; ourhearts are with you. I'm not going to tell you that growing up is easy. Itisn't. Nor will I give you a magic time machine to skip it. Because howeverdifficult it is, no matter how treacherously the path winds, it is an awesomepart of the human way of life. Without it, without the sleepless nights, thebroken hearts, the tears of joy or sadness, you can't experience the full spectrumof emotions life has to offer. Finally, happy New Year and may 2024 treat youkindly!