Having had only one year's education in primary school, she began applying for jobs at local cotton mills at the age of nine, and eventually entered the state-owned No. 6 Cotton Mill in 1948, when she was 13.
Hanya mengenyam pendidikan selama setahun di sekolah dasar, ia mulai mengambil pekerjaan di pabrik-pabrik kapas lokal pada usia sembilan tahun, dan kemudian masuk Pabrik Kapas No. 6 milik negara pada 1948, ketika ia berusia 13 tahun.