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Meet the author of this submission:
I was born in a small county in Guizhou Province. It is a land of high mountains and deep valleys, with a rushing river. During summer floods, people have to take a detour of more than ten kilometers to cross the river to go to the market or enroll in school. It is within such remote, harsh, and impoverished surroundings that my hometown has nurtured generation after generation of its people.
When I was a child, my parents always told me, "You should study hard and not get trapped in these mountains." They are traditional farmers. My father had to drop out of school after his second year of junior high because of his family's financial hardship, while my mother never set foot in a primary school. Despite their limited formal education, they hold an open-minded attitude towards learning.
Encouraged by the aspiration of "escaping the mountains" and my parents' expectations, I studied diligently throughout high school. And I am honored to be a part of Guizhou University, majoring in history. During my undergraduate years, I kept reflecting on my own journey of growth and felt deep gratitude for my hometown's nourishment. I constantly wished to give something back to it.
Guided by this original aspiration, I took part in volunteer teaching in the summer of 2022. In the summer of 2023, I was the leader of a team that taught students voluntarily again. During the past winter and summer vacations, I also guided local children to read classic works in the village reading room, offering them glimpses of the wider world.
As I taught them, the children would ask, "What's a university education? And how can we get into university? Do university students have homework too?" I genuinely hope that their curiosity will motivate them to study hard and see another side of the world.
In my own view, "broad horizons" are merely another facet of the world. When you step into this new world, do not forget the mountains behind you. Many people around me would say, "Study hard and get out of these mountains." Yet I would also like to say: as you leave the mountains behind, do not forget them. They are not obstacles on your path forward; rather, it is they that have shaped you. This is the core motivation behind my ongoing volunteer teaching and public-service work.
Maybe one individual's power is limited and small, yet I firmly believe that countless grains of sand, accumulated over time, can form vast deserts; countless saplings, taking root and growing, can turn into dense forests; countless drops of water, flowing and converging, can make up an immense ocean.
