(Ecns.cn)--"The only way to change your fate is through hard work," said Yu Minhong, founder and current CEO of the New Oriental Education & Technology Group, one of the largest private educational services and the first private education company in China to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Dubbed the "richest teacher in China" and the "Godfather of English Training," the 49-year-old, born to a poor family in a rural area, had in fact fought his way to success.
"I failed many times before my current success," he once said.
A far-sighted mother
The son of a farmer in Jiangsu Province, Yu had failed two consecutive national college entrance exams, or gaokao, due to his poor English.
"I was extremely upset. Most rural students would give up after failing the university entrance exam twice. I also wanted to quit, although I still imagined myself going to university." said Yu
However, thanks to his mother, Yu made a third try. He was finally admitted to the English Department of the prestigious Peking University (PKU)， which was, in fact, a lifetime turning point for him.
Different from most women in rural areas, who usually hope their kids will help them with farm work, Yu's mother had always encouraged him to go to school.
"People's foresight is not necessarily related to the education they have received," noted Yu, deeply grateful to his mother. "My mother is such a woman, who although is unable to read, is quite far-sighted."
Yu said his mother had been hoping he would become a teacher, who, according to her, could make a living without spending laborious hours in the field.
"Her words were like spells, which eventually 'transformed' me into a teacher," Yu joked. Even now an enormously successful businessman as he is, Yu still considers himself a teacher in essence.
Never give up on any kid
Besides his mother, Yu also contributes his success to his English teacher in senior high, who "had always been encouraging and motivating."
Yu still remembers exactly what the teacher had told them when none of the students in his class wanted to take the college entrance exam, an unreachable dream for many from rural families.
"I need all of you to take the gaokao. I know clearly that none of you will succeed, but I still need you to do it. Because only after you try, you will remember that you once fought for a different life, even though it may be a failure. This will be especially true when you go back and work as a farmer, when you feel tired in the field, and when you carry a hoe, looking up to the clouds in the sky and sighing," said Yu, citing his teacher.
Shocked and inspired by those words, Yu decided to not only take the exam but to also get admitted to some schools. "I wanted to prove that my teacher had made the wrong prediction," Yu added.
Eventually, more than one of the kids in Yu's class entered university, all of whom had expressed their heartfelt thanks to their teacher, now in his 70s.
"Therefore, never give up any kid," stressed Yu. "When we see some students acting up, we should believe that they will be pillars of the country."
