Candles twinkling, we were enjoying delicious pizza and beautiful songs. It was the KTV night in DKU. People were singing, chatting with friends, and playing card games. Everything was great until I came back to my room, and a bout of sadness seized me. I decided to go back into the crowds to diffuse such unpleasant feelings, only to find out that sentimentality actually suffused everyone.
Did terrible things happen to us in DKU? Yes, only one part－leaving. This was our last KTV night, and many people would leave Kunshan next morning. Four months ago, the name of “Kunshan”, which means Kun Mountain, only sounded like a place where masters practiced kongfu to me. Now, the mention of it would evoke warm feelings, conjuring up all the memories. It’s a lovely small place with friendly people, and a beautiful water town where DKU is located.
Going to DKU is one of the best choices I have ever made, and I knew it from the very beginning. I still remember the excitement of the waiting during the winter vocation. The day finally came when I arrived at the gate of DKU, after 14 hours of traveling with train tickets only for standing. A guard with black coat, which reminded me of the Matrix, approached me to offer help. As I walked into the campus, the fancy buildings, beautiful springs, and decent hotel rooms all surprised me. It even seemed out of character for me, as I wasn’t in my best shape due to the long travel.
Honestly, that was my first impression of DKU－rich, fancy, and elegant. The huge investment in facilities was too conspicuous to ignore even for the outsiders, local people in Kunshan. They knew the existence of DKU and were quite curious and proud of it. Every time we took a taxi to go back to campus, the driver would ask a lot of questions about DKU. Also, there were some misunderstandings. During the orientation week, we were guided to the shopping mall. A shop owner saw my ID card and marveled, “You study here in DKU? You must be very rich.” Then here came the reflective embarrassment, enforced by the fact that I was not rich in any sense of the word. Most students, like me, got full scholarship. We even didn’t need to pay for our accommodation; we had snacks in every workshop; we enjoyed a free trip in Nanjing thanks to a donor… In DKU, there is such a thing as free lunch, and a lot of it. It was such generosity that made this amazing semester possible for me.
One semester is short, and it’s even shorter because of our reluctance to leave. However, it also seems long when I think about all the details and activities we’ve had. Every week in DKU was different. Holi festival, bawling, pizza mixer with graduates, photo walk, field trip… all weaved into this beautiful poem of DKU. Of course, it wasn’t all about having fun, but also academic learning. All the professors came from Duke University. The lessons gave me quite a unique experience. For example, in Writing Across Cultures, I had the class with other eight students. The small scale allowed us to conduct discussions and workshops in class. In American Dreams American Movies, each group made a short film. Some courses were demanding and challenging, sometimes we stayed up really late for a project. We treasured our time to learn more, and also didn’t miss the chances to have a good time. For me, that’s part of the meaning of being young, living in the moment to enjoy our wonderful life as well as fighting for an even better future.
Since the first day in DKU, I have valued the chances to get a full engagement in the undergraduate program. As I came to Kunshan one day earlier than others, I was recruited as a volunteer for the check-in part. Most volunteers were alumni from the first program, and I had to be able to offer help to the new-comers even though I myself was one too. It was interesting actually, being the first student to meet other classmates. I also worked in the Undergraduate Academic Office as an intern. My duty included recording every field trip through photographs and reports. There were several times when I undertook the interpreting job during field trips on short notice. I also hosted the end-of-semester gala as the MC. Besides the intern, I was the undergraduate chair of Kunshan Student Ambassador Council (KSAC), which consisted of both undergraduates and graduates. KSAC really polished my leadership ability and provided a platform to work with graduates. What’s more, I was also one of the student representatives for the staff interviews. This was totally a new experience for me. DKU was truly student-oriented, and often consulted students’ opinions when hiring a new staff. The interesting thing is that in DKU I have been an interviewer more often than an interviewee.
I can’t express how much I appreciate these chances, which have taught me to step out of the comfort zone and explore my potentials. The changes brought to the mindset will influence my decision-making in the future.
Another asset I will always treasure is the friendship. 66 students from top universities around the world gathered to study and live together for one semester. How exciting that was! I had been reluctant to reach out to people for intimate friendship, even though I had no problem hanging out with a group of people. However, I could feel that I changed a little here. I wanted to know more about these excellent classmates. We each had strong points worthy learning and drawbacks to be improved. As a group, we respected and helped each other as well as learnt from each other. We also developed bond with faculty and staff. One of the things that define DKU is diversity. Different lifestyles and philosophies broadened my horizon. For instance, Professor Mullenneaux was once an actress, and now she teaches academic writing about genders. She has integrated some theater practice into the writing training, making the class quite inspirational and interesting. A lot of people I met had worked in different fields and explored different aspects of themselves. I once saw my life as a single-path journey－finding a stable job, getting married, settling down… Now I’m more willing to try different paths and explore more.
For all DKU-ers, one common change is that our frequency of taking selfies. There were so many moments we wanted to record and cherish forever. This semester was so amazing that we felt heartbroken when leaving DKU. For so many years, I have never felt such a feeling that beautiful things are slipping away so quickly. For many of us, we felt a sort of cultural shock when going back to our home universities, and felt like this semester was an ethereal dream and it was time to wake up. However, we know this is more than a dream, for dreams leave nothing behind but hollow and fake memories, but the spring semester has left an imprint on our mind and solid changes to us. We built our pool of strength which we could draw on in the future. I would have chosen very differently when making big decisions if I had been to DKU before the senior year. There are such kinds of regrets, but part of me also wants to thank myself for stepping out and seizing this opportunity. We laughed as we had fun and enjoyed this amazing semester; we cried when we left, wondering when we would meet again; now, we smile with our best wishes: for DKU, for DKU-ers, may the best be yet to come!
(Edited by Editing Group & Sijia Hu)
