Zhang Xun told me before going to university he had been quite introverted and always had felt a little self-abashed.
Zhang Xun's hometown, Shihe Township, Liaoxian County, Liaoning Province, is a remote and poor small mountain village. All three of his family lives on three mu[3] of barren farmland which can hardly provided the basic food that they need. His father has to collect wastes outside year after year.
"I remember that particularly clear. At that time, whenever the school started, my mother had to worry about my tuition fees. Usually, I had to owe a part of tuition. After one or two months after the term began, the teacher in charge of our class would remind us that some students hadn't pay all the tuition fees and you should tell your parents to make up for the short part. Although the teacher didn't point out those names, at this moment, my face always blushed with shame and my head couldn't help lowering down…" His memory about poverty has engraved on his bones and heart.
After graduating from middle school, Zhang Xun was admitted into the best high school in Liaoyuan City — Liaoyuan No.5 High School. The three arduous years could be described with a word "painful" . Zhang had to spend one hour and a half on a bus to go back home. In order to save money, he usually went home once a month and every time he took some foodstuff and pickles. He almost ate wowotou, mantou with pickles for three meals every day. Later, he found some students would throw empty bottles away when they finished drinking. So he secretly collected those bottles and sold them to the reclamation depot.
Zhang Xun scored 592 in the university entrance examination of 2005 and was admitted into Information and Electrical Engineering Department of Chinese Agricultural University, majoring geographic information system.
Receiving the acceptance letter, his parents felt both happy and worried. They were happy because their son had gained academic success, but they were so worried about the annual tuition fees of 5,900 yuan, which was written on the acceptance letter. They had no idea how to raise the money.
They borrowed money from every relative and all acquaintances. Eventually, they collected enough money for the first year's tuition.
During the first period time of his college life, other students played football, volleyball and tennis, but Zhang Xun didn't know how to play at all; other people usually talked about the brand clothing, music, painting or photography, but Zhang Xun had never heard of them. People could often see the lonely view of Zhang Xun's back on campus.
At the end of the term, the department launched a speech contest for poor students. The speech topic was: Unremitting Self-improvement. The college counselor encouraged Zhang Xun to take part in it. Zhang Xun recounted an unforgettable episode about his experience of following his father to collect wastes from one street to another in order to save up money for tuition. It happened in the summer. He said, "One day after walking through several villages, I was really worn out and couldn't walk any more. So I begged my father to go home earlier. At this time, my father said, 'Zhang Xun, do you know how many waste I have collected so that I could bring you up?' These words I can never forget…"
Soon after that, the college counselor gave Zhang Xun an Application Form of Project Hope "KFC Shuguang Fellowship" .
