Li Ting: The Party is by My Side

When I was a child, the Party in my heart was represented by heroic figures like Dong Cunrui, who shouted with a bomb in his hand, Qiu Shaoyun, who persevered through the burning grass, and Lei Feng, who served the people. These were the powerful images, and the moving stories like "Flying over the Luding Bridge" and "The Five Heroes of Langya Mountain." The wheel of history has moved forward through the long river of time. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese nation has experienced a century of vicissitudes, constantly innovating and surpassing itself in its progress, creating achievements that have attracted worldwide attention. This is how I see the Communist Party today.

A century ago, China was still in turmoil. The birth of the Communist Party of China was like a beacon, piercing through the darkness of the long night, like a rising sun bringing the hope of dawn to the sleeping land of China. A hundred years is but a fleeting moment, yet in this time, the Communist Party of China, from the boat meeting in Nanhu, Jiaxing to the spark in Jinggangshan, from the eight-year war of resistance to the war to resist US aggression and aid Korea, has staged scenes of battles to defend the country; from the first five-year plan to the "14th Five-Year Plan," from planned economy to reform and opening up, creating one feat after another to revitalize China; from the Wenchuan earthquake to the Beijing Olympics, creating historical monuments.

In the 1990s, my hometown was still a poor and backward mountain village. Every family relied on the weather for their livelihood. They toiled all year round, but often the new harvest was insufficient to last until the next. They saved and scrimped, only able to eat white rice during festivals. To increase grain production, they had to clear forests, causing serious vegetation damage, soil erosion, and environmental degradation. During droughts, people's access to water was severely affected. Since the implementation of the state's "Three Rural Policies" and other agricultural benefit policies, the government has provided villagers with subsidies for seeds and fertilizers, and grain production has steadily increased. Villagers, with surplus grain, began to engage in individual animal husbandry and centralized planting. However, turning agricultural products into wealth for the villagers became a major challenge. As the saying goes, "To get rich, build roads first." Building a road to the outside world became a top priority. With government funding and villagers' efforts, the village finally had a road. Villagers' lives gradually improved, and they actively responded to the national policy of "returning farmland to forests." The once barren land transformed into a land of birds and flowers. The changes in my hometown have made me feel that the Communist Party of China is a party that truly seeks happiness for the people.

I remember when I was in first grade, the school was a dilapidated small tile-roofed house. During the rainy season, the roof often leaked. A few bricks and a few wooden planks served as desks. The rickety blackboard carried the students' hopes of leaving the mountains. With the popularization of nine-year compulsory education, students moved into spacious and bright classrooms and sat at new desks. The state also waived tuition fees, giving more rural children the opportunity to continue their education, and I was one of them. With the introduction of the precision poverty alleviation policy, poverty alleviation projects were built in the village, creating jobs for the needy and increasing villagers' income. Villagers received government assistance and shook off poverty.

From nine-year compulsory education to rural insurance, to precision poverty alleviation, and to the construction of beautiful villages, the elderly in the village have received living guarantees, truly achieving "old age security." The Communist Party of China is leading us step by step towards a better life. The Party is right beside us.

From a Young Pioneer in childhood to a member of the Communist Youth League, and now an active candidate for Party membership, in my opinion, being a Communist Party member is a lofty title and a belief. Becoming a Communist Party member is my lifelong pursuit. I grew up under the Party's flag, bathed in its glory. It is the Party that has given me everything I have today. During the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, people were in constant fear. Countless medical workers and volunteers worked tirelessly for us, countless Communist Party members rushed to the front line of the fight against the epidemic, and many young Party members took the lead, defending our beautiful homeland with their lives. They are my role models, and I will follow in their footsteps, striving to become a Communist Party member as soon as possible. As Liang Qichao said in "A Young China," "A strong youth makes a strong country." Today's China is strong and prosperous, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. We no longer need to shed blood and sacrifice our lives, but we should not forget the people who sacrificed for our common ideals, nor should we forget the history of the Communist Party of China. We must carry forward the Party's fine traditions, remain true to our original aspiration, remember our mission, forge ahead, and contribute our strength to socialist construction in our respective positions.

2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the beginning of the "14th Five-Year Plan." Today, the great achievements of the Communist Party of China cannot be forgotten; the arduous history of struggle of the Communist Party of China cannot be forgotten; the selfless and fearless spirit of the Communist Party members cannot be forgotten. I was born under the Party's flag and bathed in its glory.

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