"Remaining at the university, I spent a special but warm winter vacation " explains NIU Kexin, a senior female student from the School of Mechanical Engineering of Tongji University. Coming from Shijiazhuang, Hebei, she had to remain at the university this winter vacation because of the pandemic. In the past few days, she has been working part-time in the financial department of the University for two days every week. Every day, she experienced the care of the university and the school. She was full of expectations for a series of special benefits given to students remaining at the university, such as the Spring Festival Garden Party, the city walking tour, the lantern riddles game and watching movies. During this winter vacation, more than 3,000 Tongji University students, like NIU Kexin, chose to remain at the university during the Spring Festival for various reasons.
February 4 is the "Little New Year" in the lunar calendar, (usually a week before the Chinese New Year). On that day, Tongji campus was filled with the ambience of the Spring Festival. Under conditions of strict prevention and control of the pandemic, the caring activities for students staying at the university during the winter vacation in 2021 were held in four venues at both Siping Campus and Jiading Campus. All the venues were in festive mood, marked by the widespread hanging of decorations. Leaders of the University, represented by the Secretary of the Party Committee FANG Shouen, and heads of functional departments and specialization schools, gathered with student representatives to experience the traditional culture and to welcome in the New Year. They also presented New Year's gift packages to the students. During this winter vacation, the university did their utmost to ensure that students who remained at the university enjoyed a "happy, warm and diligent New Year".
New Year's gift packages and birthday celebration for students who remained at the university to spend a "happy New Year"
At 3:30 p.m. on February 4, a series of traditional cultural experiencing activities were held simultaneously in four venues at two campuses to welcome in the Chinese New Year. At the venues, some students were writing Chinese New Year couplets and the character of fortune “(fu)" with ink and brush; some were threading needles and making perfumed medicine bags; and some were making paper-cutting works with scissors in their hands. Under the guidance of the teachers, the students were able to experience skills comprising dough figure-making, face painting, calligraphy, straw weaving, perfumed medicine bag making, paper cutting, Chinese knot making, and dragon and phoenix character writing.
The students also wrote the word "China" in their own hand in Chinese calligraphy to express their love for the great motherland. Writing Tongji customized postcards allowed students to send their own creative and warm blessings. Under rows of lanterns, there were lantern riddles about the "Four Histories (History of the Party, the New China, the reform and opening up and development of socialism)", such as "Which party congress first included the party oath in the party constitution?" and "What village is known as the first village of rural reform in China?" etc. The students were guessing and competing actively.
That night, carefully prepared cooked food, including halal dishes, was shared among each student, so that those who remained at the university could experience a "taste of home".
"Dad and Mom, please don't worry. I have my classmates and teachers with me for the Spring Festival. Today I also celebrated my birthday with teachers and classmates on the Little New Year's Eve. I feel very happy!" On that day, when seeing his birthday cake prepared by the university, the undergraduate student LI Jie of the School of Medicine felt moved by the unexpected surprise. He also made a video call to his family far away, which gave him a particularly warm feeling. That night, Tongji University collectively celebrated the birthdays of 11 students who remained at the university for their birthdays in February and sent birthday wishes to those who participated in the activities on site.
The university leaders wore the "Tongji Red" scarfs, together with teachers and students, and gave the students New Year's gift packages including New Year's dolls, meal tickets covering the period between New Year's Eve to the sixth day of the New Year, fruit gift boxes, pandemic prevention kits and customized window flowers. They also gave them New Year's red envelopes and wished them a happy New Year and further progress in the new year. The student representatives also presented good luck bags to the participating teachers and expressed their heartfelt thanks to the teachers for their warm and family-like care at all times.
FANG Shouen mentioned in his speech that the year of 2020 just past was an unusual year, in which we endured an unprecedented war against the pandemic. It really was a historical examination for us, which we passed with good grades. Every achievement of the school is inseparable from the joint efforts of all the teachers and students. He added that for various reasons, some students chose to stay on campus for the Chinese New Year. The university would make every effort to manage and service these students’ needs staying on campus, so that every student could spend a safe, fulfilling, warm and happy Spring Festival and winter vacation.
With cheers and laughter, teachers and students talked about the university's new achievements and development, and looked forward to a brighter future. The activity was filled with a festive, joyful and warm atmosphere. In the end, all teachers and students waved the bright Five-Starred Red Flag in their hands and sang "Ode to the Motherland" in unison online to wish the great nation prosperity.
Nearly 100 cultural and sports activities were held at the university and spcialization school levels to let remaining students on campus have a "warm New Year"
"The second 'Red Memory' winter vacation city walking tour has begun! This event takes you along to the red landmarks of the Huangpu River, including the former site of the Shunpao Building, the former site of the Shanghai Municipal Council building, Chen Yi Square, and Huangpu Park (People's Heroes' Memorial Tower). We welcome students who remain at the university to join in." On February 1, a notice with these words was published on the Official Account of "Youth Tongji", which attracted the attention of many students staying at the university. Following the successful conclusion of the first City Walking Tour on February 3, a second tour took place on the afternoon of February 5.
The university leaders observed that Tongji’s continuing provision of services and education to students staying in the winter vacation had to be combined with pandemic control measures. Together with the scientific prevention and control of the pandemic, nearly 100 cultural and sports activities at both university and school level were held under the security guarantee of the whole course to make sure remaining students felt more secure, fulfilled and happy.
Tongji University has set up special funds for students' care and concern this year. Among the funds, some were used to subsidize over 800 students in financial difficulties to return home during winter vacation, while others consisted of ‘caring money’ for students staying at the university during the holiday. The latter included New Year's gift packages, meal tickets available at Little New Year's Eve and between New Year's Eve to the sixth day of the New Year, and New Year's care for students in difficulties. The university has also opened 300 work-study positions for students staying on campus, organized volunteer services, and arranged teachers to be on duty to ensure that campus services remain continually "online".
In order to enrich students' life, Tongji University has carefully planned and organized nearly 100 cultural and sports activities at the university and school levels, including movie presentations, city hiking, garden parties, etc. Various sports venues for use by students staying at the university were also opened. The university launched a special action entitled "100+" for student party building, guiding students on how to pass on the "red gene" through projects such as 100-year retrospective and 100-city search. Combined with the "Four Histories" learning and education, the university has carried out activities such as city walking tours and "Four Histories on Campus", so that students can experience Shanghai's red culture in an immersive way. A series of activities were also conducted in the student community to taste and appreciate Chinese New Year.
In order to make the students staying at the university satisfied and happy, the Catering Center of Tongji University Logistics Group made canteens available at each campus, including 6 at Siping Campus, 4 at Jiading Campus, and 1 each at Huxi and Hubei Campuses. The canteens offer different menus to meet students' various requirements including fast food, Chinese Dim Sum, special cuisines and so on. From New Year's Eve to the sixth day of the New Year, the canteens offered a wide variety of good quality breakfast, lunch and dinner sets for students staying on campus.
Since the start of the winter vacation on January 28, all the schools of Tongji University have held a variety of activities to care for all the remaining students. The leaders of the university went to each school, laboratory, student community hall and canteen to express their concern and care to the students who remained at the university.
Support from supervisors and laboratories to ensure a "diligent New Year" for students remaining at the university
In the past few days, LI Nan, a doctoral student at Tongji University School of Medicine, has been working in the laboratory with dozens of other students, working against time to extract reagents and write experimental reports. Asked about the feeling of staying on campus to carry out scientific research, she said, "I am quite moved. According to the regulations, the university's public instrument platform should be closed during the Spring Festival. But considering that many students will stay on campus to do experiments, the lab administrator gave up his vacation to ensure that the public instrument platform is open normally, which provides convenience for us to carry out experiments normally."
Although Tongji University is officially on holiday, we can still see many busy but happy young people in the laboratories of the university. They have used the winter vacation to study, carry out experiments, and generally enrich their holiday life. According to statistics, more than 1,500 students chose to stay at Tongji University during the Spring Festival to write theses and carry out research projects, accounting for about half of the total number of students staying on campus. More than 96% of such students are masters and doctoral students.
"Dear Mother and Father, the university is as warm as home, and all is well." Every morning, JIANG Yue, a doctoral student at the College of Environmental Science and Engineering, sends greetings to his parents in Harbin. JIANG Yue's parents are both doctors, and at the moment they are still fighting on the front line of the pandemic. Dr. JIANG Yue studies under Prof. LIN Sijie, his research topics covering the interdisciplinary subjects of environmental pollution chemistry, toxicology and nanoscience. "Prof. Lin comes to the lab every day to discuss the latest topic with us and guide the students to design experiments, and the research atmosphere in the lab remains strong during the holidays. I also want to make full use of my vacation to focus on research and development."
"The library is still brightly lit, and the holiday does not stop us from studying." GAO Yansen, an undergraduate student at the School of Economics and Management, says. As one of the more than 3,000 students who stayed at the university, he hoped that together with his fellow students, he would cherish the time and fulfill a meaningful "Tongji Year".
In order to support students staying at the university to carry out research work normally, the university is open around the clock for research and experimental sites. The libraries and sports venues are also opened to ensure that the various services and safeguards during the holidays are uninterrupted. At the same time, the university has also launched various "cloud" platforms, covering such topics as health attendance, pandemic prevention tips, party members micro-classes, career education, psychological counseling, academic development, etc. This is to achieve peer-to-peer learning, all-weather study and close communication and counseling to meet the diversified needs of students staying at the university.
Other pictures
Text by HUANG Aijiao and Student Affairs Office under Party Committee
Photo by JIANG Ping, ZHOU You and Student Affairs Office under Party Committee
Source: https://news.tongji.edu.cn/info/1002/76596.htm
