Poor kid successfully fights way to top university

Pang Zhongwang [For China Daily]

A student from a poor family in Hebei province, who scored high on college entrance exams and was admitted to one of the country's top universities, has refused all financial aid that swarmed in after his plight was reported by media.

Pang Zhongwang, 18, a high school graduate in Cangzhou, scored 684 out of 750 points on China's national college entrance examination.

He has been admitted by Tsinghua University and is expected to receive the school's letter of admission around Monday, according to Fan Hongqi, vice-president of Wuqiao High School where Pang graduated.

"Before I came to visit his home three years ago, nobody knew his family faced so many difficulties," said Li Ying, one of Pang's teachers.

His father, who is schizophrenic, can only do simple manual work, while his mother's lower limbs are disabled and she must be taken care of by his grandparents.

"You can't see one piece of decent furniture or appliance at his home," said a reporter surnamed Zhou with a local newspaper who visited Pang's family on Thursday.

"It's hard to imagine that such an excellent boy grew up in such a difficult situation, for which he definitely deserved special bonus scores," Zhou said.

The bonus scores Zhou mentioned were 60 points, provided by Tsinghua University, which has a special program for outstanding students from rural areas. Under the program, Pang can be enrolled at a score 60 points lower than a normal enrollment line.

"Even without the bonus, his score ranks first in Cangzhou, which has about 30,000 graduates this year," Li said.

Zhou was lucky to have met him, because Pang is occupied with teaching physics classes as a part-time job during his summer vacation, striving to earn the tuition fees for his first semester at Tsinghua.

"My classes are full, and I don't want to be disturbed or reported on by media," Pang was quoted as saying.

According to Li, Pang has refused all financial aid from people or social institutions who wanted to lend a hand.

"The most difficult time for me and my family has passed and I think I can live on my own right now," Pang said, adding that his school and many warmhearted people have helped him a lot during his three years in high school.

The attitude of Pang toward difficulties puts the saying "Where there's a will, there's a way" into practice.

He was diagnosed with congenital heart disease at 7.

Though he recovered after a surgery, Pang felt sorry because the surgery put his already-poor family into greater debt.

Since then, he started to pick up waste materials along roads after school every day and sold them to earn money.

"He is very optimistic with a strong personality," Li said.