In December 2015 the author took a bus through wind and rain from Anshun to the Radio and Television University(RTVU) Workstation at Puding County, to interview an ordinary RTVU female student named Yang Yan.

24-year-old Yang Yan is studying preschool education in the spring class of 2014. After talking for a while, Yang Yan gave the author the impression of being a quiet, simple, and capable girl. Yang Yan told the author a lot about her experiences and entrepreneurial process.

Yang Yan was born in a farmer’s family in a remote village in Zhijin County. Her household registration was moved to Puding County last year. Because her family was poor and she had many siblings, her parents were not able to continue to support her studies after sixth grade. She was only able to complete three years of junior high school with the aid of her teacher Yuan Runxiang. Afterwards, she was finally admitted to  a Secondary Vocational School in Puding County, which laid the foundation for her future entrepreneurship. In order to earn a living and improve her family’s economic situation, Yang Yan used the knowledge of preschool education she had learned at vocational school to found “Jiujiu Heart of Hope” Kindergarten in Puding County. In 2013, she established her second kindergarten,“Joy”in Shaguo Village in Puding. Last year, her third kindergarten, which she named “Golden” Kindergarten, was established in Maoli Village. The three kindergartens have enrolled 383, 108, and 79 children, respectively. 

In order to regulate her kindergartens, Yang Yan studied the national training programme and enrolled at Guizhou Preschool Education College. She has obtained a Certificate of Completion of the Training Programme Aimed at Delivering Preschool Education to the Countryside, a Certificate of Qualification as Kindergarten Principal, and the Three Specialties Certificate (Pedagogy, Psychology, and Hygiene) issued by Guizhou Provincial Department of Education. She has also passed the level two test for advanced Mandarin. 

In the course of operating her kindergartens, Yang Yan began to feel that her knowledge had fallen behind the requirements of the development of her business, so last year she enrolled herself in the 2014 spring preschool education major at the Puding RTVU Workstation of Anshun RTVU. She uses the comprehensive knowledge she has learnt through her studies to manage her three kindergartens. 

Yang Yan’s study burden is heavy. Although she is unmarried and full of energy, she is facing great pressure. Her first pressure comes from the management of the three kindergartens and the wages that need to be paid to the 45 teachers every month (at an average of RMB 1,800 per month). The second is that she needs to look after her parents, who are over seventy years old. Lastly, she has to raise the son and a daughter(15 and 14 respectively)of her elder brother and elder sister, who are divorced and working outside the village. Faced with these pressures, Yang Yan said:“I was born and raised in the countryside. I have suffered a lot. Although my life is still hard, I feel that it is much better than before.” When asked where she gets the energy to run a kindergarten, she described her biggest motivation: “My dream is to help more children, particularly left-behind children in rural areas, get a good education… because I know exactly how it feels to live without accesses to education. At present, left-behind children account for more than two-thirds of the 570 children in the three kindergartens. When I see these children learn and grow happily, I feel happy despite my tiredness.”      

On the way back to Anshun after interviewing Yang Yan, the author thought that if all the current RTVU students had the same spirit as Yang Yan, what benefits they would create for society and themselves!

By Hong Ruixiong, Anshun RTVU,Guizhou