Mengping Li, originally from a small town in Sichuan Province, was prepping for her college entrance exam when the disastrous earthquake of 2008 occurred. Although surrounded by misery, the testing went forward. Mengping ended up being accepted at Chengdu University of Traditional Medicine. (See post one.) She soon discovered that this second-tier university did not have all she needed, and went about finding ways to make the experience better. (See post two.)
The realization that she could affect her destiny lit a fire in Mengping’s soul. This young
woman who had hardly ventured from her doorstep before college began to really
explore. She traveled to Sichuan University (a first-tier institution) where
she could meet foreigners and practice her English skills. (She has amazing
English skills.)
She began working as an English tutor for primary school students for 100RB/hour (About $15/hour, more than the average person earned in a day.) She earned enough to travel to Shanghai one year,
Beijing the next, to see what her peers were doing in those top-tier universities,
and if she should apply for graduate school.
A true product of the internet age, Mengping made connections
with students through a website called renren
“It’s kind of like Facebook, but target customer is college
students. I found people from the same city and asked for help. ‘Can you find
me a dormitory? Or, ‘Can I stay with you?’ In the beginning, I was not that pro-active,
but I learned from every trip that I can do better.”
(To be continued. Next: China's 985 Project Weeds Out Job Applicants from 2nd-Tier Universities.)
No comments:
Post a Comment