Dialogue of college students between China and the US organized by CRI

The dialogue of China and the US college students which was organized by Today Program of China Radio International (CRI) was inaugurated in Beijing on July 11^th.As a member of collegiate social responsibility association of UIBE, I was glad to take part in the dialogue as a spectator. The dialogue was transpired in LvSong inn, which is also a very antique courtyard with an overwhelming heaviness of history. We students, over 20, who came from UCLA and different universities in China, represented the voices of the young of both countries to have a talk about the respective lives, studies, joys and also puzzles.

After the self-introduction of the four representatives of USLA, We knew it was the first time that they came into China and that they hadn’t had a direct recognition about China before. When asked about the impressions of China, all of them appreciated a lot about the great changes in China, especially about the technological development and urban modernization. An Asian student also said that the excellent work of traditional culture is protected in Beijing. In addition, the warmth and amity of Chinese people gave them a deep impression, just like the words in the song “welcome to Beijing”. Rather, when talked about American impressions, a Chinese female student named Chen who had never been in the US said, in her eyes there was a huge difference of life style between Chinese and American students. Like the Hollywood’s films, lives for students in America must be very great, plenty of club activities, all kinds of parties and balls, social respects for personal development and careful cultivation of social skills. Another student, Liu Shuxiao, who had just graduated from an American college, verified the affluent life in America by his own experience, and emphasized that personal interests were the main entertainment for most of students in spite of heavy work of study.

In the second part, all of the participants discussed about the life plans for the graduates. First of all, the hosts showed some data in 2013: circa 7million of graduates stepped into the society, but only 35% of them found a job. In front of this situation, what the Chinese students could do to deal with it? Xiaona joked that her parents encouraged her to attend graduate school to delay the time of losing job once one graduated. While Chen talked about the fierce competition required students more efforts to gain advantages in job hunting. She suggested that nowadays, graduates must have excellent general capabilities to testify that they are the best and unique to get jobs. When talking about the dreams, Chen said that she didn’t like those kinds of jobs which were organized and full of mature systems, she’d like a job full of challenge to change the life and create a new platform for herself. She said she wanted to dedicate herself into Chinese media industry to make Chinese people say louder in the whole world! In terms of the preparations for job, the American students said we should not only put our attention in books but also learn the way to deal with others and know where our real interests laid. What’s more, there were no limits in one’s life, if you were really fond of something, what you needed were just to pursuit it and never fell afraid.

In the last part, 8 representatives of the students from China and the US continued to have a fierce collision of ideas and began to state respective comprehension of the national dream. In the eyes of the American students, American dreams presented an open and tolerant attitude of the nation, and it depicted a bright vision to encourage everyone to walk forwards. No matter where you are from, you are able to success in this land, if you work hard. In the opinion of Chinese students, either Chinese dreams or American dreams stood for a bright expectation of future both from the nation and its people, and represented the spirit of people to pursue happiness, peace and progress. However, there was a difference between Chinese dreams and American dreams. The Chinese dream was a collective dream which pursued the common interests while American dream emphasized and encouraged individual pursuits.

With a widely positive communication, we finished this one-hour dialogue, beautiful and short. I would like to express my appreciation to CIBE for giving me a chance to communicate with these excellent students from both countries. I’ve had a chance to broaden my understanding about the US and the people there. I’ve learned a lot while in this activity. I hope that the further dialogues organized by CRI will be better and all of my friends will be able to have a wider arena in their lives!