Due to the influence of the global pandemic, countless international students are not able return to their own universities to complete their study. Emerson College from the US chose to cooperate with UIC in China. This September, UIC welcomed a new group of Emerson students. In this past period, those new students have immersed themselves into UIC's life through different sides.
To have a deep insight into their lives at a new college, some Emerson students shared their experiences and feelings in education, lifestyle and clubs at UIC.
Education
In terms of learning, both Emerson College and UIC provide liberal arts education. Both UIC and Emerson students take elective courses to learn supplementary knowledge that they are interested in, and this helps them to understand courses better. For example, Emerson's drama courses and UIC's popular culture courses are both elective courses from a cultural aspect, which are closely related to students' creativity.
Sun Haohan, an Emerson student currently studying Visual Media Art at UIC, says, "I have encountered fewer language difficulties in UIC."
Lifestyle
The layout of the campus and the canteen choices are what impressed the Emerson students mostly.
As Gao Ruiheng, a sophomore from Emerson majoring in Visual Media Arts, thinks that campus layouts make him experience two different lifestyles.
"Emerson is located in downtown Boston which means everything around us happens very fast, and our lifestyle is hectic and stressful." Gao laughed. "However, UIC is located in a beautiful and remote place away from the city centre. The geographical location makes me feel that my life has slowed down. I have more time to calm down, to study and think about some questions deeply."
Gao Ruiheng mentions that the entirely different geographical environment gave him more free time and space to evoke some inspirations and conceive his creations.
The Emerson students taking part in Whole Person Education classes at UIC
Tang Zhiru is a Journalism student who is also a sophomore at Emerson College. "UIC's food must be my favourite part!", Tang Zhiru said excitedly in the interview, "Emerson had only one dining hall, and most of the foods were western styles, such as cheeseburgers, french fries and pizza. However, UIC has more than three canteens. I have so many choices in these dining halls."
Chongqing noodles, hot pot, milk tea, fried chicken, marinated pork rice are some of Tang's favourites.
"I always feel delighted when I go to these canteens, and I even look forward to having lunch and dinner every day," Tang said with an expectant look in her eyes.
Clubs
The students' clubs in UIC are also attractive to them. Gao Ruiheng found some differences between the students' clubs in the two colleges. Compared with Emerson, he felt that the students' clubs in UIC turned out to be more diversified and systematic.
There are clubs for students to practice skills related to their majors like photography and praphic arts club. For the standard clubs related to singing or dancing, they are also classified according to the types of performances in a more detailed way. There are also some local clubs such as the Cantonese Club which provide students from other places with access to know the local culture better and then broaden their horizons.
Gao Ruiheng is a member of the UIC dance club
At UIC, Gao Ruiheng has joined two students' clubs. They are not only brought him progress in skills as well as personal growth, but they also let him felt a strong sense of belonging and warmth. Students are in one group, everyone is doing their parts but all for the one target. He loves this feeling of being involved. What's more, he thought that UIC cares much about the students' all-round development, and the student clubs are playing an essential role in this field.
Gao Ruiheng singing
According to these students, UIC has brought them different and diverse experiences of college life, which makes them expect to explore more at UIC in the rest of this semester.
From MPRO
Editors: Samuel Burgess, Deen He, Qi Mei, Wang Yihui, Hu Shiqi
