As another class of Wabash men is getting ready for the graduation ceremony, I’m a bit more than halfway through my semester at Shanghai’s Fudan University. Although I am very happy here and consider coming to China as one of the best decisions in my life, throughout my semester abroad I realized how lucky I am to study at Wabash College; being a student at a large public university in China and interacting with students who attend different universities in the U.S. I became conscious of great things about our college that we often take for granted:
· * Our professors really care about us; next time you stop by a professor’s office think about how much time she/he devotes to developing personal relationships with students.
· * We have an incredible alumni network. I often mention to other American students specific example reflecting how passionate our alumni are about shaping the college’s future and making sure we that we do great things after graduation. Most of these students are very surprised and admit that alumni relations look very differently at their colleges.
· * There’s a lot of trust in the Wabash community. I realized this when recently I was not feeling well and could not attend class. Although the staff of my program could clearly see that I was sick, instead of resting I had to worry about visiting the Fudan hospital to get a doctor’s note and write a short petition to my study abroad organization just to get an excused absence.
As I already mentioned, even though I think my study abroad in Shanghai is a great experience, I often miss Wabash and will be happy to return to our college in August.
To all my friends from the class of 2010: Good luck and I will truly miss you. Hope you fulfill your post-Wabash ambitions and give back to our college to make it an even better place.
