(Photo/People's Daily)

49-year-old Yuan Mengyuan, who works at Shanghai Jiao Tong University as a supervisor in the international dormitory, passed the national postgraduate entrance exam at the same time as her son.

In December 2018, Yuan took the national postgraduate entrance exam and was admitted to Guangxi University to study the postgraduate course “Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages”, while her son applied to Fudan University.

Yuan explained that when her son was in primary school, she would sit by his desk and watch him study. Instead of helping him, it made him feel anxious. So she began to read books beside him. As time passed, Yuan began to study with her son.

Yuan's son went to college in 2015, and Yuan decided to keep studying with him. “I loved learning, and I also wanted to create a good atmosphere for my son,” she said.

When her son started to prepare for his postgraduate entrance exam, Yuan thought if she also took the exam, she and her son could encourage each other throughout the journey.

Though she had always loved studying and had taken classes at college for three years before she became a dorm supervisor, she didn't expect to find herself on a postgraduate programme later in life.

For the 49-year-old woman, English was the biggest obstacle. To solve the problem, she learned English words for 700 consecutive days. Additionally, she took more than 500 online English and politics classes.

“There's no secret to how I learn English. I simply repeat the words again and again,” said Yuan, showing her English notebooks. She added that “at my age, I no longer have a good memory, but I don’t give up. I might forget the words I learn at first, but I just try to memorize them again.”

Just like her name Yuan Mengyuan, which means to fulfill one’s dream, Yuan has always studied hard to reach her goals.

“I’m eager to learn, and I’ve always immersed myself in education. I hope one day I will be accepted on a doctoral program,” said Yuan.

“If you work hard, life will deliver unexpected surprises,” Yuan said.