On the evening of June 18th, 2021, Mudan Academy invited some outstanding undergraduates to share their experience about learning, life, postgraduate recommendation, and overseas studying to help the students with their professional development. Dr. Zhang Chen and Professor Li Min participated in the event as representatives of the tutors in Mudan Academy.
Pang Zhihao, an undergraduate student of the College of Life Sciences, has been recommended to Zhejiang University for master and doctoral studies. Pang Zhihao first introduced his learning methods of professional theoretical curriculum, advocating the students to use mobile phones as an aid to learning and not to be dominated by mobile phones. Later, he pointed out that participating in the innovation and entrepreneurship training program for college students assisted him in his future study, and encouraged them to actively participate in the project application and research work of the entrepreneurship programs for college students. On the issue of postgraduate recommendation, based on his experience in preparing materials for summer camp, Pang Zhihao gave his own suggestions on how to write personal statements, how to ask teachers to write recommendation letters, and how to take the initiative in interviews.
Pang Ruolan, an English major of the College of Foreign Languages, has been recommended to the College of Education of Shanghai Jiaotong University. Based on examples, Pang Ruolan shared her experience in studying and researching, student work, recreational and sports activities in the university from both macro and micro dimensions, and combined her own experience to introduce the process of postgraduate recommendation and what needs to be paid attention to in the application process. Finally, Pang Ruolan encouraged the students to cherish every minute in the university and spend four regretless years in Nankai university.
Wu Yuedi, an undergraduate student majoring in English at the College of Foreign Languages, has been recommended to the College of Economics of Nankai University. Based on her own experience, she first introduced the detailed process, steps and materials that need to be prepared for the postgraduate recommendation, and reviewed the common problems and strategies in the interview. Eventually, Wu Yuedi suggested that undergraduates should participate in more scientific research activities, do more research and write papers in their field of interest, which is very helpful to improve their performance in the interview.
Zhao Yadi, an undergraduate student majoring in English of the College of Foreign Languages, has been admitted to the University of Cambridge. She introduced in detail the materials that are required to apply for foreign universities, the requirements for Grade Point Average(GPA), the procedures, the writing of personal statements, the application time, the acquisition of information, and the role of the agents.
After the experience sharing session of the four students, other students had exchanges with them on major and minor, compulsory courses and optional courses, and the choice of universities and majors. Zhang Chen and Li Min, the tutors, also put forward their own suggestions for the professional development of the students based on their own experiences and teaching experience.
This activity of Mudan Academy provided advice and motivation for the students' professional development. Zhang Lanxuan, an undergraduate student of the College of Economics in 2018, said that she was very pleasant to be able to participate in the sharing activities organized by Mudan Academy, which offered her detailed information of the postgraduate recommendation, interview, application and other aspects. The supplement and comments of two tutors are filled with the wisdom of the experienced person, which benefited me a lot. Fan Rongrong, an undergraduate majoring in English, shared the same view. She said that she is facing choices about the future and the final exams with doubts and hesitations in her junior year. But after the activity, the questions in her heart were answered and the direction became clearer. The experience of the senior schoolmates gave her a lot of inspiration, and made her understand the process of postgraduate recommendation, postgraduate entrance examination and overseas study. The suggestions provided by the teachers also solved many of her puzzles at this stage, reduced her anxiety, and she hoped that more similar activities would be held in the future.
Since its establishment, Mudan Academy has actively implemented the spirit of Opinions on Deepening the Reform of Undergraduate Education and Teaching to Comprehensively Improve the Quality of Talent Training initiated by the Ministry of Education and the Action Plan to Improve First-Class Undergraduate Education Quality of Nankai University(2019-2021) and other documents, continues to develop the new model of education, and organizes activities such as appointments with tutors, peer collaboration, honorary credits from the College of Foreign Languages, and language and culture experience classes of non-universal language at weekends so as to create a development community for teachers and students. Through foreign language festivals, diplomatic talent contests, and talent training from international organizations Camps, exchange meetings of youngsters at home and abroad, lectures on region and country studies, students’ international horizons can be expanded and their patriotic sentiments will be cultivated, and then they will contribute their own wisdom and practical experience to the construction of contemporary academy.
