Six years later, Tiway Sayion graduated with a teaching degree and began teaching in remote mountain areas of the island. At the age of 27, he returned to Shuilien Primary School as its principal, becoming the ROC's first aborigine to serve as a school principal. The event caused quite a stir in the village.
六年師範畢業後，李來旺進入山地鄉任教，並在二十七歲時回到母校水璉國小擔任校長，是中華民國培養出來的第一位原住民校長，當時可是轟動部落的大事。