Yang Ruixin is a 2016 graduate of Applied Psychology (APSY) at UIC. In addition to her excellent academic achievements during her time at UIC, Ruixin explains that UIC has taught her that even if she can't do something exceptionally well, as long as she the passion, then it doesn't matter. If she wants to do it, then she'll be loyal to herself. Passion for beauty may be the essence of life.
Yang Ruixin
Ruixin recalls that when she was 19-years old, she came to the coastal city of Zhuhai from northern China. She explains that she looked out the bus' window curiously on the way, but her face was sore from the sun. This incident is like a metaphor, Ruixin explains.
After graduating from UIC, Ruixin entered society with the same excitement and curiosity as her peers, and she also encountered hot and painful stumbling. However, she believes that one of the meanings of a university is to help students adapt to society and have the flexibility to overcome obstacles in life. She explains that she is a person who self-doubts herself very much.
When Ruixin was young, her school held a reading contest, and the teacher wanted her to participate, so she practised for a few days and found that she couldn't reach an excellent standard. This scenario made her overwhelmed by self-criticism, and she gave up participating in the competition. Yet, at the same time, she was tortured by the demand and desire for excellence.
Ruixin remembered that at the orientation meeting for APSY, the first sentence of Dr Ghee Wee Ho, the programme director of APSY at that time, was: "Hi, psychologists." At that time, Ruxin recalls feeling tremendous pressure to achieve this goal to become a psychologist, and the self-doubt kicked in again. Later, a similar incident happened. The first time she attended an academic conference was when Dr Yi-Lung Kuo took her there. Although this was an excellent way for her to observe and study, she was suddenly caught off-guard by Dr Kuo's mentor, Prof Wu Wudian, who introduced her to everyone at the conference's opening ceremony. When she bowed, she not only stood in the wrong direction but almost bumped her head.
Later, she became a person who could report on topics at international academic conferences. Such things happened time and time again during her university days. So she started thinking, what kind of university education do students need? Perhaps more important than teaching skills is empowerment. There are always people who believe in others before they believe in themselves.
This unconditional love also gave Ruixin the courage to break away from the previous definition of "excellent" and gradually look for places where she wants to shine. After graduation, she participated in a project and went to Dali to teach for two years. After that, she founded the charity project "Pipishi Children's Psychology Class" with her friend, Ma Libo. Pipishi has been in operation for five years. They have provided curriculum support for 3926 children and 110 teachers in underdeveloped areas of education and provided workshop training for 185 teachers, 301 volunteers, 305 students and parents.
Yang Ruxin teaching in Yunan
Ruxin still has self-doubt, but UIC made her feel that the important thing is to have the courage to stand at the fork in the road, face the wind blowing towards her, and find the love in her heart. In addition to helping students adapt to society, the significance of a university is to cultivate individuals.
Ruxin has taken many classes not associated with her major at UIC, but she always remembers them. For example, in the nature observation class, she remembers watching a Parisian swallowtail butterfly passing by. The bright emerald blue spots on the dark brown hind wings were extra dazzling.
Ruxin remembers in rugby class the smell of sweat mixed with the humid and sultry smell of rained grass. Also, she recalled in the tie-dye class, patiently stitching all afternoon. Then, finally, unfolded the wrinkled rabbit that appeared on the blue cloth that had become soggy due to dyeing and was left white due to stitching.
She also remembers that in the Aikido class, it was very quiet because nobody was allowed to chat. However, the sound of students beating on the mat was reverberating, and it was regular and reassuring.
Ruxin learnt to protect nature from natural observations, unite and cooperate, connect body and mind in sports, and learn about folk culture through tie-dyeing. She says UIC offers many excellent courses that practice happiness and allow students to experience different activities during their busy lives.
Ruixin said that she had probably become a teacher obsessed with doing different things. When she supported the teaching, she found that some students came to the classroom secretly with a grasshopper. Consequently, she dropped the entire English class and organised the students to observe and discuss. For example, she asked the child who made mistakes to write out 30 of his advantages aloud to her and then told him that he must work hard if he wishes to become a great person. She spent a whole year discussing with the students why they are angry, sad, and scared. Ruxin also encouraged her students to write notes and post them on the wall when they have negative feelings, so they will see that others can occasionally have negative emotions.
Yang Ruxin and her classmate celebrating their graduation
Ruixin also explained that to survive at UIC still requires challenging learning. A solid foundation is inevitably needed to transform professional psychological knowledge into practical applications. Being able to initiate and implement projects stumblingly when graduating from college means that there will be opportunities for trial and error.
What does UIC mean in her life? Yang Ruixin received a master's degree in Developmental Psychology from the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. At this turning point, she doesn't know what will happen in the future, but her UIC experience has made her less anxious. Instead, Ruixin believes in having the courage, be honest to herself, to love life wholeheartedly. However, this road is still tricky, but the thrilling light belongs to her.
From MPRO
Editors: Samuel Burgess, Deen He, Zhang Fan
