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When choosing a student association, most foreign students are actually confused. Li Xiaolong, a foreign student who majors in business said that he had never joined any student association, but he is glad to try.
"As with most guys, what interestes them most are definitely all kinds of ball games! I am going to apply for the basketball team and the football team.” Li smiled at us. "It is better to serve students for free, diversified choices of student association also play important roles in choosing an association for myself.”Li expressed what he expected from student association.
Rosalie, who was playing the guitar in her foreign student apartment when we did our interview, said she was surprised when we told her about the guitar group to her. “I have never heard of something like that. In my country, Georgia, student associations concentrate more on major studies. It would be a wonderful experience to join a student association where I can put my skills to good use.”
Annual concert hled by the guitar group
Rosalie also mentioned that, foreign students are looking for multiple channels to get information. “Language is no longer an obstacle for joining a student association. Most foreign students are able to speak Chinese. For the other members of student association, even a little bit of English will help a lot.
As we want to find out what international students think about joining student associations on the campus, questions like "how can we get the information of different kinds of student associations?", "are there any limitations for foreign students to apply for an association?" and "How to deal with the language problems?" are common among foreign students.
Actually membership of a student association is not new for Chinese students, but it is still a novelty to foreign students. We learn that foreign students spend most of their time either in the classroom or dormitory at school, and seldom communicate with Chinese students.
"I don't have many Chinese friends. Most Chinese friends we are able to get in touch with are teachers and students from the student service department, but we really hope to have the chance to meet and make more Chinese friends," Rosalie said. She was a little bit shy, thus she prefers a more flexible way to meet friends.
NHK Red and White Song Battle held by Japanese club
Diabolo club
"Joining a student association creates ways for getting integrated into the local learning environment. It helps to make friends with Chinese students and improve their Chinese study. Besides it can also enrich the life of foreign students, providing them with an interesting place to share and communicate," said Caijing, the head of the Student Association Union of South China Normal University.
"Any full time undergraduate may join a student union. The annual activity of student associations will be held for a whole month near the Student Activity Center and Taoyuan," he added. "We welcome the participation of foreign students, all student associations are willing to receive foreign students with open arms!”
Annual activities held by Student Association Union
There are currently 111 student associations managed by the SCNU Students' Association Union, including 39 on the Shipai campus, 46 on the University Town campus and 24 on the Nanhai campus. They are divided into Ideological and political, academic and technological, innovative and entrepreneurial, cultural and sports, voluntary public welfare, self-discipline and mutual aid groups besides other categories. For more information about student association, please check out the official WeChat account of the South China Normal University Student Association Union.
Written：Chen Huiqing
Proofread: Edwin Baak
Edited and reviewed: Li Jianru
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