From September 10 to 11, the freshmen of the 2020 cohort were warmly welcomed on to the International Campus.
In the early morning of September 10, the freshmen, having had their body temperatures measured, entered the Campus with the ZJU pass code. After going through the procedures of identity verification, goods collection, and accommodation registration, they started their college life smoothly with the help of one-stop services. Their arrival infused new vitality into the Campus, which had been silent due to the epidemic.
As the epidemic situation has been effectively controlled in most areas of China, face-to-face classes on the International Campus will resume in the new semester. Offices will strengthen the disinfection, sterilization, and ventilation of classrooms in accordance with the relevant requirements of epidemic prevention and control. “It’s great to take the face-to-face classes!”, said the freshmen happily. Many students started exploring the Campus as soon as they laid down their luggage.
Besides the students of Zhejiang University, 31 Chinese undergraduates from Cornell University are also enrolled. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were admitted to Cornell University, but could not successfully complete enrollment in the US. As a result, they participated in the Cornell University StudyAway program and came to ZJU as exchange students to study for a semester. “I am so lucky to be here!” said HUANG Shiyi, a Cornell exchange student who has just completed the registration formalities. She received the news of her admission to Cornell University in mid-December last year, but throughout the first half of this year, she has been worried about not being able to go to the United States. It was a relief to learn that international students at Cornell University could enroll in StudyAway programs. HUANG Shiyi said that the environment on Campus, which is totally different from high school, impressed her. She is looking forward to her Campus life on the International Campus of Zhejiang University.
By contrast, the exchange students from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), who arrived here two weeks ago, were already familiar with the Campus. GAO Ruichen, an exchange student from the School of Economics, UIUC, told the journalist that he was very satisfied with his study and life here in the first two weeks. Due to the time difference, some online courses are arranged in the early morning, Chinese time. Although it is inconvenient, he still enjoys it. “Once we stayed up until two or three o’clock in the morning to take an online class. We just decided not to sleep and went out to look at the sunrise together...” He also cherishes the opportunity to take offline courses here, and is full of praise for the “Cross-cultural Communication” course which he just took.
“We have already started to prepare for the International Concrete Dragon Boat Competition”. ZOU Jiaru, another UIUC civil engineering exchange student, told the journalist that in addition to the daily courses, the exchange students have also integrated themselves into the varied life of Zhejiang University in terms of scientific research training, cultural activities, and sports activities. “I feel very satisfied with the life here”, said ZOU Jiaru.
In order to ensure students’ safety and convenience, the Campus designed a “special channel” for the new students from the gate to the Residential College, where they registered. On the afternoon of the 10th and the morning of the 11th, Prof. OUYANG Hongwei, Executive Dean of the International Campus, ZHUGE Yang, and Prof. WANG Yufen, Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party Committee of the International Campus, and other leaders of the International Campus came to the registration site to welcome the new students.
Article: ZHU Yiwei
Photography: DONG Simin, XIE Zhen & XIA Ping
Translation: YANG Fan & Roda Morrison