The world is neither in your books, nor in your imagination, but on the outside. So why not go outside? On October 13th, a sharing session, which involves students exchanging ideas about short-term exchange programs, was held in the NO.5 Teaching Building in WHU.
Ms. Chen, who organized this session, suggests that this session aims at sharing and exchanging foreign-learning experiences with all the students. It is on one hand a memory recollection for students who have already gone through the programs, and on the other hand an introduction to students who want to join the upcoming exchange programs.
The whole classroom seemed to be an international family gathering, with lovely flowers on every desk and colorful pictures on the wall. Smiling faces and different national flags were seen everywhere.
Students visiting the picture wall
The sharing session started with a two-man comic show by the two hosts. This interesting performance made the students and guests in attendance laugh a lot. After that, Li Xiaoshu, Deputy Director of Office of International Affairs, gave an opening speech for this session. He pointed out that it is a very good opportunity to walk out, to study, and to live several days outside of China, not only is it physically rewarding but spiritually as well. He also said that this session has reminded him of his studying days in England and extended the good wishes to all the students who have already taken part in or want to attend the exchange programs.
Li Xiaoshu gave a warm and genial opening speech
What was especially intriguing was the roadshow portion of the event, during which four teams participated in the Creative Summer Camp of Taiwan University, and made fabulous presentations about their impressions of Taiwan. Each group was set to have only eight minutes to present. Various pictures made the roadshow attractive and vivid, helping students get a better understanding of Taiwan. It is very impressive for the fourth team to come up with a special angle to interpret Taiwan－the advertising board, by comparing the advertising culture between Taiwan and the Mainland. At the end of the roadshow, a poll was taken to rank the performance of each group. The second group got the highest votes and earned the final prize. Cai Shuyi, the leader of the second group from Economics and Management School , said that she will forever cherish this experience of learning and collaborating together with other students in Taiwan, and she mentioned it has shown her the importance and value of the exchange programs organized by the Office of International Affairs.
The Roadshow
What followed the roadshow was the experience sharing portion by four students who have attended four different summer exchange programs. The four exchange programs were the host family program from Harvard MIT in Boston, professional credits project in Columbia University, language and culture course in Columbia University, and summer overseas exchange program in the University of Cambridge.
Where there is an exchange student, there is a new visitor. The trip itself is an essential part of his or her life studying abroad, and memories captured through pictures and videos always speak louder than words. Hosted by the sponsor, the final results of the competition to find the most creative pictures and videos were announced today, with more than 20 students receiving various scholarships.
The last part of the session was very interesting. Each group who had performed a roadshow had the right to choose two lucky supporters from audience to receive presents. Afterwards, many delicious food and snacks were served to the audience members and guests in attendance. All the students enjoyed the food while chatting happily together until the very end of the session. Zhu, from Economics and Management School, said she planned to take part in these programs and this experience sharing event provided her with much relevant information.
Winners of the creative pictures and video competition
According to Ms. Chen, this activity will be held twice a year, once for the summer holiday projects and another for the winter holiday projects. She hopes that there will be more and more students who can get involved in these projects and contribute a lot to the development of WHU and to the friendship of WHU and foreign universities.
(Photo by Wu Jiamin, Edited by Zheng Xinnian, Edmund & Hu Sijia)
