For young people, "going ashore" is not just a phrase but a spiritual symbol; it represents an attitude toward life of overcoming difficulties, transcending oneself, and pursuing excellence.

　　Junior student Fan Xiaoya, in order to successfully "go ashore" at a gaming company after graduation, desperately accumulated three internship experiences; senior student Wen Ming has finished the 2023 postgraduate entrance examination and is awaiting the verdict of "going ashore"; Qi Lulu began job hunting in the first semester of her third year of graduate school, sent out 94 resumes, went through 52 written tests and 20 interviews, and finally succeeded in "going ashore" at a public institution directly under a central government department...

　　In the "2023 Young People's Search Keyword Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") jointly released by Quark and the China Youth and Children Research Association, "going ashore" was successfully selected as the 2023 keyword for the state of young people. "Going ashore" as a civil servant, "going ashore" as a teacher, "going ashore" as a postgraduate student, "going ashore" at a state-owned enterprise, and "going ashore" in the college entrance examination even became the top five related hot search terms for "going ashore."

　　The "Report" mentions that "going ashore" refers to the successful state of young people in examinations, and in 2023 it was widely used in examination fields such as civil service and public institution exams, reflecting young people's pursuit, dedication, and yearning for realizing career ideals, life goals, and a bright future. For young people, "going ashore" is not just a phrase but a spiritual symbol; it represents an attitude toward life of overcoming difficulties, transcending oneself, and pursuing excellence.

　　Squeezing into the annual hot words, why are young people so fixated on "going ashore"?

　　Wen Ming has always been very fond of the broadcasting and hosting major, but because her parents did not know much about art exams, she did not dare to try easily. After entering university, she still did not give up her yearning for broadcasting and hosting. "The postgraduate entrance examination is an opportunity to choose again," Wen Ming said. "I want to use this opportunity to explore the fields I am truly interested in."

　　During the half year of preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination, Wen Ming often felt fear and confusion. "When my mindset collapsed, I would doubt whether the path I had chosen was right, and I would also worry that if I failed, others would laugh at me."

　　"Last October, my mindset was very poor, and I even had thoughts of escaping, considering whether to switch tracks, go abroad, take the civil service exam, or look for a job." Wen Ming said, "While collapsing, I also thought it through: the financial pressure of going abroad was too great; taking the civil service exam always felt unwilling, as I still wanted to try more careers while young; there were many job opportunities, and there was no need to rush."

　　Wen Ming recalled, "After thinking it through, I felt that the postgraduate entrance examination was not only an improvement in educational qualifications for me, but also an opportunity to prove myself. Even if I did not succeed, having gotten through this hurdle, I would gain something after all." During the exam, Wen Ming filled her answer sheet completely and persisted until the last second.

　　When Qi Lulu first started job hunting, she only wanted to find a good job, but how to define "good"? She could not say clearly either. Like Wen Ming, her process of "going ashore" was full of struggle, entanglement, and confusion.

　　"When job hunting, some classmates around me wanted to enter big tech companies to make money, while others wanted to enter the system for stability, establishment, and household registration. I had no clear concept of these two choices; I wanted to make money, and I also felt that stability was not bad." Qi Lulu said, "In the early stage of job hunting, as long as I saw a recruitment announcement that matched my field, I would send a resume. Whenever recruiters asked me why I chose their company or what plans I had for the future, I always could not answer."

　　The turning point came during an interview with a private company. The interviewer asked her how long she planned to stay in Beijing. Qi Lulu was a little stunned. The interviewer told her that the company had no household registration quota and no establishment, employee turnover was high, and most employees would return to their hometowns after a few years.

　　That interview gradually clarified Qi Lulu's goal of "going ashore." "I have loved Beijing since I was a child and never thought about returning to my hometown to develop. To stay in Beijing for the long term, household registration is a rigid need, so solving the issue of establishment and household registration became the direction of my 'going ashore.'"

　　Gao Yan, associate professor at the School of Education of Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, believes that young people's life choices are gradually diversifying, but more choices are not necessarily a good thing. Faced with diverse choices, they become confused and anxious, and no one tells them how to choose. That is why so many young people go abroad, take the civil service exam, pursue postgraduate study, and prepare for establishment exams with "multiple preparations," or constantly set "going ashore" goals and repeatedly pursue "going ashore."

　　Gao Yan said that when young people pursue "going ashore," on the surface they want to settle down in an uncertain environment and seek certainty in life. Analyzed from a deeper psychological level, they are pursuing a kind of self-identity and identity recognition.

　　"In the process of constant contact and collision with society and the outside world, they slowly realize what kind of person they are and what kind of life they want to live, gradually forming a clear self-concept and self-image." Gao Yan said, "'Going ashore' is actually a psychological need of young people at a certain stage of psychological development."

　　"Pursuing 'going ashore' is not unique to this generation of young people," Gao Yan said. "The older generation pursued 'jumping into the sea' in their youth, and today's young people pursue 'going ashore'; both are manifestations of pursuing self-identity."

　　"No matter the era, young people are always the group most willing to try and most willing to meet challenges; it is just that due to different social environments, they show different tendencies," Gao Yan said. "In the 1990s, the overall social environment was very certain. Young people could not stand a life that was predictable from beginning to end, so they wanted to jump into the sea and take risks. Now, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with an unstable economic situation and intensified employment competition, 'going ashore' for young people is not only about seeking stability but also a kind of exploration. Using it as a handle, through the forms of civil service exams and postgraduate entrance exams, they make themselves relatively stable."

　　After starting work, it is still one transitional period after another

　　When Qi Lulu was "drowning" in the sea, after interviews it was common for her to hide in a corner of the subway and cry alone, "constantly falling into self-doubt, repeatedly collapsing and rebuilding." At that time, she always fantasized about what she would be like after finding a job. "How happy life would be after 'going ashore'! There would probably be no worries in life then!"

　　Now, more than a year after "going ashore," Qi Lulu has been diagnosed with a tendency toward depression. "Worries are still endless. I do not even know why I am depressed. I got through such difficult times before, yet after living the ideal life, I instead became ill?"

　　The high school entrance examination, the college entrance examination, the postgraduate entrance examination, countless exams large and small—Qi Lulu compares the days of striving to "go ashore" to transitional periods in life. "In every transitional period, anything that happened to me and any emotion should give way to 'going ashore.'" In the last semester of her third year of graduate school, many new flowers were planted at Qi Lulu's school, blooming especially beautifully in spring. Passing by those flowers, Qi Lulu did not dare to stop. "It seemed that even stopping to take photos was a sin. I always thought that before the goal was achieved, I did not deserve to be happy."

　　After "going ashore," Qi Lulu became even more confused. Looking back on the past more than 20 years of life, "it seems like one transitional period after another," and "after I ××, things will be better" has become Qi Lulu's catchphrase.

　　After starting work, life is no longer composed of test papers with standard answers one after another, and Qi Lulu suddenly did not know how to answer the questions. "Everyone tells me to study hard and find a good job, but how should life be lived after finding a job? How should I become better? No one tells me." Qi Lulu said, "Just like when job hunting, because I did not know what I wanted, I thought whatever others had was good, but in fact I had not thought clearly at all about what kind of person I should be or what kind of life I should live."

　　Song Wei, a teacher at the Mental Health Education and Counseling Center of Beijing Foreign Studies University, believes that precisely because young people do not know how to choose, when encountering difficulties they tend to choose the method they are most skilled at. For example, having been good at doing tests since childhood, they begin to "compete intensely" in postgraduate entrance exams and civil service exams. "Exam scores can provide timely feedback on personal effort within a relatively short cycle, letting us see 'no pain, no gain.' This model is the most customary from a student's perspective."

　　Gao Yan summarized from long-term psychological counseling practice that true psychological counseling and career planning do not teach young people what they should do, but help them explore themselves, understand themselves, and seek self-identity together. "Faced with the staged nature of life development and the growth of social uncertainty, 'going ashore' is not a once-and-for-all endpoint in life. The most important thing is to help students find the meaning of the present and seek methods to explore the stability of the self. The present is the other shore; the other shore is not far away."

　　"Rather than 'going ashore,' it is better to 'build a shore'" and construct a solid other shore within

　　When talking about future plans, Fan Xiaoya imagined, "After graduating from undergraduate studies, I should go directly to work. A relatively ideal 'going ashore' goal would be to enter the gaming industry, join a project team I like, and do a job that is 'well paid, not too busy, and close to home.'" Although she is pursuing "going ashore," Fan Xiaoya does not have the suffocating feeling of "drowning" in the sea; she has sufficient foresight and clear planning for the future.

　　In her first year of university, Fan Xiaoya was also very confused and did not know what to do. Because of her interests and hobbies, she began to come into contact with game production. An industry senior suggested that she do more internships to experience the work atmosphere in advance. Over three years of university, she successively participated in projects with three well-known domestic game production companies. "The three internship experiences not only let me learn a lot of professional knowledge and skills, but also gave me a deep understanding of the entire industry and made me realize where I am lacking. Now I am working hard to improve my industry competitiveness."

　　"Perhaps because I had enough understanding of this industry, I became disillusioned with this job early on," Fan Xiaoya said. "Internships made me realize that work is certainly important, but one should not neglect life for the sake of work. After clarifying my 'going ashore' goal, I cherish life before 'going ashore' even more, and cherish the days of studying and working hard at school."

　　Song Wei believes that actively pursuing the life one wants is a good state, but rather than seeing "going ashore" as a result, it is better to treat it as a process. "Rather than nervously staring into the distance, it is better to examine the present self, or look back at the past self. Reflect on how, from near to far, we have grown. In the process of 'going ashore,' we invest time, shed sweat, overcome difficulties, and temper our character for this matter. The joys, angers, sorrows, and happiness arising from it are all part of the life experience. Do not focus only on the result; see the growth and gains internalized in the process of striving."

　　Unlike Fan Xiaoya, who is waiting to "go ashore," Wang Zhen, who has always played the role of "other people's child," has retreated from the "shore" back into the "sea." After studying abroad for undergraduate studies and then working successively at companies such as Amazon and Microsoft after graduation, Wang Zhen realized that he did not like stable work. After volunteering abroad for a year, Wang Zhen decided to return to school to enrich himself.

　　"After returning to China, I moved frequently—Shanghai, Beijing, Zhejiang; I have stayed in many cities. I quite like this free lifestyle. Of course, there are troubles. When looking for a partner, when others see you drifting from place to place, they think you are unstable and will not choose you. But every gain has a loss; it is fine as long as you think it through," Wang Zhen felt. "Now everyone has many choices and does not necessarily have to take the path of postgraduate entrance exams or civil service exams. One can start a business, be a freelancer, or work remotely. Choices are neither good nor bad; the key depends on one's interests and abilities."

　　Song Wei suggested, "The course on college student career planning should start from the first year of enrollment, creating a systematic curriculum on career development and self-exploration for students. Through diversified course design, help them understand themselves. Schools should also actively strive for more internship and practice opportunities for students, so that they have a relatively full understanding of and plan for the work they will do and the life they will live in the future."

　　For students themselves, Song Wei suggested that when making choices, they must not blindly follow the crowd. "In the information age, one should break out of information cocoons, understand the full picture of how things develop and change, and not be easily misled by others. Step out of campus and into society, communicate more with people from different industries and different age groups, thereby promoting independent, rational, dialectical, and objective thinking and forming one's own 'customized' career plan."

　　"Rather than 'going ashore,' it is better to 'build a shore.'" Gao Yan suggested that young people should not focus only on skill certificates and internship experiences. When confused, they should read more books on life, psychology, and philosophy. "Although these books cannot solve practical problems, they will help you know what kind of person you want to become in the future and how you hope to walk the path of life, helping you build a solid other shore within."