On September 21, 2020, YU Afei, a boy of ethnic minority Lisu, was admitted into the Faculty of Civil Aviation and Aeronautics of KUST, and began his road to become a pilot.

Many stories have happened on YU Afei's way to realize his dream, from dreaming of being a pilot, applying for an interview and physical examinations for pilot recruitment, to attending College Entrance Examination and being admitted into KUST with the excellent scores of No.1 among pilot trainees of liberal arts in Yunnan.

YU Afei

His hometown: ATadeng village,Tue Township

Afei grew up in ATadeng village, Tue Township, Lanping County, Nujiang Prefecture, Yunnan Province. The village sits on the ridge of deep mountains in the dry hot valley of Lancang River and is known as "the village on the tip of a knife", due to its steep terrain and harsh natural conditions. The village has a population of 2,054, mostly the minority Lisu. More than 80% of the houses in the village aremud-built and fork-built houses where people and livestock live together. The per capita net income is only 1031 yuan. It is a typical poverty-stricken village in Lanping County, where the land cannot provide substance.

There are five people in Afei's family, including his parents, elder brother and nephew in primary school. His parents are too old and weak to go out for work, so the family is only supported by his brother’s working on the construction site. When Afei was a senior student in high school, he made up his mind to study hard to get into a university and to find a good job to support his family together with his brother. However, Afei was confused about his future until teachers from the Pilot Recruitment Office of the Faculty of Civil Aviation and Aeronautics of KUST came to his school, Nujiang Ethnic High School.

His Dream--Flying in the Blue Sky

When teachers from the Pilot Recruitment Office of the Faculty of Civil Aviation and Aeronautics of KUST came to Nujiang Ethnic High School, leaders and teachers of the school were excited. Due to the remote location and inconvenient traffic of Nujiang, there has never been any college or university to recruit pilot trainees in the school.

In order to better servethe strategy of “strengthening Yunnan Province with well-developed civil aviation industry”, the Faculty of Civil Aviation and Aeronautics of KUST, as the only university with pilot training qualification in Yunnan Province, has formulated an enrollment plan to recruit 60 pilot trainees in Yunnan Province. KUST always keeps in mind the important mission of poverty alleviation and is determined to benefit the children in remote mountainous areas. Therefore, the faculties of the Pilot Recruitment Office have traveled thousands of miles for more than ten hours to Nujiang Prefecture to help the children in the deep mountains realize their blue-sky dreams.

31 Students from Nujiang Ethnic High School

Applied for the Recruitment Interview

Before November 28, 2019, Afei has known nothing about being a pilot. The next day, teachers from the Pilot Recruitment Office of the Faculty of Civil Aviation and Aeronautics came to introduce the training mode of pilot trainees, future careers and salary of being a pilot. After listening to the lecture, Afei decided to sign up for the preliminary examination. A total of 31 students signed upforthe examination in the school. Afei and the other five students have passed the preliminary examination.

GUO Jianbo, a teacher from the Pilot Recruitment Office, encouraged the students who have passed the preliminary examination that “I hope you would cherish the healthy body and be grateful to your parents. Continue to study hard. Next September, I am looking forward to seeing you in beautiful KUST.”

CHENG Xin, a teacher from the Pilot Recruitment Office was particularly impressed by Afei. During the preliminary examination, Afei was asked to take off his shoes to measure his height. At the moment when the shoes were taken off, CHENG was deeply astonished and moved by the holes in his socks and exposed toes. Fortunately, Afei's height reached the standard. Before leaving, CHENG specially told Afei, "You must believe that the country and the government will help your family out of difficulties. You should continue to study unhesitatingly and take part in the physical examination at the medical station on time. If you pass the check-up and are admitted by KUST, the University and the Faculty will try their best to help you solve the difficulties and help you finish your studies successfully.”

After being inspired, Afei had clear academic goals that one day he will fly to the blue sky to serve the country.

Physical Examination--Full of Twists and Turns

In the spring of 2020, hit by the epidemic, the whole of China was paused. With the outbreak under effective control, the Faculty of Civil Aviation and Aeronautics of KUST overcame all difficulties and started the work of physical examination at the medical station. Afei received the offer of going to Kunming for the physical examination at the medical station. On the way to check-up, he feared infection and worried about being eliminated because of poor mental state after carsickness. After knowing that, GUO shared some successful experiences of passing the physical examination to reassure him.

Afei failed the acoustic immittance test at the first physical examination, so he needed to go to the designated hospital for reexamination. Afei hesitated for poor family economic conditions and the failure of the second test. ZHU Xiaoli, a teacher from the Pilot Recruitment Office, offered him help to finish the physical examination and advised him to the nearby People's Hospital of Lijiang for examination. Because of equipment problems of the People's Hospital of Lijiang and lack of personal experience, Afei still failed for the second time and was asked to do the third examination.

This time, Afei wavered. The first two physical examinations almost used up the tuition fees prepared by his family. If he still failed for the third time, the tuition fees would be in vain. At this moment, Zhu Xiaoli called him again and inspired him. Before YU Afei left Nujiang, ZHU Xiaoli already made a reservation for him in Kunming, contacted Yan'an Hospital of Kunming City and First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University in advance. ZHU Xiaoli paid for the examination at her own expense and accompanied Afei to complete the physical examination. Finally, Afei passed. Afei's excitement and gratitudewere beyond description. From that on, he developed a strong sense of belonging to KUST, and fortified his faithin getting into KUST.

BeingAdmitted as the First

Everything comes to him who waits. Afei was finally admitted with the excellent scores of No.1 among pilot trainees of liberal arts in Yunnan. After Afei becoming a member of KUST, leaders of the Faculty Council repeatedly enquired about his learning and living demands and appointed the counselor and the teacher in charge of Afei’s class to try their best to solve Afei's practical difficulties. In addition with the care of his classmates and roommates, for Afei, KUST is like a home, providing him with family-like care.

Afei said, “I am so lucky that the national poverty alleviation strategy has made our life better, presenting impoverished students hope. I am so lucky that I can start my college career and achieve my blue-sky dream in KUST. I am very fortunate to meet my teachers and classmates in KUST. I will redouble my efforts in the study and life of the university, and contribute to the aviation industry in the future, serving the country and repaying the school and KUST.”

Translated by: CAI Siqing, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Cultures

Edited by: ZHANG Wei, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Cultures (English)

Source: Faculty of Civil Aviation and Aeronautics

Issued by: Division of Overseas Cooperation (English)

Edited by: KUST News Center (Chinese)