On the evening of April 15, the opening ceremony of the 2022 Financial Aid for Education Cultural Festival and the final of the “Financial Aid Helps Build Dreams” Heart-warming Story-telling Contest were held in the International Lecture Hall of the Academic Exchange Center. 15 sponsored students from different schools told stories between financial aid and themselves, sharing moving experiences of struggling against the difficulties and striving for their new life. As an ancient Chinese adage goes, “if one is willing to endure suffering and able to resist temptations, he will certainly become an outstanding person.”
The attendees include Bian Jing, Party secretary of the CPC SCMZU committee, Han Yesheng, member of the standing committee of the CPC SCMZU committee and secretary of Commission for Discipline Inspection, Song Fajun, Party deputy secretary of the CPC SCMZU committee and vice-president, and the relevant teachers from Student Work Department of Party Committee and different schools. Tan Fang, reporter of Universities News Center of Changjiang Daily, Yang yuan, secretary of the Communist Youth League Committee of the School of Computer Science, Ye Furong, counsellor of the School of Fine Arts, Zhang Jingqin, counsellor of the School of Mathematics and Statistics, and Ma Jinming, representative of “Top Ten Self-reliant Students” are invited to be judges for the contest.
Bian Jing pointed out in his speech on the opening ceremony that CPC and our country paved a path of financial aid with Chinese characteristics to to promote fairness in education by resolving the problem of students from poor families attending school. As a university for nationalities, SCMZU has established a full-functional, development-oriented and seven-sphere integrated system of financial aid for students, covering the provisions of “award, assistance, loan, work-study program, fee reduction, fee waiver and subsidy”. Also, SCMZU has built a subsidized network to cover all students in need, provide aid the whole process and offer benefits comprehensively. He noted, student aid not only ensures basic living necessity, but also brings warmth and even builds dreams. Over the years, sponsored students of our university have made outstanding achievements in study, innovation and entrepreneurship, social practice and so on, and a large number of inspirational typical figures have emerged. He hoped that those students would be taken as role models for their self-reliance. He also stressed epidemic prevention and control, urging teachers and students to strictly follow the requirements and thus build a solid defense line of campus security.
Stories of struggling told by the students won applauses from the audience. Li Kai, a graduate student from the School of Education, told audience about his painful childhood experience, and recalled his following of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to step on a road leading to a brilliant future. Yang Shengyuan, a student from the School of Law, compared her experience to a TV drama full of ups and downs— her well-off family had been reduced to poverty overnight and they had even been stuck at home by debt collectors. Now, with financial aid, she got over difficulties and clings tenaciously to her dreams. Ran Li, a student from the School of Management, told the audience that though she loves her hometown affectionately, she is eager to go out to see the world. Having received a state grant, she believes that “life is hard, but it’s worthy”, because “there are always shadows on the way ahead, but one can see the sun shine when looks up”. Yang Yuanyun, a student from the College of Life Science, shared the experience of her sisters and brothers’ pursuit of education in her story “Dream Chasing; Dream Building”. Under the guidance of the CPC and our country, she can bravely build her dreams and confidently chase her dreams.
a student shares her motivating experience Photo by Sun Hanlin
After the contest, Tan Fang summarized the contest with “courage, perseverance, challenge, breakthrough” and she spoke highly of SCMZU as “a university that really concerns about you”. Finally, she encouraged every student to move forward without hesitation, because “there’s always someone to support you and protect your dreams”.
Among all the contestants, Ran Li ranked the highest with the score 96.4 and won the championship.
It is reported that 2022 Financial Aid for Education Cultural Festival was launched in March and will last until June. In addition to the Heart-warming Narration Contest, two major activities will also be held—works collecting on the theme of “Youth welcomes the 20th National Congress of the CPC”, and the class meeting design competition on the theme of “Be Honest, Be Sincere”.
Edited: Liu Qiong; Source: Publicity Department of the CPC Committee
