Dealing with health issues

Zhao read a great deal and often spent hours in book stores. Reading improved her writing skills and gave her more confidence, and it became one of the most effective ways for her to learn about the world.

Several sudden bouts of illness forced her out of school for extended periods while she underwent hospital treatment. With grit and determination, however, she overcame those difficulties, one after another.

In 2010, she was admitted to Northeast Agricultural University in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, where she majored in hydraulic and hydropower engineering.

Toward the end of her final year in 2013, she completely lost her hearing after coming down with a fever. She went to Changchun, Jilin province, for treatment and spent a whole year recovering in Liaoyang.

During the period, Zhao took the public service exam but because of her hearing problems, she failed. "During the interview, the interviewers sat a long way from me, and I couldn't hear the questions clearly. I tried to ask for written questions but they said no," Zhao said.

Later, she sat the postgraduate examination and was admitted to her alma mater, NAU, where she earned her master's in 2017. In 2019, Zhao became a doctoral student at the School of Environment and Ecology at Xiamen University in Fujian province.

Finding her path

"I am just an ordinary person, and I don't think I have much to show for my life experience. Everyone has their problems, it's just that my problems are more obvious than other peoples'," she said.

She usually doesn't tell people about her hearing issues, except for classmates who need to communicate with her. "I will take the initiative, in case they worry that my slow response is impolite. People who know me often slow down when speaking, so it's not me adapting to them, it's them adapting to me," she said.

Zhao has a healthy social circle of teachers, classmates, family and friends. Her parents taught her to be well-behaved and to try not to trouble others, advice she has taken to heart.

"I also complain about my fate occasionally, but everyone gets down sometimes," she said. "I lost something in my life, but I have received more from the world, like my family, who support me unconditionally, and my wonderful teachers, classmates and friends."

Zhao is determined to work in the marine sector, and hopes to continue her research at universities or institutes and contribute to national development through land and sea coordination. "Advances in technology, like speech-to-text transmission, are helping people like me, and the internet also offers many ways to gather information, allowing us to unite through other people's stories," she said. "I think I benefit from today's developments, and I hope that more people like me can explore their own careers by taking different approaches."