The day of June 23, 2015 saw many Beijing examinees of national college entrance examination log on to official website for their test scores, with the highest mark being 721 for a science student from Senior Three of RDFZ. Her name is Liu Zhixin. The girl’s accomplishment actually is causing a sensation on the Beijing-based campus.
This No. 1 student is by no means the stereotype of a narrow-minded bookworm who only knows how to take tests. Let’s get to know this super-scorer, and you are sure to be surprised how much you can learn from this excellent student.
Liu Zhixin is not a girl applying all her energy to studies while turning a deaf ear to what's happening around her. Instead, she gets along very well with her classmates and always identifies herself with them. As class monitor for three years, she is called “village head” by her class. The nickname came from a politics class where their politics teacher compared a class to a village. Consequently a class monitor is sort of like a village head, hence the nickname.
Ever since Senior One, she had been tasked with the duty of passing homework on to all classmates everyday by putting it on the web and then texting, later through social media interactions, namely friends circle. She did this on a daily basis for three years until graduation. That’s not all. Liu Zhixin can actually remember every classmate’s birthday and never fails to send good wishes to them in time. As the results of China's all-important college entrance examination, known as gaokao, have emerged recently, the news of her taking 1st place in gaokao indeed thrills her classmates, who are busy sending congratulations to express their heart-felt happiness for her.
When interviewed why her classmates are happy for her gaokao performance in the environment where everybody is studying hard to beat the competition, Liu said that it is due to their positive, healthy attitude towards exams and scores, a result from virtuous competition based on study groups within which they focus on helping each other.
According to her head teacher Chen Yuhong, “Such a monitor has saved many worries and anxieties for me.” The gaokao zhuangyuan likes to get her classmates involved in all kinds of activities, such as the annual musical carnival. On a New Year card she once wrote: at RDFZ, we are learning not only knowledge but also how to grow and develop happily!
Liu Zhixin is a girl who are ready to share, willing to talk with her friends about any issues, be them academic problems or not. When her father came to pick her up, she would often ask him to wait a second when she was in heated discussions with her classmates. The supportive father would wait until she was done.
As for how she felt before the exam, she seemed to be very relaxed by taking walks with her grandma and grandpa or watching her favorite TV programs as usual. She is a rule follower and always honest thanks to her mother’s efforts since her early days. She plays the piano for fun instead of attending grade tests, but she would practice much longer for each session than many other kids. She has a nice family where dad, mom and daughter are kind of friends, feeling free to speak their minds. When it comes to hobbies and interests, the gaokao champion is a music lover with the habit of listening to music every day. She also likes jogging and going for a walk.
During an interview, Tang Bubin, intramural Vice Principal in charge of teaching affairs of Senior Three, said that there are three traits embodied in Liu Zhixin: firstly, she studies hard in a down-to-earth manner；secondly, she is a student with all-round development; thirdly, she is extremely friendly and charming. As the 11th top gaokao scorer of RDFZ, she is one of the most representative embodiment of the school’s long-term practice of quality-oriented education. What’s more, her wonderful academic performance is attributed to the team work of all Senior Three teachers featuring dedication, collaboration and research-oriented approach. The intramural Vice Principal and grade leader of Senior Three Gong Yueping said that RDFZ has been conducting quality-oriented education in earnest and Liu Zhixin has become a model of it. She is a vivid manifestation of quality-oriented education sprouting and developing robust roots on the Beijing-based campus, the Vice Principal noted.
Liu Zhixin is a “sweet girl”. She reminds everyone around her of the word “sunshine”, for she embodies in herself warm and positive energy. She wore happy and warm smile when interviewed by media, noting that she hoped that social media will remember RDFZ which has been sticking to quality-oriented education and student-centered approach.
According to Principal Zhai Xiaoning, the Beijing-based prestigious school has long had the practice of placing more emphasis on kids’ happy growth than test scores. To this end, RDFZ had developed a sophisticated curriculum system with more than 200 elective courses aimed at creating a favorable learning environment for kids’ growth. And it is the school’s tradition to attach great importance to the cultivation of virtue and laying a foundation for their life-long development. In the words of Principal Zhai Xiaoning, students should be virtuous, kind, capable of bring happiness to others and making contributions to the society at large. And he wished Liu Zhixin sound growth with professionalism and personality, thus becoming future talent of the country.
What is worth mentioning is that the principals and teachers of the school were sitting quietly for as long as an hour at the back of the meeting room where a news conference was being held with some students and their parents becoming the focus of attention. In Principal Zhai Xiaoning’s words, “Students should be under the spotlight with the school and teachers on the background……” The principal’s remarks reveal broad love, one of the core values highly pinpointed by the renowned school.
