What are PKUers doing during the summer holidays?
Aug 07, 2020
Peking University, August 7, 2020: Editor's Note: The autumn semester has come to a close, and the summer holidays are almost halfway over! From volunteering to trying out new activities at home, PKUers around the world get creative in spending their summertime.
Malaysia: Volunteering
Quah Sik Meng from Guanghua School of Management
"Being born in a cosmopolitan city and thus blessed with top-notch educational facilities is something I have always been grateful for. The voluntary teaching program I participated in during the summer holidays made me realize that many kids don't have access to these facilities. While they may work hard, their efforts seldom pay off as they lack guidance in the process of learning and revision. Hence, I was glad to know that I could contribute to this cause. Though writing up lecture notes, preparing for lessons and marking homework are hardly easy tasks, I find it worthwhile as long as it helps the students.
I used to think that I had to work hard and achieve success before I could give back to society. However, my volunteering experience has shown that there is no need for the long wait - I am due to play my part in helping those in need right now. One's timely contribution can best adapt to current circumstances and is indeed valuable."
Tan Yong Seng from Guanghua School of Management
"I'd spent the whole of my spring semester holed up at home. Finally, after the trying period, I'd somehow came up with an idea of doing something meaningful for my life. One day, when I was scrolling through my Wechat moments, I saw an advertisement regarding a voluntary teaching program in a local high school, and decided to join the activity without much consideration. After three weeks of voluntary teaching, I realized how much resources mattered to a school. As the high school is located in an area where economic development lagged behind, the school's student population and teaching faculty were small. I'd observed that while the students here studied as much as students in the city, the former's academic performances and results were not as exemplar as the latter.
Though this voluntary program, I shared my experience in university with the students in hope of motivating them. While the problem of resource imbalance is not something I can tackle alone, I hope to do what I can to help the students with their studies."
South Korea: Summer School
Lee Geunmir from Department of Chinese Language and Literature
"My summer vacation is quite different from other students.
During the summer vacation, I took the 'Advanced Oral English' class and participated in a play three times. At that time, I really enjoyed preparing for the play with my classmates and felt that my English and theater skills have been improved. Even though I had to get up at 7 a.m. every morning, my vacation was very fruitful and enjoyable.
One weekend, I also went to Seoul to meet my friend!
On the last day of class, when the professor told us that the last class was over, I was very impressed by the professor's words that were along the lines of 'end of hard work and start of happiness.'
I think my vacation was harder than others, but I don't regret taking the class. And from now on, 我 也 放 假 了 (I can finally take a rest)!"
China: PKU Enrollment Activities
Li Jianxiong from Guanghua School of Management
"This summer, I became a member of the enrollment team for Peking University in Chongqing. A year ago, as a newcomer at PKU, I benefited greatly from the assistance of senior students, and I really wanted to offer my help this time.
We gathered on July 22nd. As a student volunteer, I was responsible for communication between a couple of students and their parents. To be honest, it wasn't as successful as I wished, with many unexpected scenarios popping up along the way, and we were all under great pressure. In fact, our most important duty, also the greatest challenge, was to provide students with as much information as we can so that they could make better decisions for their future paths. We hope that every student can jump out of rigid stereotypes, find out what he/she really wants, and make the best choice based on his/her own interests.
In the meantime, it's also a good chance for us to interact with students and families from different backgrounds and meet all those freshmen-to-be from our hometown. The enrollment task in Chongqing is still going on. I hope all of us can gain some precious experience from it, and also, wish all incoming PKUers the best!"
Ruan Yuanyuan from Law School
"Though I always call myself an 'indoors-girl', I didn't stay at home for long this holiday, spending the first three weeks of July wandering around Hangzhou, and the last week working as a volunteer to enroll new students for Peking University.
I have visited Hangzhou many times ever since I was little, but I have never stayed so long until I could find and admire some small details of the city - the changing radiance of the water in West Lake at dawn and dusk, and amazing places hiding on the streets and lanes in Hangzhou that were far from the main roads and commercial areas. One of my most unexpected discovery was a small café whose landlady had almost twenty dogs and cats and pigs and even an alpaca. Surrounded by cute animals at a cozy café in this big city is so relaxing and comforting! When I posted my selfie with the alpaca online, many were attracted and most of them couldn't believe that the alpaca was real!"
Writer: Estella Zhang Qiming, Li Wanqi
Editor: Pu Hairui
