Writer: Biao Su (Bradley)
Last week, I finished the last class of my undergraduate course online last week. Such an online course ending inevitably makes students feel strange. Looking back on the past four years in DCU, there are many differences compared with my previous education in China.
A good academic atmosphere is what I have always wanted in my student days. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to experience it in my previous education. Before deciding to take an undergraduate course at DCU, I studied at a university in China for a year. In that period of university experience that disappointed me a lot, I didn’t get the academic atmosphere I wanted. For example, the mode of class is the same as before the college entrance examination, only lectures but lack of group discussions.
In contrast, the academic life at DCU has allowed me to regain my motivation and interest in learning. Frequent group discussions in class give me the opportunity to improve my communication skills and critical thinking skills. Apart from this, it takes more effort to pass the continuous assessment (CA) and final exams in DCU. I never had the experience of staying up late to finish homework and review before exams in my university life in China. However, it seems that spending a lot of time completing assignments has become a norm in the past few years at DCU.
In addition to academic life, the society activities in DCU also made me feel different. In the past few years, I have joined many clubs and societies in DCU. The process of participating in and organizing society activities has brought me a lot of happiness and gave me a chance to improve some of my skills, especially the experience in several society committee teams. In contrast, even though I joined five or six societies during my one-year university time in China, participating in club activities did not leave me too many fond memories because these activities lack creativity and the participation of members is not sufficient.
The different lifestyles in the two college days also left a deep impression on me. Living in a dormitory in China made me discover the importance of integrating into the lives of my roommates. College roommates who get along day and night had a great impact on my university life. In the past few years at DCU, I spent most of my time in rented houses off campus. Although my room is a bit lonely, this kind of life has also cultivated some of my new habits.