Another year and another class of graduating students will say goodbye to their alma mater and start a new journey. The four years spent at UIC is some of the best years of their life. How many stories and sceneries have been treasured along the way? How much hard work has paid off? The following is the story of Year 4 Media Arts and Design student Yin Ziyou.
The Year 4 Media Arts and Design (MAD) students in 2020 are the first ones of this programme to graduate. Acting Dean of Division of Culture and Creativity as well as Acting Programme Director of MAD Dr Jiang Wei explained how over the past four years MAD students have been passionate about digital media and visual design, as well as eager for knowledge of cutting-edge technology, confidently committed to their dreams, and demonstrating their creativity and research capabilities with outstanding performance.
MAD students' exhibition
For MAD student Yin Ziyou, four years of college life is the process of opening herself up, embracing the world, and growing up. She has grown from not being good at socialising to being able to communicate fluently with different people; from unclear with goals to set clear objectives; from a child who needs everything supervised has now grown into an independent and conscious adult.
After graduating, she plans to go to the University of the Arts of London (London School of Communication) to study and major in User Experience Design.
Yin Ziyou
Under the UIC liberal education concept, Yin Ziyou's enthusiasm for learning is higher than it has been in the 10 years that led up to her coming to the College. She absorbs knowledge like a sponge and over her duration at UIC she has been rewarded National Scholarship as well as first- and second-class scholarships.
Improve communication skills and open vision
Yin Ziyou explained that during her four years in college that UIC has given her many opportunities to communicate with teachers, deans and even the president, such as the breakfast meetings with the president, High Table Dinner, academic meetings, etc. She learned a lot during these exchanges. The openness of the teachers has made her no longer afraid to communicate with them. If she had questions or ideas, she can speak boldly, which she believes is very important for a student who studies design.
She remembered that at a High Table Dinner for juniors, the teachers and students next to her naturally exchanged views on traditional Chinese culture and studying abroad. Ziyou explained how one of the teachers shared the comics he drew about Chinese ancient poetry, which was very intriguing. In her junior year, Yin Ziyou also participated in a breakfast meeting with the president where she shared her thoughts on cultural and creative products. The teachers and students present at the meeting had a heated discussion on inheriting and promoting Chinese culture. In daily communication between teachers and students, Yin Ziyou has unknowingly increased her knowledge and broadened her horizons, which has benefitted her greatly.
In her spare time, Yin Ziyou will also actively seek opportunities to communicate with teachers and classmates. She took the initiative to communicate with the teachers of the English Language Centre (ELC). An example she gave was that the ELC teachers not only helped her answer her questions about the coursework but also let her understand IELTS from the examiner's perspective.
In her sophomore year, Yin Ziyou applied to become a student tutor in a statistical class tutoring class organised by the Student Affairs Office. This is her first challenge to become a teacher. In addition to helping the juniors, she has also improved her communication skills.
Yin Ziyou (left) volunteering
That's exactly how Yin Ziyou changed into a proactive person and developed her communication skills. She spoke how he even found that now she communicates with her family more frequently than before, and she has become more rational and considerate of her family. Good communication skills and expressive skills also allow her to stand out in interviews.
Make up for shortcomings
Learning requires hard work and skills. In her freshman year, Yin Ziyou set the goal of postgraduate studies and hoped to make achievements in her professional field. To achieve this goal, after four years in college, Yin Ziyou continued to find ways to make up for her deficiencies. She took her first summer vacation to do sketching and oil painting classes and participated in a summer course to discover more about game and art during her sophomore summer vacation. During college, she mastered the graphic design software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, and obtained relevant certificates. Also, to enhance her aesthetic abilities, she visits various exhibitions as soon as she has time.
Yin Ziyou visiting an exhibition
Yin Ziyou's college life was busy and fulfilling, and she was very productive. She believes UIC has been a magnificent transformation for her and she is very grateful for the four years of experience.
From MPRO
Reporter: Covee Wang
Editors: Samuel Burgess, Deen He
