In August 2022, I came to Duke University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to participate in a semester long exchange life. For me, spending more than four months here is a totally different experience from my past life. As a student from a foreign country, I learned knowledge and warm feelings 11000 kilometers away from Beijing Jiaotong University.

study

In terms of learning, the curriculum of Duke University is very friendly to exchange students. Four courses with three credits have only 12 hours of class time in a week, so I can easily complete the study of various courses when I adapt to the intensity of domestic learning life. All the courses here emphasize "whole process learning" without exception, that is, there will be many exams and quizs, and the scores of the whole course will be evenly distributed in different stages of learning, and the proportion of the final exam is even the same as that of the ordinary exam at other times. This also means that learning needs to follow up the course progress, without the idea of temporary cramming.

Class Schedule Card

The four courses are taught by four professors from different ethnic groups. From this point alone, I deeply appreciate the characteristics of the melting pot of American culture, not to mention that the students in the classroom also have different skin colors, pupil colors and accents. Although everyone comes from different corners of the earth, everyone is very friendly and polite.

Here I would like to thank Dr Teacher Rui Liu. There is always a wonderful arrangement of fate when you meet a Chinese teacher in another hemisphere of the earth. She takes classes very seriously, explains the slides and course content very carefully, and gives me detailed answers to any details that she can't keep pace with after class office hours. Not only the knowledge in class, but also talking with her has made me plan my future study and even career.

campus

Duken's campus gives me a feeling that although a sparrow is small, it is all dirty. Although the campus is not large (about 10 minutes' walk from the diagonal of the campus), the dormitory, canteen, library, gym and other facilities are very satisfactory.

Front view of dormitory door

Let's talk about dormitory first. My dormitory is located in the southwest corner of the campus, with four floors in total. There are drinking water devices in the dormitory building. Each floor has two bathrooms and showers, and a laundry room. Living in the third room, I have three tables, three wardrobes and four storage drawers in the room, which is very rich in storage space. The size of the bed is the same as that of Beijiao University, the only difference is that the mattress is thicker. In general, except that the room is close to the road and has more noise, other details can be said to be impeccable.

Outside the dormitory window

Then talk about the library. Almost all libraries in Duken University are self-study places, and they are even divided into two major types: group study and quiet study. Each type of study room has two floors, and there is more than one socket beside the seat for self study to facilitate the charging of electronic equipment. The library is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays, covering almost the whole day.

Next is the canteen. The school mainly has three eating places, two school canteens and a North American fried chicken fast food chain. The buffet canteen is open in the morning, noon and evening, and the other two are open almost all day. Students who prefer western fast food in China should have a good time in the canteen.

gym

Finally, the gym. The gymnasium of Duke University can be described as luxurious: there is a whole building full of various fitness facilities. The two floors are indoor basketball halls, and the other two floors cover all kinds of fixed machinery and movable equipment. I also successfully spent two months of healthy and self-discipline life because of my freshness: I went back and forth between the teaching building and the library during the day, and stayed in the gym at night.

Extracurricular activities

Duken's extracurricular activities can be described in a variety of ways. When we first arrived in Duken, our international students were invited to a picnic in the park. Everyone talked and talked by the river and felt the relaxed atmosphere with the band singing.

Picnic area

The band accompanies the picnic

Now I think it's a pity that I didn't join the Asian Student Union because I was busy preparing for GMAT. At the end of the term week, the canteen also held a midnight breakfast activity to help students prepare for the exam to relieve pressure.

In the days after that, there were also activities such as club recruitment. Now, in retrospect, in addition to the official activities of the school, there is a Chinese Church (PCCO) in Pittsburgh that mainly operates at Duke University. Even if you don't believe in Christianity, you can also participate in some of their public welfare activities, such as Thanksgiving activities. It is also touching to be able to spend a wonderful holiday with Chinese people who grew up in China on the other side of the world.

PCCO Chinese Church Thanksgiving Day Activity 1

PCCO Chinese Church Thanksgiving Day Activity 2

epilogue

I sincerely thank the School of Economics and Management of Beijing Jiaotong University for giving me this opportunity to carry out international exchanges. At the same time, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the teachers, students and friends who have helped me in foreign countries.