From programme to programme, from photography to journalism, from UIC to Cambridge, the recent UIC graduate Cheng Yiran had walked out her own path decisively during her four years with hard work.
Cheng Yiran, who has won the UIC First Class Award scholarship three times
In her first year at UIC, Cheng decided to transfer her programme to Media and Communication Studies due to her strong interest. To achieve this goal, she enrolled in courses related to communication, pre-read works in the field, accumulated and expanded her knowledge database for communication studies, and actively participated in media or news-related interest club activities. By the end of her first year, she successfully transferred to the programme.
Though Cheng had already made friends with students from her new programme through clubs and activities, she still needed to adapt to the different learning environment and catch up with the pace. Eventually, with her own courage, persistence, and help from fellow students, she overcame the initial adjustment difficulties.
Cheng Yiran (first from right) films documentary with friends
When studying at UIC's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Cheng found numerous enjoyable courses. "Learning photography makes me know how to capture moments and express emotions, while documentary filmmaking told me how to narrate real stories and convey messages to the public.”
To put what she had learned into practice, Cheng seized the chance provided by the Faculty. During her second year, Cheng participated in the Campus News Awards organised by China Daily, winning Best in News Photography with a series capturing police teaching stories. She joined the same competition a year later and shifted her focus towards data journalism, an area where she excelled. This time, she brought home the Best in Data Journalism with her piece “Facing Rumors, for future clarification and regulation”.
After exploring emerging topics, such as the impact of VR vision on mass media communications, Cheng became more confident about breaking the limitations of academic research and adopted this philosophy into her application for master’s programmes. This autumn, she will be heading to Cambridge University to immerse herself in the film industry while researching digital humanities under the guidance of university tutors. Looking to the future, she hopes to further explore the combination of cinema and digital humanities and contribute more research findings if the opportunity arises to pursue a PhD.
From MPRO
Reporter: Cecilia Yu
Photos provided by the interviewees
Editor: Deen He
