SUNY Days for Students from Quake-hit Regions

The 8.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Southwest China's Sichuan province on May 12, 2008, destroyed tens of thousands of lives, but following the catastrophe a program by the State University of New York (SUNY) provided a unique opportunity for 150 university students.

They were the beneficiaries of an offer by SUNY that June to study at 22 of its campuses for two semesters without charge. Three months after the quake, on Aug 15, the students flew from Chengdu to New York.

The China Scholarship Council-SUNY China 150 program selected participants after reviewing the academic performance and English language proficiency of more than 2,000 applicants. All were from quake-hit areas and were studying in Sichuan.

Nearly three years later, China Daily talked with five of the students. How, they were asked, had this year abroad affected them?

The warmth of their treatment by teachers, students and others had led to some chemical reactions in their hearts. They had been converted from being mere recipients of help to young adults who keep the importance of giving in mind, from followers of others' wishes to decision-makers about their own futures.

Should I go?

The initial stage of the program proceeded so quickly - the 150 were chosen in just two weeks - that it broke into their thoughts about the losses wrought by the earthquake and on reconstruction.

It left Wang Sidi, a student at Southwest Jiaotong University, feeling quite "weird and unprepared". Her father and five other close relatives had died in the earthquake.

Wang, who was 18, hesitated to go when she was selected, because it would mean leaving her widowed mother alone at home. But Wang also felt driven to escape the familiar reminders of her loss.

When Huang Lei, a student at Chengdu University of Information and Technology, received a phone call telling him he was a candidate, he was on a bus heading home, to Wugui village of Dujiangyan city. His family was living in a tent, although the quake had only minimally cracked a couple of walls in their home, so Huang, then 20, also hesitated to accept the opportunity.

Some of the 150 students, those who were only slightly affected by the earthquake, were downright excited about the program.

"In southwestern China, there are few chances for students to be sponsored to study abroad," said Tang Ji, then a student of Southwest University of Finance and Economics. "I felt it was unbelievable and my classmates were all excited."

Less than two months after hearing about the program, these young students were already in New York. It was so fast that Tang, now 23, who studied at SUNY's Cobleskill campus, felt like she was in another world.

Mu Zijian, a Qiang ethnic student at Sichuan University, described his first feeling as unreal. "We were suddenly in the center of the world from a remote area."

Even Wang, whose father had died in the quake, felt like jumping into the United States.

A soft landing

Born and studying in Sichuan province, where the sky is enveloped in fog most of time, these students were intoxicated by the warm sunshine of New York. Even warmer, they said, were the hospitality and care of the SUNY faculty and local people, including overseas Chinese.

A week after the 150 arrived in New York, a local Chinese mobile phone service provider gave each student a SIM card for the mobile phone and pre-charged money for them.

Liu Yu, 23, of Sichuan University said SUNY's considerate preparation helped the Chinese students accomplish a soft landing. "They assigned a psychological counselor for each campus to observe our mental state and help us," Liu said. "They organized a lot of activities for us to distract our attention, and took very good care of us."

Mu, 22, repeatedly mentioned Jim Jailer, an economics professor who also taught him American culture and history. "Each weekend, Jim took us off the campus for activities and treated us as his own children."

But Jailer, 62, said, "It is my obligation because these people are guests of my country." His behavior "had nothing to do with their special background", Jailer said. In his eyes, these students were just unpretentious and sincere kids.

Wang was touched by the actions of her roommate, an American.

On May 12, 2009, the first anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake, Wang could not help missing her father and she left the dormitory alone for a walk around 2 am. Her roommate took several friends to light candles with Wang and stayed with her, hand in hand.

"I did not feel they treated me like this because I was very miserable," Wang said. "They just wanted to be good to me."