Mr. Zhao Li Min 赵利民, the Security Guard at Yang Zhuo Ran

Mr. Zhao is one of the constants at Microcampus. His smile is always there to greet you as soon as you enter the compound, his words always there to motivate you. However, even though a smile is always present on his face, Mr. Zhao has had his share of troubles throughout life. Born in XiZhou, Mr. Zhao grew up during the Cultural Revolution. His life, although if compared to others was not too affected by the Cultural Revolution, went through dramatic change during this turbulent time. His childhood along with his schooling was cut short, and he went and worked in the fields with his parents. Although Mr. Zhao’s life was not near ideal, and not all his dreams have come true, he is happy in life, and has no big regrets. The lesson that we hope to spread by sharing his life story is that even though all of us have times when life is not ideal, we must move one and live life with no regrets. For if a man like Mr. Zhao, who’s been through so much in his 61 years can do it, we definitely can.

Born in 1952, Mr. Zhao has lived in XiZhou almost all his life. His childhood, along with his schooling was cut short in 1966, when the Cultural Revolution began. Just in 8th grade, Mr. Zhao was forced to drop out of school and start working with his parents. While he was still at school, Mr. Zhao would learn till the school day was over, and then work in the fields with his parents. To this day, his biggest regret in life is not continuing his education. However he didn’t have much choice. Put in his own words “During that time, it was just too chaotic to study. We missed our chance because we had to farm.” After finishing schooling, Mr. Zhao went up to Huadianba, a nearby mountain top and lived there. He farmed everyday for 2 months, until he decided that it did not suit him. He decided to go to Xi’erhu, and worked there for a year. His main accomplishment was building a power generator there.

However, Mr. Zhao did not stop there. His life continued to change, as he moved to Xishuangbanna, an autonomous prefecture in Yunnan, China. Living in Xizhou, but often travelling to Xishuangbanna for 30 years, Mr. Zhao built buildings and lived a good life. This was also around the time where he got married to his wife, Yang Li Qin 杨立琴. They had known each other since they were children, since they lived in the same alley. A mutual friend formally introduced them many years later, and they got married in 1981. Even then, Mr. Zhao was not completely satisified with his working life and missed his hometown. His decision was to permanently stay in Xizhou, and reunite with his family. Mr. Zhao was finally happy. Now, it has been 3 months since Mr. Zhao has been working at Yang Zhuo Ran. He is satisfied with the quality of his life and agrees that Xizhou has changed for the better, in the past decade or so. The quantity of crops that the farmers have been able to produce has almost doubled, so food is not an issue. In his words, “Every aspect of life in Xizhou is better.”

When asked if he had any dream jobs when he was little, he replied, “During that time, a dream was a fantasy. When I was little our dreams would not come true.” He went on to answer however, that when he was a little child, his dream was to become a soldier. He carried on to declare that “Afterward, when I was older I went to become a builder, so I had no chance.” Mr. Zhao does not have many regrets though, because he has moved on. Even though it is so hard to do, he has taken a step forward and chosen to look ahead, instead of living in his past.

We believe that we can all learn something from Mr. Zhao and his lifestyle. His life was nowhere near perfect, but he does not regret that he had to grow up in this time period instead of now. He has chosen to move on, which is something that many of us today cannot do. When asked if he was happy in life, he replied simply, but with effective words. “My life is better than before.” We can all take this lesson from Mr. Zhao who has a much harder life than any of us, but still takes a better view on it. We thank you Mr. Zhao, for teaching us this important lesson that we will treasure for many years to come.

Aakshi, Erin & Vincent Microcampus Service Learning April 2013