From the moment I arrived in Shantou, the fact that I was a part of the last cohort this exchange program would have weighed heavy on me. Despite constant reassurance from the program’s supervisors that I ought to just enjoy my time in Shantou, I couldn’t escape this remarkable feeling of pressure. While settling into life in China I did not quite understand what this program was going to truly mean for me, however I wasted no time trying to make the most out of this trip.
Throughout my exchange, I took it upon myself to keep a journal with me everywhere I went. Despite the minor inconvenience of always having it around (and sometimes having my nose in a book during tours), I’m so glad to have made this decision. Everyday I filled my pages with notes, doodles, messages from tutors and peers, as well as key lessons from class that I could readily take with me in my daily life. Making the most out of this exchange meant that I wanted to chronicle every little detail of my day-to-day in hopes of being able to really soak up my experiences.
Embarking on this journey I really thought that the Li Ka Shing initiative was going to emphasize schooling, and that the best way to benefit from this experience would be within the class. But after spending time in Shantou, making close friends, and now rereading my journal from Canada, it’s obvious that the classroom was only a small part of the experience. Shantou University provided the backdrop, but the true exchange was in the connections, conversations, and shared growth I experienced every day. With this realization, that initial pressure faded as I realized what it really meant to partake in this kind of experience.
What began as a structured academic opportunity quickly became something far more personal: a chapter of my life that redefined how I view the world and my place within it. I’m so thankful to have been chosen for this program’s final year of exchange. I know I will carry this journey with me for the rest of my life, and I have not been able to stop thinking and talking about it since my return. It is my greatest wish for this program (or some sort of equivalent) to one day restart at 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ, because I cannot imagine what my life might look like without it. I cannot wait to return to China someday soon and continue the journey that the Li Ka Shing ICL program started me on.
