Tsinghua students tell their online learning stories

Original GCO TSINGHUA

Editor's Note

Online learning has become a new normal around the world due to the uncertainty posed by the Pandemic. Tsinghua has been offering online education to its students, guided by the belief that access to education should not be interrupted under any circumstances. Let’s hear from five Tsinghua international students about their online learning experience and how online learning has enabled them to continue their studies even during the Pandemic.

The special online course

experience

“I have learned so much about Tsinghua and the Tsinghua campus through its official social media accounts, as well as photos and other details shared by many of my classmates who are on campus,” says Xinyi Chu, a Malaysian student of the School of Social Sciences studying online.

She browses the photos on her WeChat moments posted by her classmates of campus cuisine, campus scenery and other recreational activities. She also follows some vloggers on YouTube to gain a closer look at life on campus.

“Whenever I see them endeavoring on the Tsinghua campus, I am inspired to be hardworking and energetic,” she says.

Xinyi and her friends celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival online

Veldesen Yaputra, an Indonesian student at the Academy of Arts & Design, says he is thankful for the care shown by his professors to the students studying online. He once had a video call with one of his professors, seeking his advice on a model staircase he had designed for a design project. The teacher not only pointed out that the staircase was too wide, but also gave him some valuable suggestions as to how he could improve it.

This experience has been an eye-opener for him, and, he says, he was thrilled by the care shown by the distinguished professor.

Veldesen Yaputra‘s painting

Lea Chen from Germany, another international student studying online, says at first she had problems making friends due to the lack of face-to-face communication opportunities with her classmates. “I hoped to make some Chinese friends to practice my spoken Chinese, but the time difference prevented me from communicating with them,” she says.

Fortunately, she made acquaintance with two Tsinghua students who also took classes online. One is a German exchange student, and the other is an international student from Belgium. Later, Lea met them in Germany, exchanging their Tsinghua experiences.

Lea met with her Tsinghua friend from Belgium

"If I could go back to Tsinghua"

Jinglin Huang is the only international student at the School of Vehicle and Mobility. He says studying online has enabled him to take more professional courses. “I hope to leave enough time to make up for the missed two-year study abroad experience when I return to campus in my junior or senior year,” he adds. He says he is looking forward to travelling to China and experiencing the Tsinghua campus as well as the country itself.

Jinglin Huang

“After returning to school, I will boldly choose some practice courses,” Bayar, another international student from Mongolia, said. A sports lover, Bayar says he is highly fascinated by the strong sporting culture at Tsinghua “No Sports No Tsinghua.”

Bayar taking a group photo with his classmates

As a ballet dancer, the German student Lea Chen longs to stand on the stage during Tsinghua’s annual Festival and Gala Night, performing ballet for the audience in the spotlight. In addition, she also wishes to take photos on the beautiful Tsinghua campus capturing its four seasons. All the delicacies of the Tsinghua canteens are also a deep attraction to her, which makes her, like most international students, eager to taste every dish after returning to campus.

Lea on stage

To Veldesen Yaputra, the first thing he wants to do if he gets a chance to return to campus is to establish a sketching student society. He is keen on promoting the art of urban sketching at Tsinghua so that students from different backgrounds can enter the art world breezily and feel the charm of painting adequately. “The aim of the society is not to make people proficient in painting, but to acquire the capacity to discover and enjoy the beauty from different perspectives,” says he.

Veldesen Yaputra