Education

Decision that changed the course of my life

By Tian Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-01 10:11

I was one of the first few that appeared for the gaokao, or the college entrance exam, in 1977, when it was resumed after the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976). I was 30 then. Nine years of hard labor in rural environs till then had made me, a Beijing native, give up hope of ever returning to a campus, let alone think of being one of the veterans of China Daily.

I started senior high school education at the Beijing Foreign Language School in 1963. Many of the middle school graduates in those days chose to work instead of going to college. At that time, employment had nothing to do with academic performance. You could be an apprentice in a factory, a waiter or waitress in a restaurant, or a primary school teacher. We followed the country's arrangements, and it all depended on one's luck.

In 1966, I was preparing for the gaokao. But everything changed when the "cultural revolution" began. Three years later, like other school graduates, I went to the countryside and settled in the communes. Along with other six junior high school graduates, I went to a small village in Yanchang county, Shaanxi province. None of us knew then what the future was, or how long we would stay there.

Every morning while cooking breakfast, I continued to read English as I enjoyed the beautiful language, and hoped that it would be useful in the future.

Two years later, I became a teacher at a primary school. It was in two cave dwellings and the blackboard was an inked door. Soon I was transferred as a teacher to a public middle school in the county. The reason for my transfer was that no other English teacher could be found when English education was started there.

In September 1977, my peaceful life was disturbed by news that the gaokao was resumed. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and I realized that I must not let the opportunity go by even though I was married, and pregnant.

I ransacked boxes to take out all the textbooks from Beijing, and began to toil for the exams. I applied for the English department of Xi'an International Studies University, and took the exam in December that year. The admission notice arrived after several months.

China Daily published its first issue in June 1981, when I was in the last semester at university. Several months later, the newspaper came to my college to enroll two graduates out of the 200 in total. All the students set China Daily as the No 1 choice for their jobs, and I finally got the offer.

I began my career as a proofreader for three years, and was transferred to the business department, the former business center. In 2000, I was promoted as the director of the department.

Nowadays I find that the education system is completely different from what it used to be. The gaokao has become a torture and I hope that my 3-year-old granddaughter does not have to undergo the same when she grows up.

No matter however talented your child is, parents often go the extra mile to make their children extraordinary. Gaokao is something that not only influences a family, but also mobilizes the forces of whole society.

Students have also changed over the years. We never had tutors for extra classes in our days, nor skipped classes. We took every exam in the college seriously. Sadly that is not the case now. Indeed, times have changed.

Tian Ying is a senior editor with China Daily.

(China Daily 06/01/2011 page14)