In spring 2010, you became a freshman at Sichuan Radio and Television University(Sichuan RTVU).

By coincidence, I became your tutor.

The first time we met you hid timidly behind your mother, your eyes reflecting big dreams. I noticed that you were wearing hearing aids and you kept silent all the way.

I had some doubts: What kind of a student was she?

When I was younger, I had dreamt of becoming a teacher and surrounding myself with good students, hoping that they would become more brilliant because of me.

In that moment, I was worried whether I could be a qualified tutor for you… 

In your mother's garrulous words, you were like the "Ugly Duckling", walking slowly towards me.

She said that you were too lonely and the reason of sending you to the RTVU to study was to help you realize your dream of attending university, learn some new skills, and also make some friends.

Fate had made a cruel joke with you. When you were one year old, you lost your hearing forever because of a drug allergy. Your parents hoped that you would grow up healthily and happily, just like an ordinary child.

When the other children at your age began babbling, you were still helpless,hiding in a silent world. Your mother would not give in to your deafness and dumbness, so she tried many ways of training you to speak. In the end, you were able to communicate simply by lip reading and wearing a hearing aid.

When you were younger, your mother told you the story of the "Ugly Duckling". Although you didn’t fully understand it, it inspired a beautiful dream in you, and you hoped to turn into a beautiful white swan just like the ugly duckling.

God closed one door but opened a window.

You not only learnt to speak. By the age of two, you also showed a rare talent for painting, which helped you to express your inner world freely. 

You put all the paintings on the walland the parents were surprised. Your mother sent you to a training class to learn painting and this went on until you graduated from primary school.

In junior high school, you started to like reading. You loved to read campus novels, and watch cartoons and anime. You hungered for a simple life without restraint; while indulging in the beauty of the world of animation and fictions you began to try to write your own novels. Later you went to a vocational school and made some good friends. You became stronger and others noticed your strength.

You learned to use a computer and use the computer to create animations. You tried to describe the fairy tale world in your heart and dreamed of becoming a painter.

After listening to your story, I felt pain in my heart.

I was sleepless that night. When I finally fell asleep, I dreamt only of your helpless eyes.

I kept thinking about how to break through to your inner world, and let you experience the joy of learning and feel the beauty of life.

One day, I read a passage in Readers Digest: “I cannot become a poet, but I can train a poet. I cannot become a singer, but I can train a singer. I cannot become a scientist, but I have the potential to train a scientist…As a teacher, my hands carry infinite hope for the future. My value will be reflected in the students, and my youth and dreams will become more brilliant in them too." I was very moved by this passage. I never knew that teaching could be so poetic.

There were only two students in your class, so we had a lot of opportunities to communicate.

You arrived early to the first class. Your voice was vague when you started to speak. I tried to understand you, but my efforts were in vain. I tried to write things down but you didn’t seem to like this method. I realized that you hoped that I would see you as an ordinary student and use spoken language to communicate with you.

Facing a special student like you, I didn’t know what to do.

Your mother told me that, with the help of a hearing aid, you can hear even very weak sounds. I tried to communicate with you in a slower, more deliberate voice than usual. When it was really difficult to communicate, we had to write things down. After one class, I was so nervous that I perspired heavily. However, it seemed that you still didn’t understand me.

I attempted to build up your confidence and inspire you to study with an active and positive attitude. Before each class, I would always give you praise. I tried to make you understand that you were unique. You do not have to envy other people. I told you that, as long as you work hard, other people will always pay attention to you. I hoped that this kind of attention would create moving memories for you.

After the settling in period, we began to adapt to this special communication pattern and the classroom atmosphere became much relaxed. I found out that you had changed. You liked speaking to me and we began to discuss literature.

Suhomlinski said that, "In the most secret corner in the mind of every child, there is a unique string. When you pluck it, it will make a unique sound. In order to make the heart of each child resonant to what I say, I myself should align with the sound in the heart of the child."

For ordinary children, starting university may not be difficult. But for you, there are too many difficulties to overcome. Facing you, I can only use the concept of “Education for All” to spur myself not to give upon you. I hope I am “as good as the water”, which has the highest level of ethics, beneficial for all things without striving for fame and gain, so I could use the tenderness of the water to touch you and open the knots in your heart, and use the fortitude of the water to guide you to swim through the ocean of knowledge.

After class, I often chat with you through QQ. You type very fast and your thoughts jumps around very quickly,too. You told me that you have been a watcher all your life. Due to your disability, you had very little self-esteem and felt your future was uncertain. You were always very excited to talk about anime. I found that your QQ space is full of animations, and I know that they are your hopes and dreams.

Since you started from a poor foundation, you faced a lot of difficulties during the learning process. I found that teaching you online worked better than the face-to-face teaching, so I often used QQ to answer your questions. In order to help you understand profound literary theories, I recommended some literary works for you to read. To help you pass the exam, I collected some review materials and sent them to you.

We have become good friends who share everything. Once, you were having an argument with your mother. You came to me in tears and told me that your mother did not understand you. I listened to your crying and comforted you patiently, trying to help understand the bitterness your mother has had to face. On your way back home from school, you said, "Mrs. Lin, I am very grateful to you. I used to have a sense of inferiority. I didn’t want to talk to anyone except my parents. I was afraid they would laugh at me. But I like to talk with you because you always encourage me. You give me confidence."

Since then, you've become a real source of pride for me. I always refer to you as a special student when I’m talking to my friends.

Life is a boat and dreams are its sail. You and I, two persons born in different ages,were brought together as teacher and student by chance. The diverse teachingmethods available within the RTVU’s open teaching classes gave me the opportunity to understand you. I use my passion and sweat to give flight to hope, while you use your youth and imagination to harvest your dreams.

I hope that you can step away from your fears and grow into a beautiful white swan.

I hope that you and I will always face each other with true minds, and take off into the sky beyond our dreams.

I hope that all your dreams will come true.

This paper has won the first prize of the essay contest of "My Teaching Stories" of the Open University of China.

By Lin Cuiping, Attached School of Sichuan RTVU