🌄 Self-Introduction

Dear teachers and classmates:

Hello.

In the wilderness, people become honest. The stones underfoot never flatter, the slope never lies, and the wind on your face won't be gentle for anyone. I want to write a truly personal introduction for myself against this backdrop.

My name is xxx, from Communication Engineering, a junior student and president of the professional association. Over three years of university, I've shuttled between the lab and the classroom, wrestling with signals, circuits, and protocols, and working with a group of restless classmates on projects and events. Electronic Design Competitions, Intelligent Navigation, and some scattered awards are marks we've pieced together bit by bit.

When I go to the mountains, I contend with the wind, clouds, and the temper of the weather. The rhythms of these two worlds are completely different, yet both make me feel grounded.

This year, I hiked the graduation route "Three Traverses" in Changsha, reverse-hiked Wugong Mountain from the other side, and climbed Mufu Mountain along the spine of my hometown. Every mountain has a different slope, but the strength they give is surprisingly similar: the breathlessness when climbing, the silence at the summit, the relief when descending. These feelings accumulate in the body, quietly changing my patience, determination, and the way I understand the world.

I'm participating in the "Check In China's Mountains" event, not to prove how many kilometers I've walked, but to continue a dialogue with these mountains.
They won't answer, but they'll tell me with wind, light, and silence: "Take one more step forward and see—the world is much bigger than you imagine."

If I'm lucky enough to meet you in this event, that would be an extra gift from the mountains.
May we all bring back a little bit of courage that belongs to us from the road.

🏞️ My Views on the Outdoors

Dear teachers and classmates:

Hello.

For me, the outdoors wasn't a planned interest from the start, but something that gradually took shape as I walked along.

I've always been the kind of person who can't sit still. When I was little, my grandmother often said, "This kid runs around all day and never comes home."
After staying in school or the dorm for too long, I feel trapped, and whenever I have free time, I want to go out. Cycling to Songya Lake, to the Xiang River, to high points near the school to feel the wind—back then, I didn't know if these counted as "outdoors," I just felt a bit more comfortable and my mind clearer.

Later, at school, I became the president of the professional association, leading classmates in classes, exchanges, and projects. It felt the same—
I love interacting with people, making things lively and energetic, rather than being cooped up in a closed small space.

My real outdoor experience began with a reverse hike of Wugong Mountain in my junior year.
I was very lucky to meet three sisters in a Changsha hiking group, and we agreed to go to Wugong Mountain together.
At first, they worried that as a first-time hiker, I wouldn't be able to handle the reverse hike of Wugong Mountain, but as I walked, though I was panting with exhaustion, I never once thought of regretting it.

That feeling is hard to explain in words—not excitement, not conquest, but a very real experience.
In the mountains, people let go of all the "pretenses" and "pressures" of the city, and everyone looks out for and encourages each other. Two people who were complete strangers can chat like old friends on the trail.

What impressed me most later was "tiredness."
At school, for example, when I can't go on during a fitness test, my first reaction is to stop and rest;
but the "tiredness" in the outdoors is different—it's hazy, clear, and pressed against your heart.

Sore legs, panting, hearing your own heartbeat under the brim of your hat, the sound of your jacket rubbing, a companion's "Hey, do you want to rest for a bit?"—all of this is so real.
Instead, I want to keep going, because that tiredness is a signal reminding you that you're "still alive," telling you that "you can still persevere."

So now, my view of the outdoors is actually very simple:

The outdoors is where I become honest.

It lets me know how far I can go, and it lets me know that I'm not just "a student sitting in a classroom coding and soldering circuit boards,"
I'm also that ordinary person who can laugh out loud when the wind blows on a mountaintop, and who can be moved by my own perseverance.

The outdoors is also another way for me to know the world and know people.
In university, if there's no opportunity to meet, most likely we won't say a word to each other;
but in the mountains, strangers will hand you water, help you find the way, and chat about life—from first grade to life and death, it's not strange at all.
The mountains thin the distance between people, and I really like this feeling.

More importantly, the outdoors let me truly hear my own heart for the first time.
I like open places, I like windy places, I like the road under my feet telling me: "You're still moving forward."

It turns out I'm naturally drawn to open places.
In the city, I'm lively; in the mountains, I'm free.
These two states intertwine to form a complete me.

Of course, I also understand that the outdoors isn't just romance.
Mountain winds, falling rocks, sudden weather changes, physical exhaustion—any one of these can turn "romance" into danger.
The mountain won't be gentler just because it's your first time, nor more forgiving just because you're young.
It's always there, reminding you with its own rules: Freedom must be built on reverence.

So later I understood,
The "freedom" of the outdoors isn't doing whatever you want, but respecting nature.
You must prepare in advance, understand the route, check the weather, and learn to judge and make trade-offs.
You know you're not the protagonist—the mountain is.

The outdoors lets me know the world and know myself;
It makes me feel free and reminds me of boundaries;
It makes me brave to move forward and teaches me when to be afraid.

It turns out the reason I like the outdoors isn't to conquer or for the kilometers.
It's because it makes me understand—who I am, what I like, and what I'm willing to keep moving forward for.

For me, the outdoors is not an escape from life, but finding the direction of life.

Finally, dear teachers, my Chinese isn't very good,
I don't know how this article compares to those of other applicants,
but I wrote it seriously, revising and editing, writing slowly.
I hope I can slowly write out my feelings about the outdoors.
Thank you, teachers.

🏔️ Why I Want to Join the "Check In China's Mountains" Event

I first learned about the "Check In China's Mountains" event from a video on Bilibili of people hiking Mount Kailash.
At that time, I thought: "If I have the chance, I definitely want to go too."

Later, I saw many vlogs on Douyin and Bilibili of people hiking, camping, and crossing mountains.
Not motivational, not big-budget documentaries—just a group of ordinary people on the road, chatting and laughing, walking and filming.
Sometimes they're so tired they sit on the ground panting, and then suddenly get excited like children when they see a sunset.

That state made me especially envious.

Not envious of the scenery, but envious of the pure happiness on their faces.
They're not trying to prove themselves, nor showing off on social media,
just because "it's fun in the mountains," because "walking with friends is joyful," because "a day in the sun is worth it."

This simple happiness can penetrate even through a phone screen,
infecting me even in my dorm room.

That happiness isn't acted,
it's something you only have when you're truly living in the moment and truly relaxed.
I rarely see that kind of smile in the city, in the classroom, or even on my own face.

Later I realized,
what I envied most wasn't the scenery, but that state of not having to suppress, not having to put on airs, not having to overthink.

It's that freedom of "just go, sit down when tired, and shout 'bro, quick, take a photo' when you see something beautiful."

So this time I'm signing up for "Check In China's Mountains" to give myself a chance,
to step into those vlog scenes myself, instead of always envying others through a screen.

I want to experience for myself:

• Whether the mountain wind is as comfortable as in the videos;
• Whether when I'm exhausted halfway, some scenery will heal me;
• Whether walking with strangers will also lead to unexpectedly happy chats;
• Whether I can still show that natural, real, relaxed smile.

I'm not doing this to complete an event or to check in a certain number of kilometers.
I just want my life to have a bit more "happiness like in the vlogs,"
to truly step into that freedom that belongs to the outdoors.

Last but not least,
I hope to join everyone in progressing and growing together,
and climb the most beautiful and highest mountains together.

🌠 Expectations

Grow together, progress together;
Climb the highest mountains together, see the most beautiful scenery.