At a construction site, a thin, middle-aged man is expertly using a shovel to plaster a wall. At this point, the outside temperature is unbearably high, making people who are outdoors breathe rapidly.
He and his co-workers talked and laughed as they worked, as if they didn't feel the scorching heat of summer. They seem to have become accustomed to the hardships of working in harsh working conditions for many years.
Huazi, you are the only one on our site who has gone to college, can you tell us what a university is like? I know that you came back to work with us to make up for your regrets, and you have worked with us for 30 years and are our old comrades-in-arms.
Stop making fun of me, we all admire you. This native of Laiwu, Shandong Province, named Xun Zhenghua, although he works on the construction site, he is a college student who graduated from a regular university.
His story is inspiring, and he has always held on to his dreams, and he will never forget them, and there will be repercussions. Three years ago, he was 51 years old, but he still decided to go to university.
He is the breadwinner of his family, and he cannot only focus on his own studies and ignore the needs of his family. His story tells us that no matter how old or young you are, if you are determined, you can achieve your dreams.
After weighing the pros and cons, he decided to return to the construction site with his family's hopes and past textbooks, and study while working. These textbooks had accompanied his children in their studies, and now he wanted to use them to start his own new journey.
After a busy day, he would study hard in the dormitory, eager to master all the knowledge in the book. That year, he walked into the college entrance examination room with a dream, and was finally admitted to Jining Vocational and Technical College.
However, after graduating, he suffered repeated employment setbacks due to his age. In desperation, he returned to the construction site, and although life seemed to be peaceful, his heart still burned with a thirst for knowledge.
In the face of doubts from the outside world, he always smiled and did not respond, because he firmly believed that as long as he insisted on learning, he would definitely find his own opportunities.
Even though he didn't say it, we can still get insight into his inner thoughts. Despite the thorny path to finding a job after graduation, he never really failed. If you want to find a reason for his frustration in the workplace, it may only be said that he is blocked by the insurmountable gap of "age".
After all, he competes with the energetic "post-00s". Soon after, his deeds spread all over the TV station, triggering a wave of reports on "the dream of the 51-year-old college entrance examination came true".
Countless journalists came to his village, gathered around his doorstep. Every interview is inseparable from the question that hits the soul: "Why do you still want to go to college at the age of 51?" ”
In the face of such a question, he always smiled slightly and replied: "Because I left regrets after failing in the college entrance examination that year, I don't want to let the regrets continue to extend." "The seeds of regret were planted as early as the moment when I failed the college entrance examination.
Xun Zhenghua was born in a small village in Xueye Town, from a poor family, and is an authentic farmer. Despite his poor family, he showed exceptional learning ability and a sense of responsibility from an early age.
He has been working in the fields with his parents since he was a child, and he has always been among the best in his grades, and he is praised by his parents as "someone else's child". With hard study and perseverance, he was admitted to Laiwu No. 2 Middle School with a high score of 549 points.
In the three years of high school, he fought every day and studied extremely hard. However, at that time, university resources were scarce and competition was fierce. There are only about 60 students in a class, and very few can be admitted to three or four universities.
After the exam, he bowed his head and was silent, tears rolled wildly in his eyes, and the moment he walked out of the classroom, the tears could no longer be stopped, and they kept falling. His story teaches us that hard work and perseverance are the cornerstones of success, and that no matter what our family background, as long as we have determination and courage, we can overcome all difficulties.
He, a young man suffering from an eye disease, had blurred vision during exams and unfortunately missed the university. After failing the list, although he had enough knowledge, he chose to give up repeating because he wanted to relieve the pressure on his elderly parents and younger siblings who were still in school.
Instead of running away, he chose to face reality bravely and work hard for the burden of his family. He went to the city, had no acquaintances, and had to make a living by collecting rags, selling grain, and selling briquettes.
Despite the difficulties in his life, he remained steadfast because he knew that only in this way could he ease the burden on his family and open up a new path for his life.
Come with me to work on the construction site, where the income is high, and if you have money, you can marry and have children. A recruiter said. He didn't hesitate and nodded in agreement.
So, he worked the construction site for 30 years. He had lofty ideals and realized his dream at the age of 25 through the college entrance examination. Soon after, he married his bride, and two children, a boy and a girl, were born one after another, and he became a "father" in the eyes of others.
In order to make ends meet and provide for his children's education, he had to work outside the home all year round. In 2012, her daughter was admitted to Binzhou Medical College, and then her son was admitted to Qingdao University of Technology.
Watching the children's success, the college dream in his heart burned again: "I also want to take the college entrance examination and go to college, I don't want to take regrets to the grave." ”
For his son and daughter's college entrance examination, Xun Zhenghua prepared for the war at the construction site. He rented a simple house with a rent of 50 yuan a month, but he still maintained his enthusiasm for learning. As soon as he entered the dormitory, his co-workers could see his bedside full of textbooks.
I chose the bed near the window, the light was good, and my eyesight was reduced. "I do physical work on the construction site during the day, take three or four hours out of my evening to read, get up early in the morning, and read in the morning before going to work.
He started with junior high school textbooks and then studied high school textbooks after mastering them completely. With continuous efforts, he now has a complete grasp of textbook knowledge, which is due to his solid basic skills.
He was nearly half a hundred years old, and his children had already made a name for themselves, and his fellow villagers asked him suspiciously, "What are you still busy with?" He just smiled and lowered his head and began to read.
He has been taking the college entrance examination for 30 years, and he didn't expect to be able to return to this examination room. When he entered the examination room, the security guard, thinking he was the candidate's parent, stopped him at the door.
When he took out the admission ticket, the security guard checked it repeatedly, and still couldn't believe that this man older than himself would be a candidate. The exam went well, and he was no longer so eager for quick success, and he only had pure study in mind.
As a result, he played well in the exam room. Xun Zhenghua thought that he would succeed in this exam, but fate played a joke on him again. Because he took a few days off during the exams, a lot of the work on the site was not completed.
Seeing that the deadline was approaching, he could only devote himself to his work, and had no time to idle. As a result, he did not have time to consider volunteering for a specialty.
He can only ask his daughter through **, hoping that she can help him fill in the volunteer, and he needs to keep it confidential. The daughter couldn't believe her old father's participation in the college entrance examination until she saw her father's college entrance examination score on the screen, although she helped him fill in the volunteer, it still felt like a dream.
On August 15, 2018, a text message "You have been admitted to Jining Vocational and Technical College" made him, who was over half a hundred years old, excitedly hug his co-workers and cry. He had waited too long for this day.
Two days later, the admission notice was mailed to Xun Zhenghua's home, and the news spread quickly in the village. The family didn't expect that the elderly Xun Zhenghua made such a big decision behind their backs.
Despite his family's opposition, Xun Zhenghua did not give up his dream of going to university. When there was still half a month before the start of school, he went to Zibo first with the admission letter under the pretext of working part-time, and reported back to the school.
For him, learning never ends, and the spirit is immense. On September 5, 2018, he embarked on a wonderful university journey. At the reception desk, a teacher stopped him and asked him if he was sending his child to school.
He smiled and took his file from his backpack and handed it to the teacher. After reading his file and ID card, the teacher in charge of reporting was very surprised and invited him to go to the office with him, believing that the leaders would appreciate his dedication to learning very much.
He introduced himself in detail in the leader's office, and his spirit of starting again at the age of 51 deeply touched the leader. In order to motivate such students, the school specially approved him to waive the tuition fee for three years.
When he walked into the dormitory, his roommates looked at the "classmate" in amazement, and when they learned that their roommate was the same age as his father, they all rushed to tell each other.
At first, he was worried that he would not be able to fit in with the young people, but learning became a bridge between them, and he got along very well with his roommates, and there was no generation gap at all.
"Learning to communicate with them, I've forgotten my age," he said. ”
A 51-year-old man has fulfilled his college dream, and his deeds have attracted widespread attention. His wife was shocked when she learned that he was going to college, as she thought he had promised not to go to school.
She immediately questioned him and resolutely opposed his decision to insist on going to college regardless of the actual situation of his family. However, after hearing him tell her story, she ultimately chose to support him.
She said she knew his dreams and how much he longed for the opportunity to go to school. After receiving the support of his family, his heart finally settled down. During his college years, he was more diligent than any of his classmates.
He said that he could earn two or three hundred yuan a day as a mason on the construction site, but he still insisted on using the money to study because he didn't want to waste a minute.
He cherished the opportunity to study hard at any time and place, sitting in the front three rows of class and soaking in the library on Saturdays and Sundays. His efforts have infected every student around him, making the learning atmosphere unprecedentedly warm.
Three years seems like a short time, but in the blink of an eye, college life is coming to an end. He has successfully completed all of his professional courses and has achieved excellent results in every subject.
In particular, "Housing Construction Engineering" is an extremely difficult subject, with a variety of formulas and algorithms, and many students fail the course. However, Xun Zhenghua scored an astonishing score of 98 points in the final exam, winning the highest score in the whole department, which shows his unremitting efforts.
In the three years of college, every winter and summer vacation, Xun Zhenghua would pack his bags without hesitation and go to the construction site to work to earn money for his family and children's education. Although he only has three months of part-time work in a year, he cherishes every moment and tries to use his vacation time to earn money.
For three years, he worked hard between his studies and his family. During the epidemic, although the school was changed to online classes, he stayed outside, working at the construction site during the day, and rushing home at night to watch the course replay and write notes, and never missed a class.
Finally, on June 25, 2021, Xun Zhenghua received his graduation certificate as he wished, fulfilling his college dream. For him, this day has a special meaning.
Although I didn't make a lot of money in three years of college, I think the experience was more valuable than money because it filled the regret that I never went to college. When the 54-year-old Xun Zhenghua received his graduation certificate, we seemed to see the shadow of his diligent study when he was young, his face was full of wrinkles, but his eyes were full of determination.
At the graduation photo, he looked very serious, his eyes full of nostalgia for his college days and the sadness of leaving. Although he is over half a hundred years old, he still keeps in touch with his classmates and is regarded as their big parent.
Whenever he hears the news that his classmates are working in good units or studying in higher institutions, he will feel very envious. But he said, "I am very satisfied, it is not easy to realize my college dream, this era belongs to young people." ”
After getting his diploma, he rushed back to the construction site because he needed to start working to earn money. When asked if he would change careers to work in construction management, he said frankly: "Many familiar classmates have recommended jobs to me. ”
Although I have a skill, my age and unfamiliarity with computer work make it difficult for me to find a suitable job. I went to college just to fulfill my dreams, and even though I am now in old age, my life is already satisfying.
However, my interviews on social **were followed and praised by many people who encouraged me to stick to my dreams, regardless of my age. These words of encouragement warmed my heart, and I followed their spirit as an example to continue to work hard.
No matter what the outside world thinks of me, I will insist on being myself, and as I used to say, I only go to school to achieve my dreams, not to pursue material gain.