Hello! I am Qinghai Ran, and although I was born and raised in a rural village, I have never bowed my head to fate and have always put my very best effort into everything I do. I wanted to thank you again with all my heart. Don’t worry! I won’t disappoint you.
After many setbacks, I could finally leave our small mountain village and set foot on the road to school. With my ambition, I could finally strive to achieve all the dreams and ideals in my heart. But when I got to school I realized that there was still a huge distance between those dreams and reality. On that bumpy road the economy became my biggest problem and I struggled a great deal, but I never gave up, I could never give up. This is how I got to where I am today.
This year, because of the financial crisis, my older brother who was working in Guangzhou has returned home. To my parents, who are already getting older, this means an extra helping hand, that they can relax a little. However, because our good bike is so beat up, a month ago when my brother was hurrying to go somewhere and not being careful he fell and was seriously hurt. For medicine and treatment we had to pay over 2000 yuan. This gave my already-burdened family even more trouble. At the time I considered dropping out, but after thinking it over carefully, I realized I couldn’t let you support me for nothing, and I couldn’t break my parents’ hearts. So I decided to stay and continue.
It’s already been some time since the beginning of the semester, but on the first monthly test, because I had a cold that day, I slipped from first in my class to eighth, which is not normal. I cried, but this wasn’t because I was giving up. This was just because I was letting off steam. Afterwards I put this behind me and started anew. Since then I have come to understand that falling behind is not the same as failing. I am overcoming this, taking two steps forward and one step back.
Poverty isn’t something I use to gain people’s sympathy – effort is most important. I live by the saying, “Trying hard may not lead to success, but giving up will definitely lead to failure.” The only way for me to pay you back for your support is working hard, working hard, working hard and giving everything my best.
Qinghai Ran
April 10, 2009
