Who is the Candle?

LI Shangyin, a poet in the late Tang Dynasty, once wrote that till burning itself out, a candle goes on lighting us. Candles burning themselves out to light others’ path, as a metaphor, symbolizes teachers devoting themselves to teaching their students. It is used nowadays by people in China to praise dedicated educators.

This summer vacation, a multitude of GDUFSers travelled to rural areas to engage in an ambitious voluntary teaching service. According to figures, 147 service teams and 3102 people from GDUFS had carried out the social practical work by August 10^th 2018, storming across the whole of Guangdong province.

the Summer Service Team

Fortunately, I was given the great honor to teach math and physics in the first middle school of Yuntan, Gaozhou as a voluntary teacher myself, along with 23 other fellows in the Summer Service Team. The second day after our arrival, 10 teachers met the 59 students divided into two classes. As memories issue from the depth of time, 59 surprised faces emerge in front of my eyes. To serve as a candle, we brought them not only knowledge from books but wild and glittery views from the newfangled outside world that they hadn’t been able to cast a glance at. Beyond that, the other members of the service team were implementing the research by communicating with the locals and walking under the scorching sun until reaching all parts of Yuntan while we were teaching in classrooms.

Epitome of the physics lesson

However, I don’t think as a teacher only we are the candle lighting others’ world and their way forward. It is not just like one-direction output, yet you learn while teaching. Those kids in the first middle school of Yuntan input their unique vigor and vitality into us and exhibited commendable qualities and customs belonging only to this piece of land. Also, no one was born to be a teacher, yet qualified teachers learn from their students to know how to teach. Thus, they made me better; broadened my horizon, and lit the path forward for me to see clearer and go further.

Lovely students in the first middle school of Yuntan, Gaozhou

Who is the candle? LI Shangyin says teachers are. I’d say every one of my students is.