On April 19, 2005, firecrackers exploded and crowds surged in a remote mountain village in Shiquan Township, Da Qiao District, nanbu county. In the expectation of the villagers, Ren Zhifeng, the chief scientist and tenured professor of the Nano Laboratory of Boston College, and his wife He Ruiping returned to their dream home.
Ren Zhifeng's return broke the tranquility of the mountain village and brought new hope to his alma mater, Da Qiao Middle School. The story of his hard work in those days has been widely circulated again. ...
Don't change your ideals because of temporary difficulties.
1963 In August, Ren Zhifeng was born in a poor peasant family in Shiquan Township, nanbu county. Ren Jia * * * has seven children, and his life is stretched. Eating three meals a day gives his parents a headache. Perhaps because of poverty, Ren Zhifeng understood earlier and studied harder than other children. From elementary school to junior high school, his grades have been ranked first in the whole grade.
From 65438 to 0977, Ren Zhifeng entered a normal school after graduating from junior high school. He was eliminated from the interview because he was weak and had no "role model" Ren Zhifeng is faced with two choices: one is to review for one year and go to technical secondary school, and the other is to go to high school for three years and then go to college. Although he always wanted to be a scientist in his heart, so that his parents and villagers could farm scientifically and live a good life, Ren Zhifeng decided to take the technical secondary school after careful consideration.
In September of that year, Ren Zhifeng began to review with mixed feelings. Unexpectedly, the teachers He Guoan and Zhu Yongcong who had taught him soon discovered this situation. They couldn't bear to lose the opportunity for students with excellent academic performance to go to college, so they invited Mr. Zhang to their home and tried their best to do his parents' work: "Zhifeng is a child who studies hard and gets excellent grades. There is absolutely no problem going to the senior high school entrance examination. It can be said that he is the best student we have met in teaching for so many years. I hope you can respect our opinions. If you have financial difficulties, let's find a way together, shall we? " Ren Zhifeng was very grateful, knowing that the teacher took care of himself, but he couldn't bear the hardship of his elderly and frail parents, so he refused: "I can go to a technical secondary school for further study!" "
"We believe that you can continue your studies. Zhifeng, didn't you say you wanted to be a scientist when you grew up? If your vision is limited and your knowledge is bound to be limited, won't you become a visionary in the future? Besides, we can't be short-sighted, we must work hard for the goals we set, and we must never change our original intention because of temporary difficulties! " He Guoan can't wait to do ideological work at once. Ren Zongchun, the father who has always been taciturn, was moved and immediately stated: "No matter how hard and tired we are, we will admit it. The teacher can rest assured that the children will go to school with peace of mind. "
I haven't eaten a full meal in high school for three years.
1977, 10 After the National Day, Ren Zhifeng entered Da Qiao Middle School. Since then, every night in Da Qiao Middle School, a student is still studying hard after the bell rings. Every morning, when others are still dreaming, the student gets up quietly and walks into the classroom. ...
When Ren Zhifeng was in high school, the drought in nanbu county was so severe that many people lost their rice for several years. Without rice, Ren Zhifeng has to eat hard-to-swallow dried corn rice for three meals a day. Sometimes I don't even have enough to eat, and I have to go to class hungry. Sometimes it's really difficult to fall asleep at night, so Ren Zhifeng quietly gets up and reads. ...
Due to the drought, water use in schools is strictly limited. Ren Zhifeng seldom washes his face and feet for a month or two, and even his lunch box is not often washed. It is also because of the drought that Ren Zhifeng's parents go to fetch water from a deep well far from home in the middle of the night every day in order to raise tuition fees, then scoop it up and take it home to water vegetables, and then accumulate corner tickets for selling vegetables as tuition fees for Ren Zhifeng. ...
Recalling high school life today, Ren Zhifeng still remembers it vividly. He told the author that during his three years in high school, he never wore a new dress, never had a full meal in the real sense, and never ate pork once. It is hard for ordinary people to imagine the poverty of life. Despite studying and living in such a difficult environment, his desire to become a scientist has never wavered. Because mentally, his parents, teachers and friends have always accompanied him and inspired him.
It should be said that a blessing in disguise is a blessing in disguise. These setbacks and hardships laid a solid foundation for him to overcome one difficulty after another and break through one difficulty after another in scientific research.
This goal led him to success step by step.
From 65438 to 0980, Ren Zhifeng was admitted to the Mechanical Department of Sichuan University of Technology with excellent results. On the day he received the admission notice, he was once disheartened to the extreme when he saw that his major was mechanical casting. He thought, how big is the difference between mechanical casting and blacksmith's shop in a small town? This is far from my wish to be a scientist. Ren Zhifeng really wants to give up college study, review for another year and try to be admitted to a famous university next year. But considering the financial situation at home, he hesitated again. He really couldn't bear to ask his parents to work hard for another year. It happened that Mr. He Guoan came to encourage him after learning his thoughts. As long as he works hard after going to college, the goal in his mind will be realized.
The teacher's encouragement made him see hope again. However, when he stepped into the university campus with great pride, he found that the campus environment was very different from the "ivory tower" he imagined. Once again, he felt that the future was bleak and had the idea of muddling along. He didn't study hard, and as a result, he got the third place in the class in the final exam of the first semester, which was a bit high.
One day, Ren Zhifeng happened to read a news in the newspaper that a rural child with similar life experience was admitted to the graduate school. He was deeply shocked and thought that others were in poor condition, but he didn't give up his pursuit. Why can't he do that? That night, Ren Zhifeng lost sleep. Tossing and turning, he suddenly found someone reading quietly in the dormitory. He was very surprised. He pretended to sleep and saw the classmate preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination. So, the next day, he used the money he had saved to buy back the books for the postgraduate entrance examination.
From 65438 to 0984, Ren Zhifeng was admitted to Huazhong Institute of Technology and studied casting under Zhang Chengfu. His research direction was metal solidification theory, which was at the forefront of scientific research at that time. From Sichuan University of Science and Technology to Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Ren Zhifeng has broadened his horizons a lot, and some new ideas have quickly formed in his mind. He knows that he is not far from the goal of becoming a scientist. As long as he persists, he will succeed. At this time, he turned his attention to the highest academic institution of science and technology-China Academy of Sciences. 1987 was admitted to the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, engaged in superconducting physics research. In order to obtain scientific research results as soon as possible, while engaged in research, Ren Zhifeng wrote to contact some foreign universities, indicating his desire to go abroad for further study. He sent hundreds of letters three times, all like mud cows into the sea. Fortunately, those who work hard will get lucky in the end. Finally, new york University in the United States extended a warm hand from the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
Ren Zhifeng compared the United States to a battlefield for young people. He told the author that when he first arrived there, an American professor with a high nose and blue eyes told him coldly that only fools would do superconducting research. The professor also told Ren Zhifeng in front of everyone that he would never get a professorship in the United States. Facing the challenge, Ren Zhifeng gritted his teeth. He took out his hard work in middle school and took root in the laboratory every day. ...
Ren Zhifeng study visa for three years. After the expiration of three years, if he doesn't make scientific research achievements, he will return to Chinese Academy of Sciences unconditionally. In the third year, Ren Zhifeng's research on superconductivity entered the final stage, and his visa was about to expire. He is very anxious.
One door closes and the other opens. Finally, before the visa expires, his superconducting paper has been published in authoritative academic journals in the United States. Professor Wang Ruijun from the University of new york at Buffalo is very interested in his thesis. In order to help continue his research, Professor Wang set up a superconducting laboratory and appointed Zhifeng as a research professor. A year later, Ren Zhifeng's carbon nanotube technology and nano-water purification technology caused a sensation in the United States: this kind of carbon nanotube cultured on glass at 600 degrees Celsius is only one tenth as thin as hair, but its hardness exceeds that of steel, and its application prospect is immeasurable.
The American professor who had predicted that he could not get a professorship in an American university also changed his mind and called Ren Zhifeng a wizard, which was unbelievable.
Still with a China heart.
From 65438 to 0996, Ren Zhifeng obtained American citizenship. Although his nationality has changed, his feelings for his motherland and hometown have never changed. He always pays close attention to the changes in the motherland, and often explains the history of China to his two children, so that they can learn Chinese and make contributions to the motherland in the future. Every year on Mid-Autumn Festival, Spring Festival, National Day and other major festivals, Mr. and Mrs. Ren Zhifeng will call their teachers and friends in China to say hello and send postcards or holiday gifts.
Ren Zhifeng revealed that after work, he likes to grow vegetables in his backyard with his wife He Ruiping, and his favorite vegetable is cucumber. Because cucumber was delicious for him as a child, in those years of drought, his father Ren Zongchun made up his tuition by selling corner tickets. It was because of those cucumbers that he avoided the danger of dropping out of school again and again. After living and working in the United States for many years, Ren Zhifeng never forgot that he was the son of a farmer and lived a very frugal life.
200 1, his alma mater, Da Qiao middle school, held a celebration. Ren Zhifeng has no time to go back to school because he is solving a difficult problem in nano research. He sent a congratulatory message to his alma mater and sent 2000 yuan. In July 2003, Ren Zhifeng visited the sick and rushed back to his hometown. The change in his hometown is so great that it is beyond his imagination. However, after visiting teachers and friends, Ren Zhifeng found that the foreign language teachers in Da Qiao Middle School, his alma mater, were weak, and the students' spoken English was not satisfactory. In order to further improve the teaching quality and broaden the horizons of students in his hometown, Ren Zhifeng tried to persuade some American friends to teach in Da Qiao Middle School after returning to the United States. On March 6th+9th, 2004, four American teachers, led by Mr. He Ruiping from Ren Zhifeng, traveled across the ocean to Da Qiao Middle School. In addition to seven classes a day, they also use the evening time to tutor their school teachers in English. Since March, two groups of friends from the United States and Canada have come to Da Qiao Middle School to carry out volunteer teaching activities.
Ren Zhifeng is also concerned about the construction of his hometown. In July 2004, when he learned that the gravel road in Shiquan Township could not be built for a long time due to lack of funds, he immediately donated 1.6 million yuan to build this road into a cement road with a length of 1 km. According to Ren Zhifeng's last wish, this road was named "inch grass heart road". What he wants to express is, "But nothing grows without love."
Character file
Ren Zhifeng is an internationally renowned scientist in the field of superconductivity and nanotechnology.
1963 was born in a farmer's family in nanbu county, Sichuan province in August. 1980 was admitted to the mechanical department of Sichuan University of Technology, 1984 was admitted to Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and 1987 was admitted to the Institute of Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences to study superconducting physics. Then he went to new york University for further study, and his research on carbon nanotube technology and nano-water purification technology caused a sensation in the United States.
Interview notes
The author rushed to Shiquan Township, Da Qiao District, nanbu county, and interviewed Ren Zhifeng, the world's top scientist in the field of superconductivity and nanotechnology.
Ren Zhifeng looks ordinary. He struggled in America for 15 years. His accent has not changed, and he still maintains the simplicity of that year. He is an outstanding scientist and obtained the position of tenured professor in America.
Ren Zhifeng said that his life experience was full of twists and turns. He endured unbearable poverty and overcame one difficulty after another. Most importantly, he never gave up his goal. He has always believed that he can do what others can do. In order to motivate himself, he specially hung the phrase "never give up" at home, and also created a cartoon: a bird picked up a frog and tried to swallow it, but the frog gripped the bird's neck tightly with its front foot, giving the other side a fatal counterattack. Ren Zhifeng compared this to a person's mentality in the face of difficulties. He explained that difficulties and challenges exist for everyone, but the probability is different. If you give in to difficulties, the result will be like a frog swallowed by a bird in a cartoon. If you don't give in to difficulties, then the frog will win. Ren Zhifeng told the author that it is impossible for everyone in a society to be a professor and a scientist, but if a person sets a goal that suits him, he must do everything possible to work towards it, otherwise a beautiful life will be lost because of the passage of time.
When talking about his future goals, Ren Zhifeng revealed that his next goal is to become an academician of the American Academy of Sciences. If possible, he will sprint for the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Ren Zhifeng admits that his efforts to repay his alma mater and hometown can only be counted as a token of his concern, just like a drop in the ocean. In this way, he hopes to encourage more people to support education and repay the society. (Source: Sichuan Daily)