Sheisanordinaryteacherwhospentdecadesinpoverty-strickenareas,dedicatedtochangingthefateofgirlslivinginmountainousregions.HernameisZhangGuimei.Afterseeingmanygirlsdropoutofschoolduetopoverty,ZhangfoundedthefirstfreeschoolinChinaforgirls–HuapingGirls’HighSchoolinLijiang,Yunnan.Formorethanadecade,shehasbeendevotingallherenergytoteaching.Shehashelpedmorethan1,800girlsfrompoorfamiliestofulfilltheircollegedreams.In2019,over80%oftheschool’sgraduateswereenrolledbyuniversityforundergraduatestudies,rankingfirstamongall14highschoolsinthecity.ZhangGuimeilostherhusbandinmiddleageandhasnochildren,butsheneverfeltlonely.“Iamavillageteacher,Iusemyknowledgetochangethefateofchildren,bysendingthemoutofthemountains.Itismyoriginalintentionandmissionasapeople’steacherandaCommunistPartymember.Iwillstandonthepodium,givemybestanddedicatealltothestudents,tillthelastbreathofmylife”,Zhangsaid.Editor:DisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.