Visually-impaired Fudan graduate aims to inspire others

Zhu Lingjun, who created history four years ago by becoming the first visually-impaired student to enroll at Fudan University, is now continuing her inspiring story by becoming a special education teacher to help others.

The 25-year-old from Wuxi, Jiangsu province, was born blind but recovered a limited sense of sight after surgery when she was 4 months old. When she reached school age, her parents sent her to the Shanghai Blind Children School.

Through her perseverance and hard work, she secured a place at East China Normal University in 2018 and then at Fudan University for a postgraduate course without having to sit for a test due to her excellent academic performance.

To help Zhu, the school allocated her a ground-floor dormitory and installed handrails in the bathroom. Outside the dormitory, the university built a more accessible pathway, and Braille signs were placed in the restroom of the teaching building she often visited.

What touched Zhu the most was that the university even relocated some classrooms for optional courses she took to a building nearer to the dormitory, making it easier for her to attend. The move also got support from her teachers and schoolmates, some of whom even provided more thoughtful ideas, such as making notes for Zhu about the places on campus that she should be attentive to while walking.

Although the school provided extra care for her in daily life, it didn't relax academic requirements for her. Majoring in social work, Zhu initially felt intense pressure as she was working during the day to fulfill an 800-hour internship requirement and attending classes at night. She even contemplated delaying her graduation.

But thanks to the encouragement of her mentor, Zhu managed to overcome the difficulties by making more efforts than others.

Beyond study, she scooped up gold medals in swimming competitions organized by Wuxi for the disabled. She also developed many hobbies such as singing, swimming and playing erhu?(a two-stringed bowed instrument).

During the 2020 pandemic, she volunteered to serve as a community volunteer and became an "online companion" for a child with an intellectual disability.

On Dec 3, 2021, Zhu participated as a host and young guest in the International Day of Persons with Disabilities commemoration event organized by the UNICEF China Office.

"I want to engage in charity work related to the visually impaired community. I want to become a 'beacon' and 'crane' for the visually impaired, helping them better integrate into society," Zhu said.