Yale graduate takes low-paying job as a village official in China
Goldman Sachs it鈥檚 not.
Qin Yufei, 27, graduated from Yale University in 2010 with a double major in political science and economics. For the past year and a half, he鈥檚 served as an official in a remote village in Hunan Province in China, according to a report in the , a state-owned newspaper. Instead of a cushy bachelor鈥檚 pad in New York or Beijing, Qin lives in an old house in听Hejiashan village, putting up with rain from a leaky roof and noisy rats at night. His monthly salary is 1,450 yuan, about $233.听The villagers respectfully call him 鈥淏rother Yale.鈥�
As the first and the only Ivy League village official in China, Qin has lately found himself under a media spotlight 鈥� but Qin doesn鈥檛 want that kind of attention. He recently posted a message on Sina Weibo, China鈥檚 answer to Twitter, saying that he was 鈥渧ery grateful for the [Chinese] media鈥檚 attention . . . But my job is to provide a good service to the villagers, not to tell my stories. I have a lot of work to do, so I don鈥檛 have enough time and energy to accept interviews, please understand.鈥�
Qin鈥檚 behavior is a sharp contrast from leadership in , and state-run media is lauding the Yale grad as an antidote to widespread local corruption.
In 2005, Qin graduated from Chongqing Nankai Secondary School, passed the SAT with high scores, and got full marks on his TOEFL听exam, a widely used English-language exam.听Then he received a scholarship offer from Yale University, according to a report from the , a newspaper based in Guangzhou, in southern China.
During his four years at Yale, Qin decided to pursue public service as his future career. Inspired by news stories of Chinese college graduates working as village chiefs, Qin thought that being a village official would be a good opportunity to understand and serve the rural areas. In 2011, he became an assistant to the director of the village committee in Hejiashan village.
鈥淎mong so many officials that came to our village in the past years, I admire Qin most,鈥� says the village head, Hu听Chuanjia, who has worked for the village for more than 20 years. 鈥淗e solved many difficult problems after he came here,鈥� Hu adds in an interview with .
Qin鈥檚 work covers different aspects of the daily lives of his villagers 鈥� agriculture, economy, education, health care, and public infrastructure, including a playground for local kids.听Since he is the only village official with a higher education in the area, his work usually extends to other villages when help is needed.
Using the fund-raising experience he gained at Yale, Qin has successfully raised about 800,000 yuan (about $129,000) for the village. The money has been听used听to build water conservation projects, expand a nursing home, and improve local schools. With the help of other Yale alumni, Qin received the blueprint of the nursing home from a design company for free. He also procured about 700 tablet computers for the students in the area.
鈥淚 have a son and a daughter,鈥� Wenmei Kuan, who lives in Hejiashan,听tells听.听鈥滻 told them that Qin is a model that you should learn from.鈥�
鈥淚 do have a lot of classmates that have chosen more profitable careers, and their wages are indeed much higher than mine. But we are just in different industries,鈥� Qin explains in an interview with . 鈥淲e are serving society in听different ways. I think my choice is also very meaningful.鈥�
It does seem, however, that听Qin has his sights set on a higher-profile political career. Last August, he was elected deputy to the Local People鈥檚 Congress. He won 85 percent of the votes among 3,547 voters, according to .
鈥淓very villager wants to seek a better life so that they can听afford their children鈥檚 education,听enjoy better social security, and听have access to better medical services,鈥� Qin tells the People鈥檚 Daily. 鈥淚 am one of the common [people]. I agree with those pursuits. So I want to do something to help.鈥�
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