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Editor's note] China.com, together with the Information Office of the Ministry of Education, the Propaganda Department of the All-China Women's Federation, and the Network Work Department of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, launched a special plan of "New Era, Educating Her Power", focusing on hot topics in the new era, talking to women in different professions, and telling their touching stories of not forgetting their original intentions and living up to their missions on the education front with lenses and words.
December 31, 2023 is the eighth anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Rocket Force. In this issue, we interview Wang Xiaoli, the first-generation female missile launcher of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Rocket Force and director of the National Defense Education and Talent Training Office of the Armed Forces Department of the Party Committee of Tsinghua University, and listen to her moving story with the Rocket Force and national defense education.
Wang Xiaoli, an authentic Shandong girl, is enthusiastic and straightforward. When she was a child, she was a "tomboy" in the eyes of her mother and a "gun fan" in the eyes of her father;When she grew up, she was a student at Tsinghua University and the first generation of female missile launchers in our army;Today, she is an honorably retired female soldier and a school-abiding teacher. Her life is inextricably linked with the military and teachers, and eventually she became a "teacher" in China's national defense education in the new era.
Wang Xiaoli when she was a soldier. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
Practice the original intention of serving the country with love.
Being a soldier is inevitable for Wang Xiaoli. She recalled: "When I was a child, my father took me to watch a lot of revolutionary movies, and at that time, I admired the military very much. Other parents bought dolls for girls, but my dad bought me guns at the time, and I grew up playing with guns. ”
In addition to her father's guidance, her mother is also imperceptibly influencing her. Wang Xiaoli said, "I am now engaged in the teaching profession, and my mother inspires me the most. She is a secondary school teacher and a mentor in my life. From being a teacher to being a teacher, it is also a kind of inheritance that allows me to understand teachers more deeply than others. ”
Talking about her original intention, Wang Xiaoli said firmly: "When I was a soldier, whether it was in the training ground or in daily life, my original intention was to be a good soldier. Now I am a teacher, whether on the podium or outside the military training ground, my original intention is to be a good teacher. ”
Wang Xiaoli is teaching. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
After joining the army, he was born "transformed".
Wang Xiaoli was admitted to Tsinghua University in 2006. In the university years immersed in the school motto "unremitting self-improvement and moral commitment", she studied and grew hard, and forged ahead towards Mr. Liang Qichao's lofty goal of "being a Chinese who stands tall in the sky".
After going to college, she learned that "college students can also join the army", which made her have a "dream of military camp" as a child. In her junior year, on the way to the library, she saw the recruitment banner of "Good sons and daughters join the army", resolutely signed up for the army, and successfully enlisted in the army after a strict political examination and physical examination, becoming the only female student who enlisted in the army at Tsinghua University that year.
The process of transforming from an ordinary college student to a qualified soldier is what Wang Xiaoli calls "transformation". "How to adapt quickly from a relatively relaxed environment to a stressful and serious environment was the biggest challenge I had to face at that time. ”
Due to her excellent performance in recruit training, Wang Xiaoli was assigned to work in the agency. Faced with a "good post" in the eyes of many people, Wang Xiaoli, who served in a brigade of the Rocket Force (formerly the Second Artillery Corps), always felt that there were shortcomings, so she took the initiative to invite Ying to the front-line combat unit. Wang Xiaoli said: "My goal at that time was to give full play to my strengths, be a good soldier, be patriotic and dedicated, and pursue excellence. After layers of selection, Wang Xiaoli entered the first women's missile launch detachment of our army, and finally became the No. 1 operator. Talking about her feelings, Wang Xiaoli's eyes lit up: "When I saw the missiles taking off from close range, my heart was surging, and I was proud of the development of China's national defense. The career in the army allowed Wang Xiaoli to gain a different self. The most valuable asset she learned in the army is: in the face of difficulties, grit her teeth and persevere, and overcome ideas. ”
Wang Xiaoli led the students to the barracks to participate in social practice. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
Teaching has contributed to the cause of national defense.
At the end of 2011, Wang Xiaoli retired from the army and returned to Tsinghua University to resume her studies and pursue a graduate degree. After graduation, she did not choose a high-paying employment opportunity, but chose to pick up her "original intention" again - to stay in school to become a people's teacher, responsible for Tsinghua University's national defense education and national defense talent training, as well as national defense courses related teaching and research work, and continue to contribute to the motherland's national defense.
For the future, Wang Xiaoli thinks about how to better play the role of retired soldiers on campus. "I feel that national defense education is a career that I love all my life and cannot give up. National defense is a matter of life and death for the country and the nation. We must understand, love, and care about national defense, and then dedicate ourselves to national defense. Wang Xiaoli worked as a counselor in the Armed Forces Department of the Party Committee of Tsinghua University, and applied to serve as an ideological and political counselor in the department, and has been participating in the recruitment work of the school and Haidian District of Beijing, using her "spark" to ignite more "youth dreams". "I hope that through my own experience, I can influence and drive more students to join the army. Wang Xiaoli said.
For women in the new era, Wang Xiaoli admires scientist Tu Youyou the most, and astronauts Liu Yang and Wang Yaping, all of whom are outstanding women in the new era. She believes that the power of women should not be underestimated, and they are an important force to promote the development of the times.
Wang Xiaoli led the students to the barracks to participate in social practice. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
Wang Xiaoli, female, Han nationality, born in 1988, from Jimo, Shandong, joined the army in 2009, joined the work in 2015, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts of Tsinghua University, and is currently the director of the National Defense Education and Talent Training Office of the Armed Forces Department of the Party Committee of Tsinghua University, responsible for the teaching and research of national defense education and national defense talent training and national defense courses in the whole schoolThe first generation of female missile launchers of the Rocket Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army has won the honorary titles of one second-class meritorious service, the most beautiful retired soldier in Beijing, the advanced individual in the recruitment work of Beijing, and the outstanding moral education worker in colleges and universities in Beijing.
Text ** Camera: Sun Xiaotong Han Yajie.
Editor: Liu Jia, Zhang Yanling.