01 Why DKU?
Looking back on my high school years, I think I was a bit out of place in the exam-oriented education system. I was confused for a long time, not understanding the meaning of going to school and why I was always passively accepting knowledge. I remember that in my senior year of high school, there was a Chinese assignment to write notes. At that time, the teacher did not frame the content, but wanted to see our thoughts on anything we were interested in. That was the first time I really reflected and recorded my relationship and interaction with my environment and began to think about what I really wanted to do as an independent individual. I gradually realized that three years of high school study was not enough for me to determine my university major immediately after graduation. I needed more time to explore various disciplines in depth, and the liberal arts education of DKU was exactly what I was looking for.
After further understanding the advantages of DKU’s international education and cross-cultural exchanges, I was deeply attracted by the academic atmosphere and campus life here, as if I saw many possibilities in life. Although I was still nervous about the uncertainties of the future, I finally plucked up the courage to apply to this young university that had no undergraduate graduates at the time.
Now that I am about to graduate, I can responsibly confirm that this was the right decision, and I am glad that I took a firm step of faith at that time.
Feng Youmei (President Emeritus of Duke Kunshan University) and I
02 Stories About My Major And Me
During my freshman year, I explored a variety of courses, such as Economics, Psychology, Media and Art, History, Behavioral Science, and Statistics. During this year of exploration, I felt very satisfied and found my interest in the subject – behavioral science. I found that this is an all-encompassing subject that involves knowledge from multiple disciplines such as Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, and Economics. Behavioral Science helps us understand a series of effects that affect human decision-making by studying human behavior patterns and decision-making processes in different situations. For example, the Prospect Theory proposed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky describes how people evaluate potential losses and gains in risky decisions. The theory believes that people are usually more averse to losses than they are to gains of the same size, which explains why people tend to be more conservative when facing potential losses. Behavioral Science allows me to boldly explore other disciplines while learning my professional knowledge and try to understand a lot of interdisciplinary knowledge from the perspective of this major. This laid a solid foundation for my later exploration in the field of Political Science and helped me find my own unique path in academic research.
03 Significant Research Experience
During the summer vacation of my sophomore year, I was fortunate to be invited by Professor Gainous, the vice dean of the undergraduate college, to participate in a summer research scholar (SRS) project led by him. This study aims to explore the reasons why corruption in Puerto Rico is difficult to solve. By analyzing the public communication content on Twitter, we can identify the communication mode adopted by Puerto Rican legislators when dealing with corruption. For example, we will focus on identifying whether legislators only use “cheap talk” to verbally promise to fight corruption, or use “committed talk” to take action.
Since the focus of this study is on data mining and processing, I have encountered many challenges without professional data science training. With the help of the Professor and two seniors, Mark Liu and You Wu, I learned a lot about data science, including the collection of social media data and data analysis techniques such as topic modeling and sentiment analysis. In addition, I had the opportunity to write and revise the paper with the professor at the end of the project, which was of great help to my subsequent graduate application and undergraduate landmark project. After more than a year of hard work, we took this research to the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association and demonstrated this achievement to other political science scholars as undergraduates.
Through this research experience, I really found my academic interest point, hoping to combine Behavioral Science with Political Science and have a deeper understanding of the field of political communication and political behavior. After that, I studied modern Chinese politics and Chinese mass media at DKU and studied American political system and political communication at Duke. I also participated in some academic research that focused more on Chinese society under the guidance of other professors. These experiences deepened my understanding of such an interdisciplinary field and also brought inspiration to my landmark project during my undergraduate period.
Photo with You Wu and Mark Liu from the same research group
04 Colorful Leadership Experience
During four years at DKU, I participated in many organizations and clubs on campus and unlocked many different identities, including Office Assistant (OA) and Dormitory Assistant (RA) in the Residence Life Department and President of the Model Club.
One of the activities that impressed me the most was organizing the 2023 Spring Campus Model Show with the management students in the Model Club. In fact, since I joined the Model Club, I have always had an idea in my mind that I want to make the beautiful campus a natural T-stage and hold a unique campus model show. The most important thing to realize this idea is the coordination of lighting and venues. Therefore, I have to run between lighting suppliers and various departments of the school, constantly ask about feasibility, and constantly adjust expectations. Finally, with the great help of the school, a wooden corridor on the other side of the Lake Pavilion was renovated as the final show venue. In addition, the entrance coordination with other clubs, the arrangement of lighting, the arrangement of audience seats, external publicity, and the training and rehearsal of models were all completed with the efforts of the entire team. The final effect of the model shows far exceeded expectations, attracting hundreds of students and faculty.
I think the key to the success of this event is to have a clear goal and the will to achieve it. In my mind, an excellent leader should know how to mobilize the power of the team to complete different tasks, and at the same time be familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of each person in the team, and reasonably allocate work content so that everyone’s potential can be maximized.
Together with the management students of the model agency to organize 2023 Spring Campus Model Show
05 Impressive Memory In Duke
The semester studying in Duke was very fulfilling. At the beginning of the semester, due to dormitory allocation issues, I was not assigned to the same dormitory as my best friend as I wished but was assigned to a Duke University undergraduate who studied physics. This American classmate was the first friend I met at Duke University. During the months we lived together, we shared our lives with each other, tasted each other’s cooking skills, and had a drink together late at night at the end of the semester. Because he was a member of the Duke University rowing team, he invited me to get up at 5 a.m. to attend the open rowing training and returned to campus with me at 8 a.m. to attend the morning class. This was a very wonderful experience for me.
Participating in the open rowing training of Duke University
In addition, there are many crazy experiences that impressed me very much, such as going to the lawn outside the stadium with friends to camp at 4 a.m. before the Duke University home basketball game and queuing to wait for entry; not sleeping in the dormitory on weekends for a month, and going to various swamps and forests to camp with friends from the Duke University Outdoor Club. I also visited many cities in the United States with my friends, such as driving to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, the ski town Stowe on the border between the United States and Canada, and Manhattan Island in New York during Christmas.
I think the charm of cross-cultural communication is that I can constantly come into contact with new things and constantly have ideological collisions with people from other cultural backgrounds. This keeps me in an exploratory heart and is keen to discover the potential good things around me.
Going camping in the swamp and forest with friends from Duke Outdoor Club
06 Why Love DKU?
The reason to love DKU is easy. The school gives every student full freedom and respect to pursue their own future. The biggest help I got at DKU is the abundant academic resources and rich extracurricular activities here, which allow me to fully develop my potential in all aspects. Whether it is participating in various performances after joining the choir in my sophomore year or competing fiercely with off-campus teams as a member of the DKU Frisbee school team, at DKU, I can always find like-minded groups and develop my interests and hobbies.
In addition, DKU’s classroom also impressed me, because here I truly experienced the student-centered teaching characteristics. Unlike traditional large-class teaching, every student has the opportunity to express his or her own opinions in a small class, and exchange and collide with classmates. Everyone’s voice can be heard, and every point of view can be discussed in depth, which not only promotes mutual understanding between students, but also greatly stimulates students’ thinking and innovation ability. Outside of class, the professors’ office hours are also a part that impressed me. During this time, students can freely discuss course content, raise questions or explore research directions with professors. Face-to-face communication and debate with professors, this teaching mode has greatly enhanced my learning initiative and independent thinking ability.
Academic freedom is the cornerstone of DKU’s cultivation of innovative thinking and independent talents. This is not just a concept, but also a practical manifestation in the school’s teaching and daily operations. This is very attractive to students and professors who pursue high-quality education and scientific research.
As a member of the DKU Frisbee School Team, competing with off-campus teams
07 Suggestions To Fellow Students
There is no preset trajectory in life. It is better to spend more time on inward self-exploration. This is not an easy road, it requires us to be honest with our imperfections, fears and dreams. However, it is this process that gives us strength, allowing us to face the choices and challenges of life with more confidence and calmness. When we begin to build our lives from the inside out rather than being dictated by external expectations, we will discover a more authentic and lasting sense of happiness in life.
Translated and Edited by Zhenyu Tian, Class of 2027
