NYU Shanghai chancellor Tong Shijun presents a bachelor's degree certificate to a graduate during the school's undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 25. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
On May 25, more than 100 students of New York University's class of 2021 from the school's "go local "program attended NYU Shanghai's undergraduate commencement ceremony.
NYU Shanghai says it hosted 2,200 Chinese undergraduates and 700 Chinese graduate students mainly from NYU New York. They have been studying at the Shanghai campus since the fall semester last year due to travel restrictions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program allowed students to apply for studies at an NYU location closer to home.
Many students expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to take classes on campus and experience extracurricular activities.
The school adds that a guiding principle for the "go local" program was to provide students with the highest quality education and support. NYU Shanghai also worked to secure facilities that would enable these students to enjoy resources similar to the New York school. Facilities also underwent physical and technological upgrades to support diverse teaching styles.
A Sino-United States joint campus founded in 2012, NYU Shanghai hired 46 faculty members from the NYU global network and other institutions to teach in the "go local" program. Nearly 70 faculty members from NYU Shanghai also taught extra courses for these students.
Zhao Qinglin, who majored in economics and mathematics at NYU New York and spent her last year of university at the Shanghai campus, says the institution worked hard to maintain a sense of normalcy despite the pandemic raging on in other parts of the world, and this has inspired her to excel in a challenging year.
Zhao has decided to join the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, and says the experience at NYU Shanghai was one to remember.
"NYU Shanghai resembles NYU New York in that it also has an open campus located in the thriving Pudong district and is in proximity to many exciting places where there is a sense of vibrancy," she says.
"What's special about NYU Shanghai is that it preserves a stronger academic atmosphere despite the hustle of a metropolis and provides a more contemporary and innovative environment."
Nearly 300 students of NYU Shanghai's class of 2021 also celebrated the completion of their studies at the commencement ceremony. Despite various challenges, the school says the graduates have succeeded in finding the next promising steps.
The number of students applying for a medical or health-related master's or PhD degree program has grown. Work opportunities in China have also increased for international students as compared with last year.
Separately, Duke Kunshan University in Jiangsu province recently announced that it will welcome its largest and most diverse class of international students in the coming fall semester after 180 students from 48 countries accepted offers to enroll into the university's undergraduate programs.
DKU received a record 1,800 applications from international students this year, more than double the number last year.
Renowned Shanghai doctor Zhang Wenhong, who led the Shanghai team of experts to treat novel coronavirus cases, was conferred an honorary medal by the NYU chancellor at the commencement ceremony for his extraordinary contributions in fighting the pandemic.
At the ceremony, Zhang says that cooperation and sacrifice are still humanity's best weapons to overcome all kinds of difficulties.
"The spirit of cooperation and teamwork cultivated through university life will become the fundamental power for the youth to overcome all difficulties in the future," says Zhang, who is the director of the infectious diseases department at Shanghai's Huashan Hospital Affiliated with Fudan University.
"I believe that the future of human beings depends on whether the young people of the world can finally come together."
NYU Shanghai chancellor Tong Shijun reminded graduates to focus not on the tribulations of the moment, but on what is possible instead.
"In this world full of uncertainties, the best mentality is to see uncertainties as possibilities, to look for ideals in possibilities, and to work for our ideals, including our ideals of personal excellence and communal well-being, with creativity and perseverance," he says.
