We interviewed several outstanding student representatives from different majors, and they shared their study and life experiences in UIC, their impressions, and the problems they met when they went to the social internship.

Name：ZHOU Zitao

Major：CTV

Grade: Year 4

Name：LI Hangxuan

Major：MAD

Grade：Year 4

Name：CHEN Jiaying

Major：CCM

Grade：Year 3

Name：LEI Zihan

Major：MAD

Grade：Y3

Question 1: Share your study skills

Zhou Zitao: I think previewing the courses in advance and then following the teacher's schedule in class are important. Think more, ask more, and interact more. I feel that all the teachers are very nice, and all kinds of questions will be answered patiently, so don't be ashamed.

For notes, I will use Xmind software to sort out the outline, and then use OneNote to sort out the contents of the system. The key is the content of the note should be precise and help us review easily.

Chen Jiaying: The exams of many UIC courses pay more attention to students' understanding, so it is very important to understand the knowledge thoroughly. Textbooks use more formal words, but when memorizing, you can replace them with common synonyms to reduce the difficulty of memorizing.

Question 2: What are the most impressive things in UIC?

Zhou Zitao: What I feel most impressive is that I always meet different kinds of interesting people and unexpected situations in the film crew. Working under pressure is also a test for my execution, communication skills and ability. Of course, I can make friends with different people and gain a lot to improve my ability.

Lei ZiHan: In my sophomore year, the final project of an elective course required us to build a website to show the group's research results, which required us to make an advanced PPT. However, no one in the group had experience to set up a website and the time was limited. It was the greatest difficulty I met in UIC. Finally, I learned the method of building a website step-by-step and asked some professional teachers for help. After finishing it, I felt a great sense of achievement. Be patient and push yourself, and your professional ability will continue to rise.

Question 3: Will you encounter confusions/difficulties in your study? How do you adjust yourself?

Lei Zihan: I felt confused about my future direction and didn't know what I can do with my ability. In my spare time, I tried different directions by myself. For example, I participated in a game production competition, did a graphic design internship in Visual China, and worked as an art director with the CTV crew in UIC. Learn and try new things as much as possible to explore whether this field is suitable for you or not.

Chen Jiaying: Definitely yes. During the midterms and finals period, I usually sort out my deadlines and exam time to arrange a schedule for myself and try to finish the tasks one by one according to schedule. When I am upset or stressed, I will first go to relax first by reading  novels or watching TV series and continue to study after calming down. It can help me to increase my efficiency.

Question 4: How do you adjust when facing difficulties in the internship? How is social work different from campus study?

Li Hangxuan: In the internship period, it is common to meet something hard to adapt to. But I'm a person who likes to try new things. So when facing difficulties, I think they seems to be more like opportunities can develop me and help me to get out of my comfort zone.

For me, one of the most obvious differences between work and study is that it is more difficult to maintain the peaceful mind of constant improvement. Emotional management is an important ability in future work.

Zhou Zitao: In future work, you are responsible to help the company to make profits as an employee. No one has the obligation to teach you. If you feel confused in some problems, you need to take the initiative to ask questions. And the company focus more on what value you provide. In school, as a student, teachers will try their best to teach knowledge and skills to you.

Question 5: Use one sentence to describe the study and life in UIC.

Li Hangxuan: Spiral progress.

In the eight semesters of UIC, I would have one huge emotional breakdown at least once every semester. It might because of the learning pressure, or the interpersonal communication. Although this collapse process is uncomfortable, there would be some changes after overcoming it. But not all changes are positive, and I also generate fear because of difficulties. But overall, I am still making progress up to now.

Chen Jiaying: Time passes quickly like a white pony's shadow across a crevice.

Because UIC’s semester is very short and the learning tasks are relatively heavy, I always feel that my life is being accelerated.

Question 6: A suggestion for the younger students (learning/future development)

Li Hangxuan: To try more. I have had a lot of trials and error experience in my life. For example, I got an offer  from a science and engineering university, and later I found I didn't like it and dropped out.

Because of experienced trials and errors, I ‘wasted’ a lot of time and energy. After my experience, I found my way after trying. I wish the junior fellow students can find their own way as soon as possible.

Chen Jiaying: During university, you can try many different things to find your own interests and the direction you want to develop in the future. If you already have a career goal, you can apply an internship in related industries to accumulate experience and have deeper understanding of this industry.

Zhou Zitao: To try more, get out of your comfort zone and not be afraid of making mistakes.

Lei Zihan: You also need to study in elective courses seriously, which may also become your job in the future.

Hope everyone can learn something from this interview and think more about your future study, internship and future direction.