CDMO Product Engineer Runner Yang never seems to run out of energy. For nine Saturdays, he'd wake up at 6am, have breakfast then travel from his home in Pixian to get to the Guanya School at 8 and make sure all the computers are running well before his students arrive at 9am. Runner, whose Chinese name is Runxing and who used to join 100 and 200 meter dash competitions (hence, Runner), was a star volunteer of Intel Chengdu's Rural Female Teachers Program where he taught computer skills to teachers from different public schools in Sichuan.
As an Intel volunteer, Runner went beyond the call of duty by not just teaching them in the morning, but by sometimes staying on till in the evening to make sure that the teachers got to practice their computer skills even further. Realizing that some of the teachers had never worked with a computer before, he took off the casing of a CPU during one session and showed them how its different parts functioned; he also let them play a "typing game" which allowed them to sharpen their skills in using the keyboard.
Sometimes, the teachers would even text him during the week if they had questions about the lessons and he'd always find the time to reply. Li Xiaoju, a teacher from Sui Ning, says that she admires Runner's industriousness and persistence. "You are the role model of my life," she writes to Runner, "I owe you a lot for your great help and influence. I feel so grateful for all you have done for me."
Even when he was a student of South China University of Technology, Runner was already volunteering for schools. He'd tutor middle school students in Guangdong on Physics and Math topics and when he was an IC verification Engineer for another company in Shenzhen, he'd spend weekends conducting Physics experiments with 13–15 year old students in a nearby school.
"Education is very important because it helps one achieve a better quality of life," says Runner, "But right now, in China, there are many poor areas where the schools are not well-equipped and the teachers don't receive much training. Students are not given enough opportunities to learn." This is a sad reality that Runner, who lost his father when he was 12, seeks to address.
"After my father died, my mother worked very hard as a street cleaner to put me through school. My brother had to drop out of middle school to work, and I took on different jobs during holidays to support my scholarship," shares Runner. After all these years of hard work to get a good education, Runner sees how they have paid off, now that he’s married and has a promising career at Intel.
"Being a teacher of teachers has made me learn many things—how to explain things clearly and recognize the different needs of people. I've seen how my manager (Randall Goodwin) can explain very complex things in a very simple way and I see the value in that now." With volunteers like Runner Yang carrying the torch of Intel's commitment to the community, there is certainly much to look forward to as A7T7 races towards a better future for China and the world.
As an Intel volunteer, Runner went beyond the call of duty by not just teaching them in the morning, but by sometimes staying on till in the evening to make sure that the teachers got to practice their computer skills even further. Realizing that some of the teachers had never worked with a computer before, he took off the casing of a CPU during one session and showed them how its different parts functioned; he also let them play a "typing game" which allowed them to sharpen their skills in using the keyboard.
"After my father died, my mother worked very hard as a street cleaner to put me through school. My brother had to drop out of middle school to work, and I took on different jobs during holidays to support my scholarship," shares Runner. After all these years of hard work to get a good education, Runner sees how they have paid off, now that he’s married and has a promising career at Intel.
