4 Beyond his academic pursuits, Wenhao participated in various enriching extracurricular activities. Partnering with his Chinese and Japanese friends, Wenhao’s team won the university’s rst data science competition, where they applied machine learning techniques to forecast the outcomes of the 2019 Japanese upper house election. Once-in-a-Lifetime: Outbound Exchange in Europe Through a GCS-sponsored opportunity, Wenhao enrolled in a summer program at Utrecht University in the Netherlands during his second year of study. He studied European history through seminars and faculty-led museum visits while traveling across the region with peers from around the world. This exchange experience created many unforgettable memories beyond the classroom; notably, he even went skydiving over the Swiss countryside. Reminiscing about his exchange journey, Wenhao thought that he could hardly have imagined without the opportunities that GCS made possible. Explore More: Unlock Your Potential to Navigate Your Journey Ahead For students aspiring to thrive in academia, Wenhao suggested that they be intellectually omnivorous during their undergraduate years. The Global China Studies program, with its wide-ranging disciplines across the social sciences and humanities, exempli es an interdisciplinary approach that encourages crossing traditional academic boundaries. More broadly, the university experience provides an invaluable opportunity for students to broaden their academic perspectives before the inevitable specialization that comes with advanced study or professional careers. Embracing diverse elds of knowledge cultivates a versatile and enriched intellectual foundation that bene ts both scholarly and career pursuits. Actively trying different paths before entering the job market is Wenhao’s another piece of advice. He observed that some individuals thrive in environments where they have spent years focusing on one hard question, while others are better suited to fast-paced, collaborative work—whether in administration, business, or industry. There is no superior option here; the important key is to nd a direction that aligns with your interests, personality, and working style. He encouraged students to pursue diverse experiences—such as internships, research projects, student leadership roles—before making any rm decisions. Even if people choose a path that does not t, it is also acceptable. The so-called “social clock” is far more exible than is often imagined.
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