For this experience, I was chosen as one of the 4 students from UC that are sent over to UC's sister school in China, Chong Qing University, every semester.
CQU has an internal program called the Joint Co-op Institute where students in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering have the same coursework as UC students in those majors. This includes the famous co-op program that UC invented. Additionally, many of their classes are taught by UC faculty and all of their classes are taught in English. The UC TAs are supposed to help them with their English skills, aid them with their classes, sit in on labs, grade papers, and help the students learn more about Americans as well. The final purpose is the most important part, because in the JCI students' 5th year, they come over to UC for their senior year, including senior design. By being exposed to Americans before they go over, it will ensure a smoother transition and connections when they get over to UC.
For my time at CQU, I was a TA for 4 classes: Engineering Models 2, Manufacturing Processes, Statics and Particle Dynamics, and Heat Transfer. The first class is a freshman class, the latter two are second year classes for Mechanical Engineering students that I took the semester prior, and Heat Transfer is a 4th year Mechanical Engineering class, so I had to learn the material along with the students (as I am only in my second year myself, but I was the only Mechanical Engineering TA).
This co op was the experience that I expected it to be, and much more! I was able to see many sides of the academic experience, make lifelong friends, live in a foreign country, and explore it, despite having minimal knowledge of the language.
During the Chinese New Year, I got to travel to several different cities, including Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Hangzhou (which was my friend's hometown-- Rebecca and I were SOLs together because this program also sends over 4 SOLs each summer to work with the UC SOLs), and just exploring Chong Qing, with my other friend Apollo. We got to explore such staples of the Chinese culture, such as the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, Shanghai Disney (not quite traditional, but still fun!), the National Stone Place (where we got some authentic jade), a few teahouses, the Terra Cotta Warriors, the West Lake, the Broken Bridge, the Chong Qing zoo, and Mt. Huashan, the most precipitious mountain in China. Later in the semester, I went with 3 professors and 3 Chinese TAs to Chengdu, to the international panda reserve, and saw the clouds go on for miles at the top of Mt Emei.
But the experience was obviously much more than travel. I had to learn how to adapt to living in a completely different culture without knowing the language, learning how to use body language, and all resources to communicate, including a translator app, as well as our wonderful Chinese friends. The experience was also learning how to teach, realizing how much work and preparation goes into it (as well as countless meetings), and how much expertise and relatability is required in order to effectively get one's point across. Part of the job was being personally accountable to the students, and the professors, and getting to know them (albeit in different contexts) as well. Becoming friends with both students and professors made the experience a lot more fulfilling.
Having my friends, from my amazing roommate, Jessica, who I had long conversations about life with, Dom, who was the down to earth TA of all of us, as well as Nick, an amazing storyteller, to all the Chinese TAs, Celia, Robert and Suri (who were a couple), and Alexandra, who welcomed us into their city, along with Rebecca, Apollo, and Amanda, and a few other friends that I made along the way made my experience much greater as well. Even the professors, Will, Sean, Pablo, Wei Wei, and our supervisor, Greg, became friends with us, making our experience much greater.
Being separated from my normal society was also the catalyst for much personal growth. Realizing who was important to me, and what truly fulfilled me allowed me to spent more priorities for my time when I returned to the States. Spending time drawing, reading, writing a blog, taking an online philosophy class, and running Astronomy Club from overseas. as well as keeping in touch with the people that mattered the most helped me make essential growth over the past semester as well.
To document this experience in a more comprehensive manner, I created a blog called Around the World for 122 Days, which can be found here at mycoopinchina.blogspot.net.
CQU has an internal program called the Joint Co-op Institute where students in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering have the same coursework as UC students in those majors. This includes the famous co-op program that UC invented. Additionally, many of their classes are taught by UC faculty and all of their classes are taught in English. The UC TAs are supposed to help them with their English skills, aid them with their classes, sit in on labs, grade papers, and help the students learn more about Americans as well. The final purpose is the most important part, because in the JCI students' 5th year, they come over to UC for their senior year, including senior design. By being exposed to Americans before they go over, it will ensure a smoother transition and connections when they get over to UC.
For my time at CQU, I was a TA for 4 classes: Engineering Models 2, Manufacturing Processes, Statics and Particle Dynamics, and Heat Transfer. The first class is a freshman class, the latter two are second year classes for Mechanical Engineering students that I took the semester prior, and Heat Transfer is a 4th year Mechanical Engineering class, so I had to learn the material along with the students (as I am only in my second year myself, but I was the only Mechanical Engineering TA).
This co op was the experience that I expected it to be, and much more! I was able to see many sides of the academic experience, make lifelong friends, live in a foreign country, and explore it, despite having minimal knowledge of the language.
During the Chinese New Year, I got to travel to several different cities, including Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Hangzhou (which was my friend's hometown-- Rebecca and I were SOLs together because this program also sends over 4 SOLs each summer to work with the UC SOLs), and just exploring Chong Qing, with my other friend Apollo. We got to explore such staples of the Chinese culture, such as the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, Shanghai Disney (not quite traditional, but still fun!), the National Stone Place (where we got some authentic jade), a few teahouses, the Terra Cotta Warriors, the West Lake, the Broken Bridge, the Chong Qing zoo, and Mt. Huashan, the most precipitious mountain in China. Later in the semester, I went with 3 professors and 3 Chinese TAs to Chengdu, to the international panda reserve, and saw the clouds go on for miles at the top of Mt Emei.
But the experience was obviously much more than travel. I had to learn how to adapt to living in a completely different culture without knowing the language, learning how to use body language, and all resources to communicate, including a translator app, as well as our wonderful Chinese friends. The experience was also learning how to teach, realizing how much work and preparation goes into it (as well as countless meetings), and how much expertise and relatability is required in order to effectively get one's point across. Part of the job was being personally accountable to the students, and the professors, and getting to know them (albeit in different contexts) as well. Becoming friends with both students and professors made the experience a lot more fulfilling.
Having my friends, from my amazing roommate, Jessica, who I had long conversations about life with, Dom, who was the down to earth TA of all of us, as well as Nick, an amazing storyteller, to all the Chinese TAs, Celia, Robert and Suri (who were a couple), and Alexandra, who welcomed us into their city, along with Rebecca, Apollo, and Amanda, and a few other friends that I made along the way made my experience much greater as well. Even the professors, Will, Sean, Pablo, Wei Wei, and our supervisor, Greg, became friends with us, making our experience much greater.
Being separated from my normal society was also the catalyst for much personal growth. Realizing who was important to me, and what truly fulfilled me allowed me to spent more priorities for my time when I returned to the States. Spending time drawing, reading, writing a blog, taking an online philosophy class, and running Astronomy Club from overseas. as well as keeping in touch with the people that mattered the most helped me make essential growth over the past semester as well.
To document this experience in a more comprehensive manner, I created a blog called Around the World for 122 Days, which can be found here at mycoopinchina.blogspot.net.