Evelyn
Interview of other scholars
This months blog, which is my final blog, will be an interview with some of my fellow scholars. I made a questionnaire asking about their experiences here so you can have a better understanding of the other aspects of the scholarship beyond just the learning. The questionnaire was completely anonymous so they could be completely honest about their feelings in a way that may not happen by asking them directly.
- What did you miss the most from home?
The top answers from this question revealed that people tended to miss their family, friends, pets, and food. However some people also answered that they missed the easy communication or their bedrooms.
- What do you wish you had brought with you?
This question brought more varied answers with some people saying they had brought everything they needed or wanted. Everyone else had different ideas on what they wished they had brought. Here are a few
- Snacks
- More money
- Pictures of family and friends
- Nintendo switch
Most of them are related to what people enjoy doing/ what they will miss the most. So always remember your hobbies when you are packing.
- What do you wish you had left at home?
This had a unanimous answer of clothing/ clothing related items such as sport-specific gear. There were a few people who also answered that they’d wished they hadn’t brought excess quantities of buyable things like deodorant and other items.
- If you could make this course 4 years long and earn a degree at the end would you?
This had mixed answers with some people saying no and others saying yes. The people saying yes would do it if they would still get the bursary because of the inability to work on a student visa. Whilst the ones who said no either said they wouldn’t want to be away from family that long, and it takes away from the fun of this being a gap year.
- If you could choose one canteen meal to be able to summon at any moment what would it be?
This question, which I thought would give much more diverse answers, only ended up with 4 different meals. The majority of people said they would want to be able to summon wonton soup or peanut chicken (rice with saucy chicken and peanuts topped with sesame seeds). However there were some who would prefer bao buns or chicken and chips (a stone pot that gets filled with chicken, chips, and tofu and it cooks whilst you eat it).
- What has been the hardest/ most challenging part of the scholarship?
The top answer was missing home and people. However the other answers were to do with the early months of the scholarship such as settling in, building relationships, learning independence, and getting used to Chinese customs.
- If you could restart the scholarship from day one, what would you do differently?
This question gave a range of answers such as:
- Pay more attention in class, as they feel like they could’ve taken more from this opportunity
- Plan out time better, but take breaks when necessary
- Be more confident as Chinese people think your Chinese is good even if you make mistakes, so don’t be afraid
- Utilise Taobao more (a cheap online shopping company where you can find almost everything you could need)
- Be more confident when meeting new people and try to be outgoing and do more fun things
- What is a non language related thing that you feel you have learnt this year?
There was a lot of similar themes within the answers. These are the key points,
- The importance of having good friends for when times get tough
- To take initiative and project the ‘you’ you want to become
- Confidence in new situations
- Independence
- What is your favourite moment of time from here so far?
There were many fun things that happened over the year and these are a few of the answers:
- Dressing up as Teletubbies for Halloween and meeting many Chinese students
- Celebrating birthdays and realising that we had come together like a family
- Travelling and getting to see many countries and cities
- Being around everyone laughing at our shenanigans
- What would your best piece of advice for someone thinking about doing this scholarship or something similar to it?
These are the answers:
- Just do it! Obviously this isn’t something to go into lightly, but if you’re looking for reasons NOT to do this scholarship and find yourself coming up short, it’s a sign you should do it. It’s 100% worth it.
- Other than put yourself out there and treat yourself to doing things you usually wouldn’t do just because of fear (or other reasons ofc) but genuinely consider whether or not you’re capable of coping with mental health with little support infrastructure in place for foreigners.
- Travel. Be safe. Suggest things that you wanna do and then make them happen. Climb a mountain. Visit Japan. You have free will. Use it.
- Don’t overpack. If you’re ever struggling, trust that living here does get better with time for everyone.
- You gotta live while you are young. Don’t hold back from things, don’t let things eat away at your brain. Don’t feel you are dumb there are probably many other people out there who have the same feelings.
- I would say just go for it, the time honestly flies by so quickly and you get to experience so many different things. You genuinely learn so much Chinese and meet so many different people.
In short. This scholarship is a great opportunity and if you’re thinking about it then you should probably just apply for it anyways.