Liu Yao, a senior undergrad at Tsinghua School of Law, is one of the students from the graduating Class of 2022.
After graduation, she will eventually fulfill her long-cherished dream of becoming a teacher. She is heading to the city of Yan'an in Shaanxi Province to start her teaching career at Tsinghua University High School — Wenanyi.
“When I moved from Shanghai to my hometown as a junior high school student, I felt the regional disparity in education. So, in high school, I made up my mind to become a teacher in the future and help close gaps in education,” says Liu, who completed her junior high school and high school in her hometown of Lianhua County in Jiangxi Province before coming to Tsinghua.
She is among many graduating students at Tsinghua choosing to serve at the grassroots level.
As a teacher, she plans not only to teach her students what is in the textbooks, but also to broaden their horizons and inspire them to aim higher through various innovative teaching practices.
“I may not be able to make a big difference alone, but I am confident, together with my colleagues, we will be able to make positive impacts in the long run,” she says.
Determined to become a teacher, as she entered Tsinghua, she joined various student clubs and actively participated in voluntary teaching activities, making trips to different places to teach children.
“I have been to Hebei and Jiangxi to teach children, and I have sent more than 100 letters to children in Qinghai, Yunnan, and Shaanxi, sharing my learning experience and interesting life stories. I have also met with children from Hebei, Shandong, and Anhui online,” she shares.
Over the past four years, she also participated in poverty alleviation efforts in the central and western parts of China.
She credits the Tsinghua community for instilling in her a strong sense of social responsibility.
She says she looks forward to applying the knowledge and experiences she has gained at Tsinghua to provide children with a quality education.
“I will always be grateful to my alma mater for enabling me to chase my dream.”
By Guo Lili, Sangeet
