-Xie Lili from 2006 2The British 3+2 Master Program

The phoenix flowers bloom again. Time is passing by when we’re busy writing reports and preparing for exams. Only when we settle down our minds can we notice that we’re about to graduate.

It’s a complex feeling approaching the graduation date. I felt defeated from the Higher Education Entrance Exams when I just stepped into the campus and the new environment attracted me. Instead of being marginalized and I blended in the community.

The first year is a preparation program for us to improve our English skills. We had foreign teachers from different countries. At the beginning, we were all too shy to speak up because listening and reading was the focus of our previous classes in high school. With the help of the foreign teachers, we gradually became brave enough to express ourselves. I fell in love with English as I improved my language skills.

The sophomore and junior years make us disoriented at the beginning because of the increased difficulty and the pressure of getting a certain IELTS score. Fortunately, most of our teachers are returned overseas students who have rich experiences in learning English and working. They helped us develop a rigorous learning attitude and were open-minded. We had lectures and tutorials. We also had group work, such as presentation. We not only learn by listening in classes, but also have chances to improve our abilities of expression. The most important is to learn to work together. Teachers who have rich experience in IELTS provided specialized training for us to make up for our deficits. I finally got IELS 6 with 7 in listening from 5 and 6 in writing from 5.

My HND program is about to end and I’m starting my journey in the UK. I’m very grateful for those teachers who helped with our study and I’ve become more confident facing a new environment. The colorful experience here is an important stop in my lifetime.

I hope that the paths our students walk on will be as splendid as the phoenix flowers.