"I come from humble beginnings. I was born and grew up in the countryside. I was not a straight-A student. But as long as you stick to your belief, with relentless efforts, you will make the impossible possible, and your dream will come true," said Chen Guoqiang, president of Hainan Medical University, at the opening ceremony inaugurating the 2023-24 academic year on Sept 18.

An expert in pathologic physiology and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chen is known for his humor and frankness. He has served as president of Hainan Medical University since mid-September.

Chen shared in the speech that he failed in the national college entrance examination in 1979, studied all over for the next year, and was admitted to a medical school in Hengyang, Hunan province.

In his sophomore year, Chen was addicted to detective novels, but after listening to the renowned professor Wang Zhenyi, who came from Shanghai and gave nine lectures in a week in Hengyang, Chen became enlightened.

"I didn't understand much of them, but I was deeply convinced by the powerful logic of medical science and professor Wang's charisma," Chen recalled. "I realized that there are still many scientific questions to be solved. So I made up my mind to become professor Wang's student."

Chen managed to pursue his master's degree tutored by professor Wang in 1985, and later a doctorate in 1992.

Chen used his own story to encourage students that doing well in exams doesn't necessarily mean that one is a real talent, and hard work can make dreams come true.