ZHU Guowei

Student of Beijing Jiaotong University, China
Exchange to University of South Australia, Australia

I was really excited when I received the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Awards, because I could finally realise my dream of studying overseas and experience a new kind of lifestyle. It's really an amazing trip in Australia, with all the wonderful things going on each day. I didn't have too much of culture shock when I first arrived in Adelaide –people were so nice and friendly.

Throughout the five months in Adelaide, I learned a lot and one of the lessons and what I took away with me was "Learn what you don't know by doing it." When I began my classes in the University of South Australia, I found the teaching methods were quite different from those in China. Practical learning was encouraged in Australia rather than reading books. I was often asked to build a model or visit a factory for facts, I liked that the lessons were taught this way. Most of the time, the assignments given by the professors were quite new to me. I didn't know how to finish them but my classmates were brave enough to try them out and managed to solve the problems eventually. It occurred to me that problems in life are always difficult but we must learn our new knowledge and skill by doing it, instead of finding answers in published books.

The second lesson I learned was teamwork. As most of the assignments need to be finished by a group, I learned how to collaborate with others and be a part of an excellent team. Nowadays, we must get our job done by a team instead of an individual.

Finally, I want to thank all the people who have helped me through my exchange study in Australia and the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Awards. Without them, I wouldn't have learned so much and have a wonderful memory of studying abroad.

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