I remember it was a Saturday on March 17, 2012, at the routine opening ceremony and training session held each term for new students of open education at Gansu Radio and TV University’s (RTVU) Agricultural Reclamation Hexi Branch School, where I work.
As a tutor of teaching management and class tutor of the new undergraduate administration class, I told all of the students in my class to attend the opening ceremony as per normal procedures, including Li Xindong, of course.
Half an hour before the opening ceremony, one student limped and struggled to the meeting room with great difficulty. As the meeting’s organizer, I quickly went forward and asked him to take a seat in the front. He politely replied, “Thank you, sir!” To my surprise, he couldn’t speak clearly, and I could only judge what he was saying by the movement of his mouth. I looked him up and down and found that he was young, but handicapped. He couldn’t keep his body straight when walking and had great trouble in speaking, as if a great force had sent the words out of his chest. It was difficult to make out what he was saying without listening to him carefully. He left a deep impression on me. I wondered why he had come to study in such a condition and what was his learning for?
I introduced the new students to distance learning and, during the last part of the opening ceremony, skills they would need to successfully complete the learning tasks required by the school. I saw he was attentively taking notes with a smile and look of dedication on his face.
On the afternoon of the same day, when I was busy registering the new students in my class, he miraculously appeared in my office again, drawing the attention of many students present at registration. “Good heavens! Wasn’t there a mistake?” I thought. He was actually a student in my class. Seeing his slow movements and listening to his mumbling, I wondered how I could provide him with quality teaching.
I gradually came to know Li Xindong, aged 27, who worked as a storekeeper in a large supermarket, and came to study as an undergraduate major of administration.
I remember a rainy day when the ground floor was a little bit wet and slippery. That day I was giving the first face-to-face tutorial to undergraduate administration students. For years, I have had the habit of arriving at the classroom half an hour before class, powering up the laptop, and checking the operation of the network, projector, and other equipment before the students’ arrival. Having completed all of my pre-class preparation, I took a look out of the window by force of habit. I caught sight of his unstable body walking again through the gate of the school downstairs. I hurried to the classroom door, but he was not there. Another 20 minutes passed before I saw him stagger through the classroom door, gasping for breath. I scolded him and said, “Haven’t I told you that you do not have to attend the tutorial?”
He said with a smile, “I want to listen to the lecture. It will make an impact on me and help me remember.” I listened to him with great patience, thinking quickly and guessing at his possible response. When I finally understood what he said, I smiled bitterly and beckoned him to sit down. I was especially serious during that lecture, intent at giving my all.
I went over to talk with Li Xindong during the break. He said that he hurried to the school for the class at just after seven in the morning and that he broke a sweat spending 20 minutes climbing the stairs to the second floor. I took up his notebook, neat with big characters. Though not much was written, it was concise, with key words and the main points. I was suddenly impressed by him, and the words of John Coutis came to my mind, “Everyone has a disability. You can see my disability. What is yours?” I felt so inferior and guilty.
Over several years of learning at the RTVU, he never missed one teaching activity related to his course of study for any reason. We often took these occasions to discuss life, to understand life, to exchange on the main points and difficult concepts of courses, and to discuss learning methods. When things didn’t go my way, I would comfort myself with, “I’m still quite lucky” to improve my self-confidence. When time permitted, I would go and visit him. Sometimes, he would come over to drop in on me as well. Of course, the most time we spent together was via the class QQ group and telephone. When a tutorial was over, I would take special care to lend him the lecture notes and send him texts containing both focal and difficult points. When it was time to review for examinations at the end of each term, I would send him key review material.
I remember that he unexpectedly passed only one course and failed all the others when examination results for the first term were revealed. I knew he had some difficulty in writing, it was his slow writing that led to his failure. In the second term, things improved, and he succeeded in passing half of the courses. At the end of 2014, he finally achieved his dream of obtaining an undergraduate certificate in administration. With his graduation certificate in hand, he only looked at me, laughing with a flushed face.
Now, he has opened an online shop and earns his salary at home. He feels very proud and often invites me to his home. He often mentions his time spent learning through the RTVU and always credits the RTVU with helping him.
Whenever I think of him, a phrase from an unknown man crosses my mind. The phrase goes, “People differ from each other in a thousand ways. Whether they are tall or short, fat or thin, beautiful or ugly, no one is certainly more superior or inferior. As long as one can prove himself not to be a ‘good-for-nothing’ man in his own life, everyone can live a perfect life.”
By Tian Xueren, Gansu RTVU