My unforgettable memories in Beida and why I found them memorable
My dear readers, the half-a-year exchange at Peking University (as known as Beida) turned out to be much more than what I could ever expect from an exchange experience. Over several months that seemed all too short in retrospect, many things have come to wonderful fruition – my studies, friendships, and self-reconciliations. Let me try my best to explain myself if you allow me a moment.
Arriving with no high hopes of living a ‘relaxing and happy’ life as I was well aware of the ‘notoriety’ of Beida’s demanding academic training, I was, entirely out of the blue, welcomed by my lovely roommates of 250 in Building 35, whom I enjoyably spent the rest of my semester with. Our encounter was something I cherished dearly during my stay and until this day. Our companionship played a crucial role in helping me adapt and adjust. It helped me transform myself from a Todai-sei (UTokyo student) to an Beida-sheng (PekingU Student) from day one with the typical Beida swagger to gallivant the landmarks of Weiming Lake and Jiayuan Canteen. The friends I met at Beida invited me to go on shitang (canteen) hopping, shuttlecock smashing, and statistics problem solving – all felt surreal and a tad too splendid during the years of COVID.
Classes here at Beida are often taught by inspiring teachers (and aspiring students). Let me be specific about my interests and the classes I took. I desire to be a social scientist. In particular, I find political methodology fascinating because it allows me to characterize the complex reality with simple rules, and enables numerous researchers to probe challenging substantive puzzles. Substantively, I enjoy learning all sorts of things that span conflicts, government responsiveness, political behavior, bureaucratic promotion, public opinion etc., and how we can make better causal inferences to extend the extant scientific understandings in these domains. I have taken classes on survey methodology and deployed a university-wide list experiment to investigate the impact of Marxist school society on students’ political opinions. I have also taken courses on the more theoretical side of things, i.e., intermediate econometrics and political game theory. Besides the undergraduate studies, I have also infatuated myself with two graduate-level seminars – political analysis and politics of development – in which we attended the workshops with our heads and hands full of notes, knowing that there would be intense but fruitful debates taking place each week. I have also cherished every interaction with the professors and teaching fellows. In particular, I developed good relationships with Prof. Ma Xiao and Prof. Liu Yanjun from the School of Government, from whom I learned a ton about authoritarian politics and political methodology. I still find much joy in discussing various academic ideas with them today.
I also used my Beida time to (learn how to) heal and self-reconcile. Getting good at juggling multiple tasks is a lifelong process. Besides all the coursework, on Sundays, I have been meeting (virtually) with my generous mentor, collaborator, and friend Connor (whom I, fortunately, got to know through Prof. Kosuke Imai’s Quantitative Social Science class at Todai in the summer of 2021) to talk about research and all sorts of topics. I also attempted to prepare for my graduate school applications on top of everything. However, it did not proceed quite in light of various reasons (one of them was GRE cancellations in China due to COVID). Nonetheless, I eventually managed to get a slight hang of the ability to learn by easing and making peace with my mind rather than stressing, hurting, and forcing myself.
No longer tucking myself in that typical Beida bunker bed, now that I am typing and reminiscing my memorable Beida days in my faraway home, I know that I received lifelong companionships and solid and cutting-edge social science training. I collected a little bag of mental remedies along the way that would now and hereafter keep my body and mind motivated, productive, and healthy. Beida has made me a better scholar, friend, and person. I herein thank everyone who has helped me to have this privilege to have been on this ride despite COVID. And these are the reasons why my Beida memories are unforgettable.
Reported by Xiaolong Yang (EAA Youth)