Happy Boy Jaki Tan Jiexi: Trying not be the last one in class

Why should students have good academic performances? Different people may think differently. Jaki Tan Jiexi, who won the fourth place in 2010 Super Boy Contest, a national singing competition in China, says he wants to study hard to improve his self-confidence.

"Not everybody is the same. There are some students who are so interested in playing basketball. Just do it. I mean try not to be the last in the class. You know, if you are the last in the class, you lose your self-confidence. Whatever you do is harder. So the reason why I want to study hard is not to get very high marks. The reason I want to study hard is that I want to build up my self-confidence."

Jaki Tan Jiexi recalled his school life during an exclusive interview with "Reel China," an online video show produced by CRIENGLISH.com.

Although Jaki has never taken China's national entrance exam, or the "quan cheng gao kao" after moving to Canada when he was 15, he said he did a good job of playing a role in a recent film on the national college entrance examination, because he portrayed someone who was younger than he.

"Playing basketball, skipping class, finding excuses to skip class, and I played the guitar too. These are just my hobbies. And I couldn't imagine that they would be such useful skills when I was playing this part. Director Zhong Shaoxiong said, 'Jaki, having you in the role, we don't need to do make any technical changes after the shooting. You can just kick a water bottle into a garbage bin from 10 meters.'"

Tan Jiexi, originally from the city of Shenzhen in south China graduated from the University of Toronto and starred in the movie the college entrance examination as one of four young students who must confront a number of issues in their respective families as they prepare for the exam and pursue their own hobbies. The film was released just last month.

We recommend:
Who is No. 1 belle in Chinese compus?	Top 10 hotel bars around the world	Chinese actress Wang Xiwei in swimsuit
China's most complete ancient gov't office	Actresses that will become famous in 2013	49 unmissable tourism destinations
Shocking shots in Journey to the West	The only existing Xiongnu capital in China	Top 10 legendary ladies in the Republic times