On July 6th 2021, at 9:30am, the Overseas Education College held an interactive forum with the entire student body which took place at the Academic Auditorium. OECians massively availed themselves with full alacrity coupled with the sense of promptness as they made themselves readily available ahead of the scheduled time slated for the meeting. The chief guests of this memorable session were: Prof. Gao Jing [Dean of OEC], Ms. Huang Ting [Executive Deputy Secretary of OEC, CPC Branch], Prof. Cai Zhaohui [Vice Dean of OEC], Mr. Su Jianhong [Vice Dean of OEC], Dr. Cui Yong [Vice Dean of OEC] along with various respected teachers of the OEC.

The ultimate goal of this forum was to address the issues students encountered during the past years, since the beginning of COVID-19 lockdowns, and emphasize on the team work that has brought us so far in the fight against the pandemic. Also, it was geared towards motivating students to make the best use of the resources provided at JSU.

She introduced and gave an interactive lecture based on the following four (4) thematic areas which are as follows: Know China well, Know JSU well, Feel Thankful and Work Together.

The forum was inaugurated by Dr. Cui which was followed by a speech by Prof. Gao, through her speech, enlightened us on the importance of collectivism, collective happiness and putting in hard work for the improvement of us as a team. And that, reflecting on the past and feeling grateful for all the support from our school and teachers can definitely allow us to become successful students.

Shortly afterwards, Ms. Huang Ting [Executive Deputy Secretary of OEC, CPC Branch] gave a warm and welcoming speech. She introduced to students about her new position and called to work along with students for a great study life at JSU. Ms. Cai [Vice Dean of OEC] later gave a presentation about the challenges and opportunites for every overseas student. She gave the relevance of working together to solve issues instead of expecting help to be provided without cooperation. This made us recognize that indeed, a cry for help without the intention of cooperation is a wasted effort and lacks the desire for real improvement.

A typical example cited by her, “the past 5 years' unfortunate punishments” was also made in order to caution students of the risks of breaking rules and disobeying regulations as well as serve as a deterrent to others. The excellent students of this year were also highlighted to applaud and praise their hard work, and encourage us to learn from them to become great students.

Following this, three students were called upon to share their experiences in JSU. The first student, Mr. Walter, engaged us all in an educative session "Time Management on the Road to be a Successful student" where he fervidly emphasized on the need for self-discipline to outrightly end procrastination and consequently allowing productive habits to build on the road to success.

The second student, Ms. Tsungirirai Chisungwa shared her knowledge on "Making the best use of a Second Chance" through her study experience in JSU and the enormous support she got from her teachers that helped her change her habits and become a proud 2021 graduate of JSU. She encouraged students not to feel shy and come out ask for help, as there are many helpful resources provided at JSU and everyone could benifit from them through active engagement.

Third, Mr. Abhishek presented on "How Curiosity pulls you into scams", and through his distressing experience, he cautioned us about the presence of countless frauds out in the world and that no real money comes easily, so we should always pay attention to such occurrences.

Finally, the event ended with a healthy and productive Q&A session between the students and the Deans. Students were able to gain perspective on the urgency of execution of rules during the lockdown and appreciate the upgraded policies in our favor.

The feedback of the participants confirmed that the meeting was much more appreciated as well as that, there is a pressing need for students to bring up their concerns in a right direction for redress of which this wasn’t an exemption. The entire Leadership of OEC-JSU assured OECians that their concerns and problems will be considered, to improve/provide required services. As OECians, we deem it prudent with high honor to divulge our weighty gratitude to Overseas Education College - Jiangsu University for making this session a reality for us based on its high importance as we pursue our educational career in JSU-China.

Indeed, this meeting was a true reflection and depiction of our slogan “Dream To Succeed, Together We Can”. We also hope to observe such more meetings as and when the need arises.

(OEC)