What makes a good teacher?

On her very first day as a teacher, Ruan Junting was caught off guard by a student's question: "If I don't want to become someone like you, do I still need to learn this?"

The question stayed with her for years, prompting her to reconsider what it means to teach, and what kind of person she wanted to be.

Ruan began drawing comics at 14 and has spent over two decades teaching art at the China Academy of Art. For years, she struggled between her artistic ambitions and the practical need to make a living. But her experiences with students gradually changed the way she understood art and education.

One student she mentored won an international award. Years later, she unexpectedly encountered him selling glass at a building materials market. Another student stubbornly refused to follow her advice and insisted on drawing in her own way. These encounters led Ruan to question a belief she had once held firmly: Is the path one believes to be right necessarily the right path for someone else?

Having spent 13 years creating the comic book Chunhui (Spring Sunshine), she drew on her experiences as a teacher and artist. The book became a way for her to reflect on success, love and the meaning of education.

"Helping someone discover their own passion and spark for life is more important than listening to what I think matters," she said.

Executive producer: Zhang Jingwen

Producer: Yang Sha

Director: Chen Hongyu

Videographers: Wang Hongjie, Chen Hongyu

Copy editors: Zhang Yuying, Shanaaz Prince, John Goodrich, Zhao Ying

Comic: Ruan Junting

Cover: Zhu Shangfan