The 4th Model College Student Awards kicked off at Minzu University of China earlier this month, honoring students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have struggled and persevered in the pursuit of education. Recommended by schools from all over the country, the selected students receive an academic scholarship worth 10,000 yuan ($1,464).

"I hope all young students can take them as an example to study diligently, work hard and serve society," Lu Yongzheng, the secretary of Central Committee of China Communist Youth League at the awards ceremony, was quoted by China Youth Daily as saying

The award was founded in 2007 by New Oriental Education Group, which donated 50 million yuan to set up the "China College Student Self-Reliance Scholarship," 90 percent of which went to aiding an additional 750 selected students from impoverished western provinces.

Chen Pingxu, 27

A second year doctoral candidate majoring in materials science at South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province

Chen has been fascinated with chemistry since he was a child, a passion that has led him to engineer more than 40 different molecular formulas and patents for liquid adhesives.

Born in a poor farming family in Lankao county, Henan Province, he started experimenting using spoons, chopsticks and kitchen utensils to melt down plastics and other materials to study their chemical properties.

During his undergrad at Zhengzhou University, Chen scrimped and saved to build himself a rudimentary laboratory. In order to keep working on his projects, he spent his 2005 winter vacation cloistered in his lab for three days and nights, surviving on 32 steamed buns.

However, due to working 80-plus hours a week for the past few years, Chen has already developed rheumatoid arthritis, but still he refuses to slow down.

"As long as my 206 bones are connected, I'll keep going," said Chen.

Wang Xiaolei, 24

A tourism management Junior at Xinzhou Teachers University, Shanxi Province

Although National Scholarship recipient Wang Xiaolei was admitted to the school of her dreams, she barely has time to enjoy her success.

Since high school, she has continued to work during every vacation for tuition and supported her family despite being diagnosed with gastric cancer. However, she was while never willing give up pursuing her education.

"I believe that with courage and a goal, one can overcome anything," she said.

Hexigeduleng, 24

An electrical engineering and automation sophomore at Inner Mongolia University of Technology

Born in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and raised in a single parent household, Hexigeduleng dropped out at 13 to work as a shepherd in order to support and care for his sick father, who passed away three years later

However all the while he never gave up his studies. At 19, he enrolled himself back in school and was admitted into the Inner Mongolia University of Technology three years later.

Originally educated in Mongolian, he struggled to understand classes taught in Chinese, working hard just to keep up.

His work ultimately paid off, as he ranks at the top of his class and is now on scholarship.

"Though it's tough, I feel the warm of a family from my school and my teachers," he said.

A first-year doctoral candidate majoring in paleography at Fudan University, Shanghai

Self-taught in classical Chinese, Cai Wei's academic career began when he submitted a letter to well-known Fudan University (FU) scholar Qiu Xigui, correcting a mistake he found in one of Qiu's published articles in 1997.

Over 10 years later, Cai had left such an impression that the former pedicab driv-er landed a spot at FU studying classical Chinese on recommendation of that same professor.

In high school, Cai was so passionate about studying classical Chinese that he ad-mittedly wasn't good at anything else.

"Occasionally, I felt that no one could communicate with me," he said.

As a result, the Jinzhou, Liaoning Province native failed the national college entrance exam and took a job in a local factory. In 1994, he was laid off, and to support his family worked a string of jobs while studying in his spare time.

However, it was his fateful letter to Qiu Xigui, the famous scholar and professor of paleography (study of ancient writing) at FU, that landed Cai a recommendation allowing him to take the doctoral entrance exam.

Yang Fan, 25

A grad student at the School of Aerospace at Tsinghua University, Beijing

Since 2008 Yang has already published 15 theses in the field of aerospace engineering now included in the Science Citation Index, all the while battling against brain cancer.

Soon after she received a full scholarship from the California Institute of Technology in May 2008, Yang was diagnosed with malignant brain tumor. Due to her daily chemo treatments, she was extremely sick and barely able to work.

Though she saw her ward mates at the hospital pass away one after another, she always remained optimistic about life.

"I don't know how far I can go. But as long as I live, I'll pursue my dream and make my life meaningful through my hard work and studies," she said.