New perspective reveals passion hidden by the past

While at college majoring in law, I carried with me some resentment that I wasn't actually studying the subject I really wanted to study — journalism.

In 2010, when I was ready to graduate from college, I sent out lots of resumes to media companies and took many written tests and interviews organized by news outlets. Finally, I became a journalist, starting my ideal career path.

While covering breaking and social news, what surprised me was that due to my study background in law, I was also asked to report on legal issues, including legislation, judiciary and law enforcement. In my daily work, the people I came into contact with the most were police, prosecutors, judges, lawyers and law experts.

What is even more unexpected is that such reports and contacts continue to this day.

In the past decade, I witnessed the births of several milestone legislative pieces such as the amendment to the current Constitution and the Civil Code, the first law to be called a "code" since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

I also attended a number of major case hearings that received widespread attention at home and abroad, including trademark disputes between retired NBA star Michael Jordan and a Chinese company, and a typical case in which Nie Shubin, a young man executed in 1995 for rape and intentional killing, was declared not guilty for insufficient evidence to prove the previous convictions.

When I was covering the formulation or revisions of laws, I discovered the need for legislators to solicit opinions from various aspects. In covering the cases, I realized the significance of upholding justice to the people.

More importantly, thanks to talks with police, judges and lawyers, I found that the legal theories and provisions I had studied in college were no longer obscure and boring. My interest grew in the public security department's crackdowns against crimes and real cases handled by courts. I have developed a passion for the rule of law, and also gained a new understanding of my major.

Previously, I didn't like my law major, probably because I didn't have contact with the people involved in it, nor knew about their efforts and stories. As I have more contact with them at work over the past few years, my interest in law has also increased.

Although I am not someone who deals with the rule of law directly, I am fortunate to be able to document its development from a journalist's perspective. I hope my reporting on the legal field and contacts with legal practitioners will continue for another decade or more.