My UIC Family

(Chinese and International Business with a focus on Marketing double major)Since the moment i arrived in China, I’ve met so many caring people.  The first person who I met coming to China this time was a longtime friend from camp and college, Karen (Lai Haiwen), who graduated from UIC.  She was super excited to help me set up my life here and had nothing but nice things to say about UIC. After living here for a semester, I see why.

First off, the people here, especially my roommate, Ding Ling, and my ‘family’ from Enactus have all been so welcoming, supportive and have become my best friends here, so much so that I wish I had another year here!

Besides friends, what keeps me here is the outstanding campus.  I really appreciate all the people who work hard to keep this place clean and running everyday with this many college students.  The facilities all look very nice, computers and screens, air conditioning and nice furniture in every room is a big plus.  The food at Greenwood (Da Jia Le), the OK and Narnia all really make it a livable place.  The dorms are conveniently close to the food and shopping places and I like whoever designed that.

This took some time to figure out, all of the wonderful things that UIC has to offer, but I found my calling with Enactus (though everyone knows this group as SIFE still.)  I highly encourage anyone wanting to connect with businesses, meet professionals, and have a fun time presenting with fellow UICers to join.  This is the group that kept me busy during this semester.  Staying up late to help them with the script, translating, and bringing lots of ideas together into a comprehensive 17 minute speech was definitely a challenge, but doable.  Our team made through the regional competition in Hong Kong and onto the national competition in Beijing where we placed in the top 16.  I’m very honored to have been with UIC Enactus this year and to make it that far in the competition.

For me personally, I’m here at UIC because I’m accomplishing my international business major which requires one to study abroad and do an internship.  One of the first days here, I met Gifford Searls who took me on as one of his interns.  This semester, he’s been a wonderful mentor and I’ve learned more about networking, event planning and life in general.  I sincerely appreciate everything he’s done for me and other students.  He shows he really cares about every student and their future.  I really wish this year didn’t have to end.  But this experience has really made me think about my future plans.  You may see me around here again!