Following the Light to Serve the Community: A Youth Flower Blossoms on the Frontline of Public Service

After graduation, Chen Yanyi successfully passed the Guangxi Directed Selection Examination for Civil Servants and was assigned to work at the Hezhou Municipal Medical Security Bureau. Currently, she serves as an Assistant Village Director in Jiatian Village. Upon arriving in Jiatian Village, Chen Yanyi quickly devoted herself to grassroots work. As an Assistant to the Village Party Secretary, she took the initiative to assist in handling daily village affairs and earnestly participated in the publicity, interpretation and implementation of various policies.

For Chen Yanyi, working at the grassroots level is not only a professional experience, but also a profound inner forging and growth transformation. She came to understand the grassroots through practical work, rooted herself in the grassroots while serving the masses, and on this land full of life, she re-recognized herself, found her direction, and wrote the responsibility and perseverance of the younger generation in an ordinary post.

The part of her grassroots work that left the deepest impression on Chen Yanyi was a home visit where she met Sister Cen, who lives with her six female family members. After her husband passed away, Sister Cen raised five daughters by taking multiple jobs, while also raising cattle and growing agricultural products. She cried about her hardships during their talk; her thin, rough hands with thick calluses showed her endless toil, and Chen Yanyi was moved to tears. Back at the village committee, they helped Sister Cen apply for a public welfare job with a monthly salary of 1,000 yuan after studying national policies. Though small, this experience taught Chen Yanyi a valuable lesson: the "sense of existence" of a grassroots cadre comes not from a title, but from the peace of mind after solving problems and easing worries for the masses.

Chen Yanyi's advice for juniors who want to apply for the directed selection program is to stay calm, both during exam preparation and work. Every selected graduate must complete two years of grassroots training, living and working in rural areas. They will inevitably encounter unexpected or insurmountable problems in grassroots work, which may discourage them, dampen their enthusiasm, or even make them doubt themselves — Chen Yanyi has been there too. The honor of being a selected graduate brings high expectations, which test one's problem-solving ability and make failure more painful. So juniors should stay calm and remember they are there to learn and grow, as unexpected difficulties are learning materials and insurmountable issues are nourishment for growth.