Everyone in this planet was forced to face the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. No one was exception. How to make our YCA Family a stronger one online? How to help our Yenching Scholars get closer despite the distance between them in geographic sense? And how to build our Jingyuan into a bridge for efficient communication between students and teachers?
Our YCA Family, Scholars and teachers alike presented marvelous answers in the past year despite all hardships. We organized activities offline and online regardless of time differences and saw no one left unattended. New activities were designed and new methods applied. YCA has thus been known to more via our Scholars living all over the world.
Student orientation was conducted both online and on campus at the beginning of the semester. The students on campus met each other and walked around the campus. Those staying at home due to the epidemic enjoyed no less via livestreaming and online meetings.
Our Scholars enjoyed more the Game Evenings. The sparkling new ideas shortened the physical distances. They had online “What’s the Doodle” and vis-à-vis board games. Everyone contributed and enjoyed. And a stronger tie has been nurtured. Students celebrated the Mid-Autumn Day, competed in YCA Olympics and smiled in their MYCA Micro Videos. They met and shared offline and online.
In “China in My Eyes”, Paulina Zofia Uznanska from Poland, Jacob Zecha Mpemba from Kenya, Yuan Zeng Ashley Tan from Singapore and Ekaterina Kologrivaya from Russia talked about their life in China and what they thought about China’s economy and culture.
And on Cultural Nights, Yenching Scholars from Rwanda, South Korea, the U.S., Singapore and many other countries and regions showed what their hometowns look like. Students held discussions on cultural diversity at YCA and knew better about the world outside their hometowns.
Our Scholars organized eight seminars on topics like the China-US dialog, AIDS and Macedonian culture.
Everyone at YCA has contributed to our YCA Family, in hard times like the epidemic. Office of Students Affairs worked hard on students’ activities, including a group visit to the National Museum of China on 15 November and a culture trip to Yunju Temple on 28 November. Our Scholars on campus thus forged closer relationship regardless of their cohorts and nationalities.
We have owed much to the six-member team of resident advisors from the 5th Cohort for their contribution to YCA Family. They have spared no efforts to forge a stronger tie between YCA Scholars by giving welcome parties, birthday parties, pen pal meetings, nights for film and game, and foodies’ festivals.
B. Shruti Rao from India was grateful for her RA Peixuan Wang. Peixuan kept in touch with Shruti on other social media, informing her of what’s-going-on at YCA. Peixuan also reached Shruti via video calls. Shruti felt more at ease. Our RAs made YCA a warm and caring home for all Scholars.
Our Scholars could talk about whatever make them happy or worry to their class teachers, who had private chats with each Scholar this semester. Every class teacher spent at least 15 hours in these talks. They chatted with students, helping them out of anxiety and sorrow, sharing with them their joy and shedding light on their life and study.
