Teacher provides a lesson in dedication

"We can reflect on our education by comparing their performances through those different phases and explore avenues of education that can more effectively bring out the best in future students," Lin explains.

Often wearing a black-framed pair of glasses, a slightly loose gray suit and a pair of white sneakers, Lin has been a pillar of strength to his students at Tianjin Hetou School, which offers primary and junior high school education.

"They told me they felt assured about upcoming tests whenever I was around," Lin says with pride.

This trust in him is a result of his dedication to education.

In 2007, Lin graduated from Anhui Normal University with a degree in ideological and political education.

With a desire for big city life, he took the offer from Beichen education bureau to be a teacher at the Hetou school.

"I didn't know anything about the school, but the idea of working in Tianjin was very appealing," he recalls.

On his way to the school for the first time, Lin looked out of the car window. High-rise buildings were speeding backward and eventually gave way to a stretch of rural cottages and crop fields.

When he stepped out of the car and stood under the signboard of the school, Lin realized it was in the middle of nowhere.

"It was not my idea of life in a bustling city," Lin says.

But, the circumstances did awaken a calling in Lin that had been buried deep inside.

Growing up in a village in Anhui province, Lin knew firsthand how difficult it was for a rural kid to make it with such limited access to quality education.

"I know the responsibility of rural schools, and understand more about the special significance of education for rural children," Lin says.