Not One Less Reaction Paper

Not One Less
“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” – John Dewey
Education is a priceless thing that one can possess both by learning through one’s own experiences and through our second home, the school. Education through schooling is an important part of each and every one of us as a member of our society for it imparts us information about ourselves, and our surroundings in different disciplines and perspectives of learning. At present, it is evident that not all of the population of the whole world is given the chance of attending school and learning formal education especially in rural areas.
The film shown was a wonderful and an eye opening one showing the reality of the situations in most of the rural areas in the world and it made me realize what the true value of education is. It depicts a primary school in Shuiquan village in China with its only teacher- Teacher Gao. Wei Minzhi, a thirteen year-old girl substituted him when he needed to go for his sick mother. He told her to copy the lessons on the board and use one chalk per day for the village is too poor to afford these materials. Teacher Wei then, began to care for her students and aimed to lose not one less of her students. One day came, when one of her students- Ming Xinhong, needed to go to pursue her running skills through a special training program. Hiding the girl from the sports recruiter, Wei did all she can do to make Ming stay. Soon, they found Ming and took her away. She lost a student. Another student, Zhang Huike, left the school to work in the city for his poor family. Wei, thinking that it is unreasonable for her student to work at an early age, went to the city and looked for Zhang Huike. She didn’t have enough money to go to the city so she just walked. Spending all her remaining money, she made posters to find him, until she already ran out of ink. She went to the TV station and insisted on meeting the station manager so that it would be easier for her to find Zhang Huike. She waited for almost two days when the station manager noticed her situation. He was interested in Wei’s story and featured it in a rural education show. Soon, she found Zhang Huike, who happened to be living like a beggar while in the city. The TV show crew brought them back to Shuiquan Village and interviewed their mayor. They gave the school boxes of chalk with varieties of colors and money for the repair of their buildings.
Thus, the film shows how a passionate teacher did all what she can do to pursue her students to continue studying and how this good intention of her turned their situation upside down-- their dreams into a reality.
This story made me think that I am lucky to have formal education as early as five years old. I realized that I have to treasure what I have now because not all are given the chance to study in a place that provides beneficial learning with complete facilities, materials and intelligent teachers. It motivates me to study hard and never give up on my course. It made me appreciate the true value of education.