To make the freshly arrived 154 overseas Chinese students feel at home, the Overseas Chinese Student Guidance Section organized an orientation for them at the Ching-sheng International Conference Hall on September 13. TKU President, Dr. Flora Chang appeared personally to welcome the students who are from at least 17 different countries. President Chang encouraged them to actively participate in Tamkang’s rigorous academic, athletic, and social life. By doing so, they will be integrated into the big Tamkang family in no time.

The number of overseas Chinese students this year is unprecedented, thanks to the governmental policy that allows universities to take on more students from Hong Kong and Macau regions than previously possible. Hence, we saw an increase of 101 to 154 students in total in one year, including 73 from Macau alone. More students are expected to arrive in the near future.

With the high number of students from Macau, the organizer asked several senior students from these two areas to attend the orientation to share their experiences and know-how. Tsai Hou-huei, a senior of the Department of Information Management (IM), made it clear to the greenhorns that studying aside, they should get involved in all kinds of overseas Chinese student affairs and other extra-curricula activities should they wish to optimize their time here. Kuo Di-sheng, a 2007 graduate from the same department as Tsai, on the other hand, shared anecdotes of his life and studies at TKU.

The orientation was well received by the freshmen. Wang Chi-chang, from Indonesia, who is a freshman at the IM department, said that he learned a lot about the university as well as the life for overseas students during the presentation. As a result, he feels more prepared for and confident about the hard work, fun, and achievement he may have in the next four years at Tamkang.

( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )