On Friday, September 11, 2020, The Beijing Center (TBC) welcomed its Fall 2020 cohort comprised of local Chinese freshman from the College of the Holy Cross, Saint Joseph’s University, University of Notre Dame, and University of the South.
As part of their journey into higher education, the American Pathway Programstudents will earn undergraduate credit at TBC that will transfer to their US universities, while also taking part in various seminars and activities on college success and American culture aimed at helping to prepare them for their future semesters living and studying abroad in the US.
The orientation weekend began with a welcome ceremony at TBC where students heard speeches from TBC Executive Director, Dr. Simon Koo and the Student Life supervisors who will guide them throughout their program.
Dr. Koo reminded the students of the importance of deciding what you want to do in life, rather than solely hoping to become someone or emulate someone’s already established career cycle. Given the current global education environment, Dr. Koo did not fail to recognize the challenges in pursuing international studies, and why it is more important than ever to work towards academic and professional goals with purpose.
Meanwhile, the Student Life supervisors continued to welcome students with encouraging words and showed an introductory video about TBC. In addition to finding out essential information about their semester ahead, the rest of the orientation weekend allowed them to explore the campus, participate in different ice breaker games, and further prepare themselves for their upcoming intensive and transformative semester at TBC.
Founded in 1998, The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies (TBC) is a center of higher education in Mainland China committed to fostering mutual understanding between China and other cultures through cultural exchange, education and research. What makes us unique is our placement in a long and storied tradition of Jesuit education, one that teaches us that true cultural engagement starts first with friendship.
The American Pathway Program at TBC is focused and rigorous, designed for Chinese students who are interested in obtaining a bachelor’s degree in the United States. American Pathway students spend one to two years taking transferable courses at The Beijing Center, while preparing themselves for their entry into university in the US.
The Beijing Center continually works to establish articulation agreements with undergraduate institutions around the world to facilitate Chinese student transfers into bachelor’s degree programs. For more information on such agreements, contact us by email at advisor@thebeijingcenter.org or call +86-10-8415-8816.
The past few weekends have been some of the most exciting of the entire semester, full of trips to the zoo, mountain hikes, ancient parks, and more! Our first trip out of many was a visit to the Beijing Zoo. I had mentioned earlier in the semester that I wanted to see some pandas, since I was in China after all, and our TBC friend Andy made it happen.
Spending a whole semester in Beijing, I knew I had to make the trip down south and check out Shanghai, and the city certainly lived up to the expectations. Everyone describes Shanghai as this super futuristic metropolis, and after spending a weekend there I understand why it has this reputation.