On September 3, SCOLAR Network and Biling Initiative jointly held SCOLAR Talk – Building Career: from Campus to Corporate. We invited foreigners who study, live, and develop a career in China as our speakers to share their experiences, and we also had students join us.
The talk was divided into two parts. Our guests and friends shared different opinions about campus life and career development.
Guests:
（Uzbekistan）
（Russia）
（Russia）
（Egypt）
（Russia）
（Afghanistan）
（Uzbekistan）
（Russia）
Panel 1丨Campus Life：
Forming your personality
Stories Telling: tell us about your journey to China.
I came to China with my family in middle school. Studying in China is quite different from in Russia. My classmates are studying all the time, it took me a lot of time to adjust. But the two good things I learned from the Chinese are that they are hardworking and proactive.
What’s the biggest challenge in China that you’ve ever met?
When I came to China, I realized that I was experiencing another culture in another country, and having a community like SCOLAR values a lot to me when I was alone.
What’s the essential ability you learned during your study or work in China?
Force yourself into a space you don’t know anything about and be brave to leave your comfort zone. Yuan Longping, who devoted his life to China’s hybrid rice research, is widely known as the “father of hybrid rice,” is my role model. He inspired me to persevere in my own area and prove myself to people who doubt me.
I used to have a lot of great expectations and big goals, and I was always worried about the future. But I forgot to enjoy the moment that I was in right now, then I realized I had limited energy, I needed to be more patient with myself. The most important value is to live in the moment.
Panel 2丨Career Life：
Startups, corporate, and hustling
- What skills do you think you lack on the job? Who has influenced you the most?
There’re fewer opportunities for foreigners with medium skills in China after covid; I learned that self-improvement is essential, and SCOLAR Network is an excellent place to improve yourself.
A mentor is not only who is older than you, everyone can be my mentor, especially younger ones. I know a girl who generates ideas every minute and is only 18.
This year when we were doing SCOLAR recruitment for Beijing Hub, we interviewed over 40 people, and I was inspired and refreshed by their energy.
Family is the most significant support to me.
I always learned the right one from the family. Attitude matters.
2. What’s your most valuable growth after coming to China?
There are three things I’d like to share:
Don’t complain about problems when you don’t have solutions.
When you are a leader, what you say is a fact.
Don’t forget about a bigger purpose.
What I learned about communities and SCOLAR is that I understood that we all share the same challenges. Surrounding yourself with good people and choosing who can help you grow is essential.
3. What’s the biggest failure you’ve experienced in China？
I lost a job because of the covid pandemic. Experiencing laid off got me motivated to connect with people around me. I ended up finding a new position in 2 weeks. You must know the network is important and reach out to people who can help you. They’re always willing to help.
Not being able to communicate effectively and having presumptions is one of the biggest mistakes.
It is essential for students living and studying in China to break down cultural barriers, integrate into local life and develop their social networks. What kind of opportunities they have in China and how to stay in China to show their skills and talents are also the topics that young people are most concerned about. We truly hope the event can show you some experience and inspiration.
Biling Initiative is a program to build a network of youth from multiple countries and diversified backgrounds based on shared confidence and high potential. Bling Initiative fond and empower youth leadership worldwide to be partners and dedicated to public issues and advocation for common development.