HWeek Update

by Yuxiao Huang

HWeek is a week-long program organized by the Harvard college Association for U.S.-China Relations (HAUSCR). This year, the program brought about 30 Chinese high school students to Harvard, which offered the students a great opportunity to both experience higher education in the US and exchange ideas with Harvard students. Fudan Fuzhong Overseas Foundation selected and sponsored two students, TANG Xinyao and CHEN Ruijing, to participate in the program.

During the 2013 HWeek, I had the pleasure to meet Xinyao and Ruijing over dinner and to hear about their precious experience in Cambridge. The two FDFZ girls have very different interests and backgrounds. Xinyao is interested in science and conducted an interesting research project on pm2.5 pollution in the air above FDFZ campus. Ruijing, on the other hand, is a humanity girl - she is the chief editor of a student newspaper and actively involves in Model UN programs. HWeek offered lectures that satisfy the academic interests of both students, including religion, philosophy, economics, chemistry etc. In addition to taking classes with Harvard undergraduates, the two girls' another favorite part of the program was the opportunity to meet top professors over lunch, where they can chat with world famous researchers in a very relaxed setting.

During their stay, the two students also immersed themselves in both the Harvard and American cultures. They had the chance to live with host students in their college houses (dorms) and explore the historical city of Boston. Ruijing also shared a very special experience of tasting the New England clam chowder for the first time.

Both Xinyao and Ruijing expressed their sincere gratitude to FFOF for the opportunity. Xinyao is coming back to New York next year as an exchange student at St. Ann's School, and Ruijing is planning to apply to US colleges to further her studies. In addition to offering my own experience in applying for colleges, I encouraged them to seek help from the foundation and introduced them to NI Peiyun, a FDFZ alumna and current Harvard student.