The student recipients of USCET’s Advisory Council Scholarship Fund graduated from Sichuan Normal University (SNU) earlier this year. Over the last four years the five female students had been supported by members of USCET’s Advisory Council.
In their student reflections all the recipients expressed appreciation and gratefulness for the financial support they received during their studies. One of those students, Yue Huang, says she is extremely thankful for the help.
“I’m very grateful for everything the China Opportunity Scholarship Award has brought to me,” she said.
“Not only the money, but also the encouragement and confidence it gives to me every day.”
Li Feng expressed a similar sentiment saying the award has had a significant impact on her studies.
“It has enabled me to attend training programs, attend lectures, purchase books and tools for learning,” Li said.
Liao Yi, Huang Yue, Shuwen Tan also all expressed their appreciation for the financial support.
The Advisory Council Scholarship Fund was established in early 2014 as USCET’s first four-year scholarship program. The Fund was designed to give female students from poor, rural areas a better chance of a higher education and to help them achieve a better future.
A slate of ten freshman candidates were nominated by SNU of which five scholarship recipients were selected. All the candidates were from poor farming families, but each of them had excellent high school records and high scores on the “Gaokao” exam.
One of the unique aspects of the program was that SNU kept all ten students together as a peer group to engender a sense of community and support since this was the first time many of the students were so far from home. It was also a gentle reminder to scholars that if their exam scores fell below a minimum standard, their scholarship would be pulled, and in fact two of the original scholarship recipients were replaced. Despite the competition however, many of the students have remained close and have even become very good friends.
Following their graduation, a special ceremony was held in late June at SNU celebrating these individuals. A number of people gave remarks including school officials and the scholarship recipients who all expressed their heartfelt thanks to SNU’s Women’s Research Center, the Ministry of Education, and to USCET for providing the scholarships.
Professor Ji Min (嵇敏), director of the Women’s Research Center and the person who successfully coordinated and managed the scholarship throughout the last four years, also shared some advice and words of wisdom to the graduates as they prepare for the next chapter.
“I sincerely hope that you female college students will become self-reliant and strong leaders of the new era, that you will be noble and responsible to your society,” Ji said.
“Do not forget your original intentions; continue to cultivate yourselves; strive to achieve your goals in life,” she said.
“This was our intention in setting up the scholarship.”
Many of the students already have plans lined up as several are pursuing further education while others have signed contracts at places like the Chengdu Experimental Foreign Language School, the Real Estate Consultant Co., Ltd., and the Mianyang Industrial and Commercial Bank.
USCET咨询委员会获得者们今年从四川师范大学提前毕业。在过去的四年里，有五位女学生获得了USCET咨询委员会成员们的支持。
所有的学生对于他们在学习期间获得的经济资助都表达了感谢。其中一位学生Huang Yue表示，她非常感谢得到的所有帮助与支持。
“我对于中国机会奖学金给予我的一切表示感谢，”她说道。
“不仅仅是金钱上的支持，更多得是它给予我的勇气和信心。”
Li Feng也表示这份奖项对她的学习有很大帮助。
“它让我可以参加讲座、购买书籍以及购买学习用具。”Li说道。
Liao Yi，Huang Yue，Shuwen Tan也都表达了他们对于咨询委员会奖学金给予的经济支持的感谢。
咨询委员会奖学金基金成立于2014年初，是USCET第一个四年奖学金项目。该基金旨在为来自贫困农村地区的女学生提供更好的接受高等教育的机会，并帮助她们实现更好的未来。
四川师范大学提名了10名新生，其中5名学生成为奖学金获得者。所有的候选人都来自贫穷的农村家庭，但他们都有优异的高中成绩和高考成绩。
这个项目的一个独特之处在于，四川师范大学将所有10名学生都安排在一起，形成了一种社区意识和支持感，因为这是很多学生第一次离家这么远。同时这也委婉地提醒学生们，如果他们的考试成绩低于最低标准，他们的奖学金将会被取消。事实上，原来的两名奖学金获得者就被替换掉了。尽管有竞争，许多学生仍然保持密切的关系，甚至成为非常好的朋友。
在他们毕业后，四川师范大学在六月底举行了一个特别的仪式来为他们庆祝。许多人发表了讲话，包括学校官员和奖学金获得者，他们都对四川师范大学的女性研究中心、教育部和USCET提供的奖学金表示衷心的感谢。
女性研究中心主任嵇敏教授在过去的四年里成功协调和管理奖学金项目,也对毕业生们分享了一些建议，为他们人生的下一篇章做准备。
嵇敏教授说:“我真诚地希望你们这些女大学生能够成为新时代自强自立、坚强自强的领导者，成为对社会有高尚责任感的人。”
“不要忘记你最初的意图，继续培养自己，努力实现你的人生目标。
“这是我们设立奖学金的目的。”她说道。
许多学生已经有了继续深造的计划，还有一些学生在成都实验外国语学校、房地产公司或绵阳工商银行等签了合同。