Photo shows Zhong Fangrong in school in Leiyang, central China's Hunan Province, on July 24 (XINHUA)

Without the constant company of her parents earning money through odd jobs in bigger cities, Zhong Fangrong, an 18-year-old student from Leiyang, a county-level city in China's southern Hunan Province, was still able to be admitted to the School of Archaeology and Museology of the country's most prestigious Peking University.

She scored 676 out of a possible total of 750 marks in her test papers in last month's National Higher Education Entrance Examination, the fourth highest score in arts across Hunan Province.

An exuberant faculty from Leiyang Zhengyuan School, where Zhong received her high-school education, celebrated her big success with a spectacular firework show to mark her painstaking efforts over the years.

Meanwhile, the country's iconic archaeologist Fan Jinshi, best known for her longtime endeavor in preserving the historical legacy of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in northwestern Gansu province, sent a copy of her autobiography "My heart remains in Dunhuang" with her signature to the budding archaeologist.

Zhong responded promptly the night she received the book, writing that she felt so lucky to be able to choose the major with immense interest under Fan's influence.

"Madam Fan, since you have resolved to stay with Dunhuang and become the ‘Daughter of Dunhuang,' you have ultimately found a place to which your heart and soul can adhere," the young student wrote.

"I hope that I can follow in your footsteps to seek my own spiritual home by choosing the archaeological major at Peking University before dedicating myself to a particular undertaking," she continued.

Luo Xiangyun, Headmaster of the Leiyang Zhengyuan School, said, "Without a well-off family to provide a pampered life, left-behind students are more likely to pursue their goals wholeheartedly by studying with little distraction.

According to Luo, eight out of the 10 students from his privately-funded school admitted to Peking and Tsinghua Universities had grown up as left-behind children.

Unlike previous years when left-behind children imitated their parents to quit schooling and seek jobs in cities at a relatively young age, rural children today had more ambitious plans for their development, thanks to the power of education.

"Their psyches have been transformed, pushing them to accomplish dreams in courageous ways," said Zhang Hua, a teacher from Qihang School, a private school targeting nine-year compulsory education in Qidong county, Hunan Province.

Similar to Leiyang, Qidong county is an area known for its export of labor estimated at over 300,000 people. Today, the school has accommodated over 2,000 left-behind children, accounting for 90% of the student pool.

Desiring to change their destinies, many left-behind children are distinguished by an independent and unremitting hard-working spirit, ingrained characteristics needed for those growing up amid adversity.

"It has been normal for left-behind children to develop in a disadvantaged environment. However, to give full play to their unyielding spirit, they may envision a future full of possibilities," said Lin Danhua, a psychological professor at Beijing Normal University.

By involving 16,317 respondents aging between nine and 20 from 60 primary, secondary and high schools across 10 provinces, a survey conducted by Lin showed more than 70 percent left-behind children possessing the merits of filial piety, gratitude, patriotism, ambition and perseverance.

In addition, 60 percent left-behind children are independent in caring themselves and dealing with family affairs.

However, according to Zhang Xiaoyong, director of the Leiyang Education Bureau, with the left-behind children there is a dichotomy between highly self-disciplined students, such as, Zhong Fangrong, and the dropouts who without appropriate incentives that may lead them into committing crimes.

From a wider perspective, problems facing left-behind children remain challenging. Without appropriate education, the vicious circle between dropouts and lowly-paid migrant labor that consequently leads to a new generation of left-behind children may never end.