In her element?

Reader question:

Please explain “in her element” in this sentence: Back in school, she’s in her element again, learning and teaching.

My comments:

This woman likes learning and teaching, so she’s back to, say, the school she has graduated from. She might have found a job unrelated to teaching but got unhappy with it. And so she quit that job and went back to school to be a teacher.

Back in school, she’s found her zone, so to speak. Life on campus suits her perfectly, as she enjoys reading, learning and teaching.

School feels like her natural habitat, like a fish in water.

Yes, a fish in water is a fish in its element, where it is happy and comfortable.

Pull that fish out of water and it begins to struggle. In fact, it won’t be able to survive.

All animals have their natural habitats where they get to thrive and enjoy life to the full.

Their natural habitat is their “element”, which, according to ancient philosophy, refers to one of the four basic elements on our planet, i.e. earth, air, fire and water.

When animals are in their natural surroundings, they excel. Take them out of their natural abode, they won’t do so well – if they can survive at all.

Humans, likewise, have their idiosyncrasies when it comes to what makes them tick.

Take exercise for an example. Some people like to play ball games, such as basketball or soccer. Others can’t do well with a ball in their hands, but they can run. They can run for hours without getting tired. The longer they run, in fact, the happier they get.

In our example, school is what suits her the most.

Campus life, by the way, is different from other walks of life, such as the job of a doctor, lawyer or public servant. Presumably, campus life is less hectic and less cut-throat.

And she should know, of course. That’s why she’s back to school where she is happy and satisfied in the most elemental, essential and fundamental way.

All right, let’s read a few media examples of people (and animals) who are described as in their element in various situations:

1. Liverpool’s dazzling performance at Old Trafford has set the tone for what could be an electrifying season, with Mohamed Salah at the heart of the action. As the Reds dismantled Manchester United, Salah’s pivotal role revived memories of his past exploits, particularly reminiscent of the 5-0 thrashing back in the 2021/22 season. With two assists and a stellar goal, Salah wasn’t just a player on the pitch; he was a maestro orchestrating a symphony of football excellence.

Three games into the Premier League season, Salah’s statistics are as impressive as his demeanour on the field. With three goals and the same number of assists to his name, his performances are a clear indication of a player who is not only enjoying but thriving in his football journey. His broad smiles and the evident joy he plays with suggest a man who is in his element, undeterred by the whispers of contract uncertainties.

In a candid post-match discussion with Sky Sports, Salah expressed his sentiments quite openly, stating, “I had a good summer and had a long time to myself to try to stay positive because as you know it’s my last year at the club. I just want to enjoy it and I don’t want to think about it. I feel like I’m free to play football and then we’ll see what happens next year.”

Amid the swirling rumours and Salah’s own hints at a possible departure, Liverpool manager Arne Slot maintained his composure. Known for his level-headed approach, Slot addressed the media with his typical directness. He praised Salah’s performance but shied away from delving into the gritty details of contract talks. “At this moment, he is one of ours,” Slot commented. “He played really well. I don’t talk about contracts but I could talk for hours about his performance.”

- “He is One of Ours” – Arne Slot Discusses Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool Future, AnfieldIndex.com, September 2, 2024.

2. In the frozen wasteland of ancient Siberia, early humans did what they could to survive.

Unlike species armed with thick fur coats or capable of hibernating through the worst of the cold, humans were particularly vulnerable.

Mammoths, on the other hand, were in their element.

Their massive size, moppy wool and tusks primed the species for the Ice Age, and their population thrived for millions of years

Then they were gone. Today, scientists are working to understand mammoths’ great demise, the role humans played, and how the two species interacted.

In the 1940s, explorers reached a remote riverbank in eastern Siberia and discovered thousands of bones scattered on the dirt as the frozen ground thawed, according to a study published May 11 in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.

The bones were later found to belong to the woolly mammoth, and bones from perhaps hundreds of animals were mixed together, according to the study.

Because of its extreme remote location, named for the Berelekh River, the site remained unstudied until the 1970s when it was deemed a concentration of “true natural origin,” meaning the bones were there because of a mass die-off event, or they had built up from washing down the river, researchers said. Now, scientists believe there is more to the story.

- ‘Mammoth graveyard’ next to ancient settlement may have been dumping ground, study says, MiamiHerald.com, June 12, 2024.

3. If you are disappointed by the lack of landmark diplomatic achievements or big-picture statecraft coming from President Donald Trump’s whirlwind swing through the Middle East this past week, you may have missed the entire point of the trip.

Over the course of four days of pomp and pageantry brought on by the presidential visits to the capitals of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the Donald Trump on display was not the insecure and blustery contrarian more comfortable breaking than building.

Nearly five months after starting his second term, the 47th President of the United States took his iconic 747 – the one he would prefer to replace with a far more luxe updated model courtesy of a Qatari royal – to what amounts to a safe space for him, free from the tumult and protests that would have followed him on a visit to nearly any of America’s democratic allies. There, he could relax and be feted by the leaders with whom he feels most comfortable: Autocratic monarchs fond of ostentatious displays of obscene wealth.

With the royals of the Gulf states treating him to a welcome fit for the king his critics say he aspires to be, Trump was firmly in his element as he and members of his travelling entourage, including members of his cabinet and various American captains of industry, put pen to paper on agreements worth a combined trillions of dollars, bolstering industries ranging from energy to defense to artificial intelligence.

In Saudi Arabia, the president was met by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader who his previous administration helped escape consequences for ordering the murder of a Washington Post journalist, and delivered a speech in which he castigated previous administrations for trying to lecture to America’s Arab allies about human rights and democratic values. He also met with the former al-Qaeda affiliate leader turned Syrian president who spent years with a $10 million bounty on his head – offered by the American government – and praised him as a “great young attractive guy,” with a “very strong past” who is “a fighter.”

But Trump wasn’t there to make big foreign policy pronouncements. He was there to make deals, and deals are what he made. During his day in Riyadh, Trump rolled out at least $600 billion in Saudi investments in America, including $20 billion for data centers in the U.S., $5 billion for Boeing jets bound for a Saudi air carrier, and $142 billion worth of new arms sales from America to the kingdom’s armed forces.

- Trump was in his element as a guest of the Gulf’s autocratic monarchs. So what did the trip actually achieve? Independent.co.uk, May 16, 2025.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：张欣）