Cao Yiwen, who graduated from UIC with a First-Class Honours Bachelor's Degree, was awarded a First-Class Honours Master's Degree at one of the world's top 10 universities UCL.
When Yiwen got into the MA Programme in Film Studies at UCL, she wanted to study film theories thoroughly with the limited time she got. She realised her lack of a firm foundation in film knowledge and decided to immerse herself in readings. Yiwen got a band 9 (full score) in the IELTS listening module, but the real learning environment is not quite like the IELTS test, there are different accents, and her teachers and classmates spoke fast. Moreover, she did not get a satisfying grade for her first essay. It was all very challenging in the beginning.
However, she cheered herself up to face the challenges and tried her best to change the situation. Besides reading abundant materials and watching films, she would talk to her professors and classmates. "Also, believe in yourself! You've gone this far for a reason." Finally, she got an 80% grade in her final year project and became a First-Class Honours Master's Degree holder.
Yiwen said UIC's liberal arts education and English learning environment prepared her well for her studies at UCL. As a Cinema and Television student at UIC, she experienced many practical learnings in movies and television, including scriptwriting, recording, editing, shooting, and directing. She achieved an Outstanding Final Year Project award after putting lots of effort into applying the knowledge she learned to a short film.
Cao Yiwen (first from the right) shooting the short film of her final year project
At UIC, she also honed her comprehensive abilities, covering subjects in computer sciences, business administration, statistics, French, etc. Her most cherished memory at UIC was about the great teachers and peers who encouraged her and gave her a hand. She was incredibly grateful for Dr Jim Batcho, her final year project tutor.
Cao Yiwen led UIC's Cappella Society to win the fourth price in the 2016 Mainland-Hong Kong Bilingual Sing Contest
Cao Yiwen has a strong belief in herself. No matter what challenges she faces in the future, she is determined to go forward in the field she loves and leaves no regrets.
From MPRO
Reporter: Du Jiewen
Editors: Covee Wang, Deen He
