WANG Peichen

Student of The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China
Exchange to The University of Queensland, Australia

I am Peichen Wang from China, an undergraduate student majoring in Chemical and Environmental Engineering.

This exchange gave me the opportunity to study and live in another country that has a different culture and education system. Before I went to The University of Queensland ("UQ") in 2017, I was concerned about the potential challenges: course structures, different culture, unfamiliar university regulations, etc. and all in English, which is not my mother tongue. However, the enthusiasm of most people living in Brisbane and the guidelines provided by the university created nearly perfect conditions for life in Brisbane.

Orientation week provided an overview of the academic support and guidelines for campus life. UQ offers a series of high-quality courses on a wide range of subjects, complemented by various classroom and experiential learning opportunities. For instance, the courses in Chemical Engineering created many chances to hone your skills, such as practical and lab work, industry tours, etc. The motto is "Create Change", and in fact, each course makes slight improvements based on the previous year's feedback.

For developing social skills and enriching your life, there are a number of students clubs and organisations covering a wide range of interests, such as sports, literature, music, religion, debate, etc. Whatever your interest, there is bound to be a club that suits you. As an Engineering student, I think it is very important to find a balance between study, life and sports, and learn how to communicate our ideas as simply as possible.

Life in Brisbane is fantastic. Sunshine is everywhere! Surfing beaches, diving and fishing are all very popular. Queensland is a wonderful state and is home to many endangered animals.

Of course, life is not always that easy. My philosophy is, find the potential challenges or difficulties as soon as possible, and if you cannot solve it, ask for help, support is always there. Difficulty is not like wine, which gets better over time. Find and solve it as early as you can to minimise the challenge, and move forward from there.

Best wishes!

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