Last May, the 11th Top10 Outstanding Students Award Ceremony was grandly held in the Humanities Hall, Wuhan University(WHU). With over 10 years of history, this activity has become one of the most influential events on campus. When the list of the 20 finalist candidates came out in mid-April, every student was curious about who would be the winner this year. In fact, even though ten of them didn’t excel, they were among the most excellent students in diversified areas. What drew our attention was that four of the candidates winning students’ support because of their various oversea experiences. It shows how excellent WHU students are on the international stage and their footprints spread across the world, making the bond between WHU and international communities tighter.
From Model APEC to the real one: Jiang Shan
The story of Jiang Shan began from 2015 when he participated in the Model Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as the leader of his team and topped the final competition. In the same year, he and other student delegates accompanied President Xi Jinping to attend the 2015 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week hosted in Manila, the Philippines.
Looking back to the model APEC, days filled with both light and darkness started to flash back in Jiang Shan’s mind. The whole process was a huge challenge to that sophomore boy. He confronted not only complex tasks involving development issues, but also the responsibility on his shoulder. During the semifinal, despite the disadvantage at the beginning, a paper which he spent three-days-and-nights on, helped his team return to the leading position. “I dedicated 14 successive hours to the paper facing a computer. I ran out of three pens, and cried for three times”, said Jiang Shan. In the final competition, the participants were required to create a brand new business model related to the Internet economy, which could bring benefits to APEC members’ economies. The product of Jiang Shan’s team finally defeated their competitors and won the first prize.
If the Model APEC influenced his personality, the following real APEC Economic Leaders’ Week brought real changes to his life. “I felt like a new born baby coming to a whole new world”, he said. He sat close to both political and business leaders and elites and listened to the speeches of President Xi Jinping, Obama and P.M.Key. “When you are pushed onto such an important position, you will find out how complex the global situation is and how heavy the responsibility is on your shoulder.” It was a watershed of his life and impelled him to find a new direction, which is to step onto the international stage and let the whole world listen to the voice of China.
Jejomar “Jojo” Cabauatan Binay Sr. (the middle one in the front row), then-Vice-President of the Philippines, granted an interview to Jiang Shan (the third one from right in the behind row) and other Chinese youth representatives
Don’t be afraid to experience more: Yuan Shuai
Yuan Shuai is an undergraduate student from the School of Public Health. From the very beginning when he entered WHU, he had an enterprise in his study and sought for more opportunities. When others were excited about the new university life, he began to contact professors and tried to find a research direction he was interested in. Over the four years, he has never ceased to fulfill himself.
When he was a sophomore, he went to Sydney University through an one-month exchange program. His main task was to prepare for a speech on the mental health of university students in the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) conference. His performance was surprisingly honored by the Best Oral Award and became the only student who won a prize in the seminar. One year later, with a better professional basis and more confidence, he contributed to the Chinese Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CCUGH) and seized the chance to have an oral presentation with other scholars about maternal and child health.
During the 2017 Spring Festival, he went to Zambia for an internship with local students. They visited the medical system of Zambia, including healthcare centers, capital hospital and hospitals built by China. Speaking of the tour, he was quite emotional, “because of the lack of financial support, Zambia lags behind in both economic and medical aspects, which also leads to the wide spread of infectious diseases like Pneumonia and Parasitic Disease. Taking AIDs as an example, according to local experts, almost 40% of Zambians have been infected by AIDs, most of whom are young adults. AIDs and its complications destroy those young bodies, reduce the productivity and break social stability”. Yuan Shuai also considered a lot about the political environment and economic situation of Zambia. His conversation with ambassador Yang impressed him. He suggested that China needs to take the local situation of less developed countries into consideration and should not just help them blindly. Back from Zambia, Yuan Shuai missed the beautiful land and local people’s hospitality very much and felt that what he had done was far from enough. After graduation, he plans to study abroad and, in the future, he wishes he could join a non-profit organization to devote himself to the cause of health care in under-developed countries.
How to have as marvelous a life as Yuan does? “WHU is a good platform and provides a lot of programs to broaden our horizon. If you want, you can also embark on your own personal voyage of discovery. Of course, first you need to be diligent in study”, he said. He also showed gratitude to his teacher and his parents, who have helped him a lot and always stand by him.
Happy faces of Zambian children with Yuan Shuai(the second one from right) and his peers
Don’t be afraid to experience more and that is what we learn from Yuan Shuai. Take a step and you will find that the road under your feet snacks away into the distance.
Everything about travelling: Where is the ultimate destination? GuiYiming & Huang Yinglin
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. (Hamlet)
GuiYiming told his stories with eloquence uncommon for a lonely backpacker. As the story expanded, his eyes gradually lit up. With the passion for adventure and a savvy mind for business, the archaeology student has traveled to over twenty countries, laying his footprint on continents most have never stepped on. The illuminated history of Middle East, natural wonder of Africa, spectacular carnivals of Latin America are all captured in his camera. With an innovative mind in traveling, Gui further demonstrated his entrepreneurship by starting his own company with his partner. He always says that one needs to strive with whole heart before he can flee to the mysterious world out there for respite. Traveling honed his skill in solving problems on his own, which is later applied to his business, whether in or out of school.
Huang Yinglin , a co-worker in Gui’s Travelling Association, also had expeditions ranging from the riverine panorama of Tanzania to the savanna sunset of Kenya, from the dreamy coastline of Lebanon to the splendid landscape of Serbia. Beyond the superlative scenery, a clearer prospect of future took root in her mind---to strive for the well-being of humanity. Once she went on the trip to Rwanda alone, confronting the crimes that took place in the country. During the travel, she communicated with a survivor of genocide who later ran his own organization to help the women and children. This experience led her to choose to major in international development, with the hope of seeking a career in international organizations in the future. Yinglin has the kind of smile that lights up the entire room, just like her spirit that brought light and warmth to wherever she set foot on.
Huang Yinglin,Gui Yiming with local people
It is one thing to have dreams in mind, but a totally different thing to actually bring them to life. Gui and Huang’s courage is no doubt the pre-requisite of their marvelous experience around the world, and at the same time it is the exact same experience that endowed them with even more enduring persistence and confidence to conquer whatever that comes in life.
Studying and traveling in foreign countries are valuable experience for college students. As individuals, exploring the world where we exist satisfies our curiosity. These outstanding student representatives are only part of the whole student group, and WHUers never stop depicting themselves into better images.
Edited by Fang Siyuan, Tang Yedan and Liu Li & Hu Sijia.
