Fall in love with Tsinghua

Editor's Note

How do we perceive the campus we live in every day?

Isaac, a Malawian student from the School of Social Sciences, sees boundless possibilities out of mundane life during his discovery of the surroundings. To him, every stroll is a mini expedition that inspires ideas and brings resilience. With a prose-like essay and a rhymed poem in free verse, Issac means to remind us of what magic the unique combination of quality education and beautiful surroundings can make.

There is beauty that is sometimes inexpressible to name, and there are feelings that are sometimes difficult to frame. 

I often feel that way when I take my occasional long walks around the Tsinghua campus. I had never enjoyed going for walks, but this changed when I came to Tsinghua. Suddenly, there was great motivation for me to do so, even more frequently than I would have ever have dreamed or imagined.

Each excursion that I took was like going out into a wonderland that was longing for discovery. With my headphones on, I would occasionally venture out and come back extremely satisfied with what I had seen; with the new places that I had discovered. There is something so amazing about this innate appreciation of beauty that we humans have, which can oftentimes be very therapeutic, healing and restorative. 

Admittedly, when I first came here in 2018, there was an amount of shock and a persistent feeling of being so small in a large campus. The heavy demands of school only added to the difficulty of the challenges set before me. I had not yet learned the role that getting inclined with my surroundings could play in easing up my settling down. Instead, I imposed some mental, geographical boundaries on myself that restricted my movements to classroom, canteen, dormitory, and then repeat. Now, this is by no means bad. But in my opinion, I think there is a better way.

A couple of years later, I started to realize that there was a lot of Tsinghua that I was missing out on! For some people, this happens much earlier. This, however, was not the case for me. Nevertheless, I am extremely glad that it eventually did. I started with small steps: sometimes opting to walk to class as opposed to riding a bike so that I could soak in a bit more of the surroundings. With time, I simply recognized that I needed more time to be out there, and needed to cover as much campus as I can.

Now, when the demands of school come creeping in, which almost always do, I go outside and take a deep breath, and soak in the nature around me. Now I can also see that the demands of school are not only something that is arduous, but are a present necessary demand that will create a better future for me.

Here is a poem that will walk us through a typical year on Tsinghua University campus.

An Ode to Tsinghua

What can I make of you in the warm summer-eve?

When the absence of day is probable to perceive?

When the warm evening breeze rolls gently on my skin,

Up and out through your caverns and crevices here within?

Ah! To the highest mountain on campus, I will go.

Upwards into the Observatory I will crawl,

to see your beauty as pleasing to the eye,

harmoniously reflected by the starry evening sky.

Before long, I shall encounter the Tsinghua autumn waltz;

where maple leaves descend in circles and somersaults.

Here, various shades of yellow and orange are seen all around,

as the leaves begin to populate the solid autumn ground.

What then can be said of you in the cold winter morning?

When the frosty air of Zijing playground is gradually warming?

When the chorus of life begins to burst forth into motion color

as bicycles, and bicycles, march, as to a symphony of Mahler?

Their destination? The marvelous Tsinghua Xuetang.

Where knowledge is acquired and future leaders sprung.

In here, I will see your great progress and achievements of old.

From here, I will see your promising future that remains untold.

The winter will soon abate, and usher in the magical time of spring;

as happy flowers reemerge on the Magnolia trees of Gong Zi Ting.

In unison they put up a nature ballet on display

that the humans can enjoy as they sojourn on the way.

Alas! my time here comes to a near close.

O how swiftly like the wind my time here goes!

But nothing comes close, not even in part,

to the memories that you’ve graven here in my heart

Read more about THU

Being mothers at Tsinghua: Love and resilience

Happy 111th birthday, Tsinghua! 

Huge applause for Tsinghua volunteers at Beijing 2022!

TsinghuaLens | Fall in love with Tsinghua

Writer: Isaac 

Editors: Gao Kejing, Sangeet Sangroula, Liu Shutian

Photographer: Camila

Designer: Bella Lim