Wind, frost, rain, or snow can form when cold air encounters warm air; time seems to pass very slowly when spring and winter meet; and a sense of vastness will be created when the sky and the earth appear to merge together. So, what will we see if members of the School of International Studies, Nanjing University meet together? We will see a new atmosphere in the new school, the beginning of a new journey, and a new future and new development.
It was a cold winter in Nanjing, with a strong wind. A faculty—student meeting themed on “Stretching for Stars, Growing with New Vitality” was held at the School of International Studies, Nanjing University. This event aimed to foster better communication between teachers and students at the school, create a more positive and productive learning environment, and encourage all members of SIS to jointly contribute to its development. It was also designed to promote better communication and unity among students of different grades and encourage mutual support and cooperation, thus improving the overall cohesion and influence of the school. In addition to enriching students’ extracurricular life, this event can reduce their learning pressure and help them successfully prepare for and complete their final exam. The participants at the event can also send wishes to each other as they bid farewell to the old year and welcomed the coming year.
Before the start of this event, the participating teachers and students signed in at the entrance of the Activity Room. They randomly selected number plates and then wore nameplates and commemorative cards exclusively prepared for each of them. Subsequently, they were grouped by the selected number and got seated.
At the beginning of this event, Prof. Zhu Feng, executive dean of the SIS, addressed all the participants. He expressed expectations for the construction of the school and its discipline development. He also sent his most sincere wishes to us, the first batch of students of the new school, and wished the event a great success. Subsequently, two faculty representatives, Li Lingqun and Wang Wanlu, delivered speeches to all. With a witty and humorous tone, both teachers encouraged each member of our school to fulfill international missions and strive to gain a global perspective. The two also expressed their big expectations for the future development of the school.
Diversified colorful games were also prepared in this event to help break ice between teachers and students and also enhance their mutual communication. The first game was “Passing the Parcel”. It seemed as if we were brainstorming together. Teachers and students tried to use as many keywords as possible to describe themselves. They also challenged other teams with niche, obscure words to present themselves in a different way. In the lively “recognizing a song by ear” game, teachers and students identified songs quickly and accurately by listening to them. This indicated that teachers and students at our school also have a rich and lively extracurricular life beyond their work and study. The recognition of national anthems aroused enthusiastic responses on-site, reflecting the professional knowledge of our teachers and students.
In the third game, “Developing the Ability to Act”, all of us gave a performance on the types of drinks we drank. Although members in each group tried to conceal their discomfort after drinking vinegar, they lost control of their facial expressions due to the peculiarly sour taste.
Our games ended with the lively and exciting “You Say, I Guess” link. It was required that each team should designate one member to give descriptions and other members of the team should guess the professional terms on national affairs. The rapid response of teachers and students won praise from the audience again and again. Anyhow, what both sides said was sometimes “completely different”, which received sustained laughter on-site and brought the event to an end.
In order to encourage all members to actively participate in this event, generous gifts were also prepared and the lucky draw link was arranged. The lucky teachers and students received exquisite gifts. After the end of the games, the three teams with the highest scores were awarded prizes.
In the final part, every one of us was asked to pick our annual keywords. All of us gave our words freely, “happy, healthy, hardworking…” At that moment, each participant was having a feeling of warmth and sharing the beauty.
At the conclusion of this event, Mr. Yao Yuan, deputy dean of the school, and two student representatives cut a cake together and shared it with all the other teachers and students present. Each piece of cake represents each student from the SIS shouldering the duty for the future development of the school and its disciplines. As the first students of the school, we should follow the principle of “based in China, care for the world” more, live up to our teachers’ earnest teachings, serve our motherland with heartfelt sincerity, and be a person with lofty aspirations.
Even the chill outside the window cannot affect our enthusiasm and expectations. The meeting finally came to a successful conclusion amid laughter. Although we gathered late, our spirit, emotions, pursuits, and aspirations were no less impressive. Adhering to the principle of “Growing with New Vitality”, we believed what is before us is a promising future. Starting from here, we are based in China and care for the whole world.
Let’s look forward to seeing each other again in Shengda Building when the new spring comes. Wish all the SIS members health in winter and everything goes well.
