Gaokao: Messages of Inspiration | Caixin
Yang Yifan—Caixin
In June, across China, high school seniors are close to graduating. Lucky students will attend college in the fall, but first they must pass the annual gaokao, the notoriously difficult national college-entrance exam. This single exam determines which college they will go to and whether they will go at all. For many students from low-income families or from rural areas, the gaokao is the straightest route to a better future. To encourage themselves to make it through the grueling months of test prep, students write, or sometimes carve messages of inspiration—“stay calm,” “don’t daydream”—into their desks. Photographer Yang Yifan mixed images of these notes with portraits of students in an effort to depict what was on their minds.
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In June, across China, high school seniors are close to graduating. Lucky students will attend college in the fall, but first they must pass the annual gaokao, the notoriously difficult national college-entrance exam. This single exam determines which college they will go to and whether they will go at all. For many students from low-income families or from rural areas, the gaokao is the straightest route to a better future. To encourage themselves to make it through the grueling months of test prep, students write, or sometimes carve messages of inspiration—“stay calm,” “don’t daydream”—into their desks. Photographer Yang Yifan mixed images of these notes with portraits of students in an effort to depict what was on their minds.