In the summer of 1982, I graduated from middle school.

I took the high school entrance exam and scored the highest among about two hundred students in my school.

I had two options based on my academic grades.

One choice was to go to the best high school in my city.

If so, after three years of study in high school, I would take the university entrance exam.

If I failed to pass the exam, I would either continue to study in the same school for one more year in the same grade or go back to my village to do farm work for the rest of my life.

Another choice was to study in a technical secondary school, which meant that I gained an opportunity to work for the government.

The only thing I needed to do before starting work for the government was to study for three years in that school.

I chose the second one - to study in a technical secondary school, majoring in agricultural machinery management.

The living conditions back then were very poor; my family and I often faced shortages of food and clothes.

Therefore, I didn’t choose to go to the best high school.

I couldn’t bear another three years of studying and the uncertainty of the results of the university entrance exam.

My School Story

In the summer of 1982, I graduated from middle school.

I took the high school entrance exam and scored the highest among about two hundred students in my school.

I had two options based on my academic grades.

One choice was to go to the best high school in my city.

If so, after three years of study in high school, I would take the university entrance exam.

If I failed to pass the exam, I would either continue to study in the same school for one more year in the same grade or go back to my village to do farm work for the rest of my life.

Another choice was to study in a technical secondary school, which meant that I gained an opportunity to work for the government.

The only thing I needed to do before starting work for the government was to study for three years in that school.

I chose the second one - to study in a technical secondary school, majoring in agricultural machinery management.

I was born and raised in a remote small village in the late sixties.

The living conditions back then were very poor; my family and I often faced shortages of food and clothes.

Therefore, I didn’t choose to go to the best high school.

I couldn’t bear another three years of studying and the uncertainty of the results of the university entrance exam.