Winning scholarships with an excellent academic record, taking internships at famous companies, participating in volunteer activities and competitions, preparing applications for further study…… Multitasking is one of the many skills students learn at UIC, and perseverance is a trait they gain after continuously pushing their limits.
Brick by brick, the pyramids of success are built with great hard work, and the following are the stories behind the scenes, shared by four UIC students: Qin Lei, Li Zhuoheng, Jing Pei, and Xu Lei, who are the perseverant masters of multitasking.
Qin Lei: High-intensity tasks make me stronger
Qin Lei is a fourth-year student in the Applied Economics programme, who fills his student time with a rich range of events.
Qin Lei
He signed up for UIC's summer programme in the London School of Economics and Political Science in his first year. During the following vacations, he successively worked as an intern in the China CITIC Bank, Changjiang Securities, KPMG and Haitong Securities.
At UIC, he teamed up with his classmates to participate in the HSBC/HKU Asia Pacific Business Case Competition in his junior year and won third place in the Southern China Region. In his spare time, Lei taught himself programming skills. With an excellent record, he won the First Class Award scholarship at UIC for three consecutive years.
Qin Lei (first from right) with his teammates and Programme Director Dr Wu Minyu (middle)
For his next step, Qin Lei plans to pursue a master's degree at Johns Hopkins University.
Li Zhuoheng: Steer my wheel and head to my interest
Li Zhuoheng is a fourth-year student in Food Science and Technology programme, who is brave enough to change his major and overcome all hurdles.
Li Zhuoheng
Zhuoheng changed his major to Food Science and Technology in his sophomore year after discovering his obsession with science. Within just two years, he completed the three-year compulsory courses catching up with his peers and his Final Year Project individually.
Despite the heavy academic pressure, Zhuoheng managed to intern in three prominent institutes during his vacation: China National Analytical Centre, Guangzhou, Fengxing Milk in Guangzhou, and Xu Fuji in Dongguan.
Li Zhuoheng in lab
The three internships gave him an overview of the food industry, and he began to taste the differences between work and scientific research. More attracted by the charm of science, he decides to pursue a master's degree in biomedical technology at Boston University for further study.
Jing Pei: Explore wider to find your path
Jing Pei is a fourth-year student in Public Relations and Advertising programme, who immerses knowledge from school in practice smoothly and profoundly.
Jing Pei
News Sichuan, BCW, Ogilvy, Kuaishou…… These are the famous agencies and companies where Pei had interned.
The experience projected the knowledge she learned from school onto real life, from which she figured out the differences between public relations and advertising, branding and product promotion.
Jing Pei (left) interns in Ogilvy
Through the internships, she found out that there was a massive gap between preparing projects at school and working for clients in companies. The latter was more challenging because clients were more demanding, and she had to utilise all resources within budget.
During her internship, Jing Pei was very interested in intercultural communication, and she plans to go to Manchester University to learn more about it.
Xu Lei: Let my passion leads my way
Xu Lei is a fourth-year student in the Cinema and Television programme devoted to art and well-recognised by global design awards.
Xu Lei
Xu Lei has always loved his profession, and his enthusiasm has pushed him to dive into the world of art.
He took part in competitions and won the second prize in the Guangdong Province Division of the 12th National Advertising Art Design Competition for College Students, the bronze prize in the 3rd Hong Kong Contemporary Art Design Awards in 2022, and the third prize in the 4th Japan Contemporary Art Design Award.
At UIC, he had won the first-class scholarship for two consecutive years and the UIC Internship Scholarship in his junior year. With his unique profile, he got an internship offer from Shenzhen Leiting Game to produce videos in year three.
Xu Lei (left) with his girlfriend
Now Xu Lei has been admitted to the Royal College of Art, UK to study for a master's degree in photography.
The joy of foison is loaded with hard sweat. The UIC students are paving their way to a brighter future diligently through continuous learning and practising.
From MPRO
Reporter: Cecilia Yu
Photos provided by the interviewees
Editors: Deen He
