Where There Is a Will, There Is a Way (Chinese Edition): A Long March to College In a Totalitarian Socialist Country

Everyone has the right to education. But that’s not the case in a socialist country. At age seven, I made my mind. I wanted to win the scholarship as my father did and study abroad. After I studied one year in middle school, the Cultural Revolution started. Red Guard burnt all of the books and labeled my parents as Anti-revolutionary Technic Authority. I lost my right to education. In the next ten years, I worked in the rice field and cement factory. I hid myself under the blanket to study after those long and exhausting days. In 1976, a powerful earthquake in Tangshan shook the regime and terminated the Cultural Revolution. I survived the massive earthquake, then won the college entrance test. Unfortunately, rheumatoid arthritis paralyzed me for three months in college. Never give up; I stood up and continue to chase my dream. Finally, I won a full scholarship to study abroad through the nationwide graduate school entrance competition in 1984. It took me 24 years to fulfill my dream. It was a Long March.