Yuan Wenxia: Confidence is the Best Gift from University

Major: Global Business

Future: Master Degree in the Washington University (St. Louis)

With a pair of black-rimmed glasses and high ponytail, Yuan Wenxia shares many similarities with most girls of her age. It’s hard for you to imagine that this little girl has such a strong mind.

During these four years in college, Yuan Wenxia went step by step to her goal, from the strict requirements of her study to her display in Student Research Day, from picking up rubbish under the scorching sun of Bali to reaching out to strange foreigners in Shanghai. She created her own world with her determination and diligence.

Strive for perfection

“I will compare with and strive to be parallel with my excellent classmates; if I have the ability, I will try to surpass them too; but I prefer to compare with myself, because those who you can compare are endless.”

Since the moment she entered WKU, she has set a bottom line which many people think tough enough. The grade of any course should not be lower than A-. In this regard, she said, “If I set a bottom line for myself before I start learning, I’ll push myself to go ahead and try to get closer to perfection and do the best I can.” Due to these high standards and strict requirements, Yuan’s academic performance has been ahead of most students, and won the Dean’s Scholarship for three times.

Moreover, she likes to make plans and finish the task ahead of time. She sets up a deadline for herself to finish her homework ahead of time so that she can set aside enough time to review it again and revise it to assure its perfection. For the major courses, Yuan prepares classes early so as to ensure a better understanding of new knowledge.

It is this attitude that help Yuan finally get a score of 720 in GMAT, which paves the way for her application. WKU was my first choice when I filled out my College Entrance application form. From the very beginning, I decided to further my education after graduation and I am very happy to adhere to this goal.” She said.

Outside classroom

In the second semester of her freshman year, Yuan took part in the QYIV International Volunteer Program and went to Bali. In this beautiful tourist resort, she was not a tourist, but a volunteer to help clean up the garbage on the beach. Every morning around 8 a.m., she needed to put on sunscreen to get to the beach and pick up the rubbish that was thrown away by the tourists the day before. Referring to her first-day work, Yuan can still clearly remember, “It never occurred to me that tourists would produce so much rubbish.”

Although this job was boring, she learned a lot from this one-week job. She said, the motive is to enrich her life and gain more international vision. But what she got is far more than that, “Only by transposition can we know how much influence we have exerted.”

In her junior year, Yuan and her five partners took part in the Bridge Plus Business Simulation Competition. “What I learned from the textbook is knowledge, while the competition is the place where knowledge is used.” Within four hours, the team members needed to work in collaboration with each other to conduct product orientation and evaluation, investment, a comprehensive simulation of the operation of a company.

She completed a research paper on female entrepreneurs in China, which examined the impact of social support and self-awareness on the performance of female entrepreneurs in Chengdu, aged from 30 to 50. “From this study, I feel that female entrepreneurs in China have suffered a lot of resistance in the process of starting a business, from family as well as society, all of which have inspired me to explore in the future,” She said.

Confidence: the best gift from university

In fact, Yuan is not outgoing when she first came to WKU. She didn’t speak in the class very often, avoid eye contacts with professors, and always gave up for things she’s not sure.

The biggest change for her in these four years, she said, is to become confident, dare to try new things, and face challenges. During these four years, she took part in business plan collaboration, presented her achievements on Student Research Day, created a student organization and plan activities independently, and served as a WIN volunteer.

Now she is no longer a shy girl, and she reaches out to those foreigners who need help. One day, she met Jack, an American who had just arrived in China, at a restaurant in Shanghai. He couldn’t order his dishes for language barrier. She helped Jack with fluent English, and the two added WeChat to each other. During the conversation, Yuan learned that he was a teacher who taught English on Wall Street, and after learning that Yuan had applied for an American college, he not only helped her to revise the documents, but also made a lot of valuable suggestions, which is of great help for her application.

Yuan was eventually admitted to the University of Washington (St. Louis), the oldest university in the history of the United States. She also planned early for the upcoming campus life. She hopes that in the future she can participate in more school activities, learn more knowledge, know more people, and see a more vivid world.

By Liu Qi