Chinese students experience college life in Star City
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT PRESQUE ISLE math professor Dr. Peng Peng Yu teaches high school students from Hefei, China, about Mobius strips in a math class he taught during the students’ weeklong visit to UMPI.
The visit provided the Chinese students with their first exposure to the American university experience.
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — When asked how they spent their summer vacation, a group of Chinese students will be able to answer, “By visiting Presque Isle, Maine.”
Forty-one Chinese high school students got a taste of college life recently as they lived on the University of Maine at Presque Isle campus for a week studying math, science and English.
“Our students plan to apply to American universities so it’s very important for them to experience American life,” said Jianli Lu, director of the international department at the Hefei No. 8 Middle School in Hefei, China. “Their parents and the school felt it would give them a lot of help if they could have a chance to experience the culture.
“This is the second year we’ve done something like this, and it’s gone very well,” he said. “They’ve had a lot of fun. In addition to studying various subjects, they’ve had time to tour the area and see what life on a college campus is like. It’s been very beneficial for them.”
Five UMPI instructors have been teaching the group.
Students arrived July 17 and left the following Sunday.
“We got started on this about six months ago,” said UMPI President Don Zillman, “when David Hu, one of our regular contacts working with both the Maine School of Science and Mathematics and with us, raised the prospect of bringing high school students in for a week during the summer to give them a mixed exposure of classwork, talking about university admission standards, recreational activities and more … all aspects of the American university experience.
“This is a wonderful outreach opportunity for us. We are hoping that the time here will have touched numbers of them, and as they consider college that we’ll definitely be on that list,” he said. “If we can come away with a modest percentage of every group here, that would be terrific for us.”
Zillman said a memory he will take from the experience is having both the Chinese students and Upward Bound participants playing basketball together.
“They were having a great, friendly game,” he said, “and it made me think that there are things that are universal in the world. It was like Yao Ming against LeBron James on the court together.”
Seventeen-year-old David Xu felt the experience was extremely worthwhile.
“It was a good chance for me to learn and speak English,” he said. “What I enjoyed the most was making a lot of American friends. I will be able to keep in touch with them and send e-mails. I have some friends in Japan who will come visit me this summer, and I hope one day some of my American friends can come to China to visit me.
“I enjoyed the recreational opportunities like the swimming pool and the basketball court. We went to the movies. I saw ‘Transformers 3’ and some of the others saw ‘Harry Potter.’ It’s been great,” said Xu. “I miss my parents and my friends, but I think the happenings here will reduce my missing them. I’ve been sending them e-mails and telling them about school here. The population is different from where I’m from, but I really like it here. I really enjoy the beautiful view, sky and forest.”
Zicong “Joe” Zhou, an UMPI student majoring in business management and mathematics, served as a tour guide and helper for the group.
“Most of my job has been staying with the kids in the dormitory in the evening,” he said. “I’ve also gone with them to different places like the movie theater. Some kids have specific needs and I can help them. One girl had her birthday while being on campus so we went out to buy a birthday cake for her.”
On campus, the Chinese students participated in a ropes course, utilized Gentile Hall and did ceramics, while off-campus they visited the SAD 1 Educational Farm, toured the Solar System along Route 1, went to the Aroostook State Park, had dinner at Ruby Tuesday and toured MSSM and the Maine Military Authority in Limestone.
Presque Isle was only one of the stops during the 15-day Chinese Summer Camp in the United States.
“The students have also visited Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York,” said Lu. “People here have been very helpful and receptive, and the students have enjoyed it very much.”
Zillman said another school in China has already inquired about the possibility of visiting UMPI in the future.
