CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- “It's the lamps you lit that made the girl who used to search for network signals on the hillside find the signals of dream!”

On the morning of June 20, at the 2024 graduation ceremony of Southwest University, a speech by a representative of graduates reminded everyone of what happened four years ago.

In 2020, a girl wrapped in an overcoat learning on a snowy hillside became an Internet hit. Her name is Fan Tianlan, and netizens call her the "girl searching for network signals on the hillside" and bless her: "May the hardships you have endured will illuminate the way forward."

"I was born in Wumeng Mountain, a place in a famous song. I had to walk over several mountains for a few hours to go to school every day." Fan Tianlan’s home is in Lufang Village, Huize County, Qujing City, Yunnan Province, at an altitude of 2,500 meters, a little far from the county town. In February 2020, the school Oriental Mainland High School where she studied started to provide online teaching. But due to the obstruction of mountains, the signals she received at home were very weak.

“At first, I thought the signals at home could barely support my study, but to my surprise, the Internet always kept dropping. When reloaded, I just found the teacher had already moved on to the next question.” To solve this problem, Fan Tianlan had to run to the hillside next to her home and search for better network signals to attend online classes in a relatively open area.

Fan Tianlan often had to wear a thick down jacket, and sometimes she even brought a quilt with her to keep warm when attending classes on the hillside at an attitude of over 2,500 meters. Sometimes it was too cold on the mountain, and her hands keep trembling, making it difficult to write, so she took screenshots of the knowledge points for later study at home.

"May the hardships you have endured will illuminate your way forward." Amidst everyone's blessings and expectations, Fan Tianlan, with a score of 644 in science, was admitted as a public funded normal student by the School of Geographical Science, Southwest University.

"During the initial stage of my study in the university, I doubted several times that I might be not a right student for geography. I couldn't understand the specialized courses, couldn't read the professional literature, and couldn't finish endless DDL.” Fan Tianlan recalled that at the end of her first academic year, she felt confused and wondered what she could do when facing the expectations from all the people who care about her? With the encouragement and careful guidance of her teachers, she gained a new understanding of geography through practical courses such as humanities, economics and geography practice, comprehensive nature practice, and northwest research provided by the school, and quickly adjusted her state for future study.

During her four years in the university, the case study authored by Fan Tianlan was selected in Interdisciplinary Theme Learning Practice Guidance for Junior High School Science by the Ministry of Education, and her proposal won the second prize in the Chongqing Adolescents Science & Technology Innovation Contest. In addition, she also close reports with excellent result, and published two papers in the magazine Geography Education, one of which was reprinted in full in National People's Congress Publication Photocopying Material.

"Studying in the warm Southwest University with kind teachers and students, I have found the signals of the meaning of life during my four years in this university," said Fan Tianlan affectionately. In the future, she will return to her hometown Yunnan with a passion for education, and become a small yet steadfast beam of light that will illuminate the way for students to move forward.

Fan Tianlan, well done! Keep on fighting! (Translated by Jane, Fathom Language Limited)