Our varied lives have proved our critics wrong

In 2012, Gao Song, my schoolmate at Renmin University of China, interviewed nearly 100 students, and promised to send the videos back 10 years later.

I was one of the people he filmed. He named the project The Stories of Yuanbaoers.

The interviewees mostly went to top universities in Beijing from across China. They were approaching graduation and facing choices for the next stage of life.

After recently watching the 80-minute video of myself, recorded during my third year at university, I was surprised to discover how hard I had tried in every aspect of study and work. I never realized I had borne so much pressure.

If I had the chance, I would hug my younger self warmly and tell her: "You are doing great. Thank you for working so hard to produce the future you." I think she would have appreciated that.

In the video I said I rose at 7:30 am, went to classes in the mornings, interned at China Central Television in the afternoons and was a part-time tutor in the evenings. After all that, I returned to my dorm at midnight to deal with study-related emails.

"I don't usually have time for lunch or dinner. I grab something on the way," I said.

The most touching scene I described was when I earned my first 280 yuan ($42) for 2.5 hours of tutoring, I took my roommate Xu Yan out for dinner and we ate all it up.

On the way back to the dorm, riding an electric bike, we could feel our hair dancing in the wind. I said, "Let's have fancy dinners and ride in a fancy car in this big city when we are older and have become rich."

Ten years have passed. That young-girl ambition was realized in 2018 when Xu visited Beijing during a business trip from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, where she works. We had tears in our eyes.

I remember how the older generation had doubts about us back then, saying the post-90s generation were self-centered, mentally fragile and unreliable.

Watching the videos of the Yuanbaoers, I know that's not true. I see some precious characteristics of that young group: hardworking and full of momentum; puzzled but with plenty of possibilities; naive about life but confident about the future.

Gao was reconsidering whether he was talented enough for his physics major, and looking for new career possibilities. Wei Longjie was exploring the world while visiting countries as he participated in competitions with Peking University's choir.

Guan Bichen already knew that life is one goal after another and that we should chase dreams and catch opportunities. Fan Yue fancied a full life and wanted to see more of the world before settling down.

This is the 10th anniversary of The Stories of Yuanbaoers, which was intended to record people's status in their early 20s and give them a chance to respond to their younger selves a decade later.

Gao is now the CEO of Foodbowl, a healthy fast-food chain, and an expectant father. Wei is a lawyer, having returned to Beijing after studying and working in Spain for seven years.

Guan is conducting postdoctoral research in Australia, proud to be able to contribute to her chosen study field. Fan became an assistant principal violinist at the Grand National Theater after getting her master's in the United States.

It feels fantastic to see my school friends gaining firm footholds in the capital. I couldn't help sighing with emotion when Gao Song and I were driving along the Third Ring Road from his office to mine.

I remember how I looked up at the windows of the countless buildings in Beijing when I was in college, and thought, "When will I have a window of my own?" Now, with my classmates establishing families here, I feel like one of the owners of the city.

These are only glimpses of how the post-90s generation has been growing and taking our places in society.