“When I look back, the failures and successes that I have experienced merge together to form who I am and who I will be,” Zhao Jialu said as she recalled the past four years at Wenzhou Kean University (WKU).

“Finding different directions for different students” is part of what WKU advocates in its school ideology. After four years of campus experience, Zhao finally found her true passion: being an educator.

From an English Beginner to an English Master

When Zhao Jialu first came to WKU, she was a beginner in English. She still remembers how she had behaved in the first English class – “Throughout the whole class, I understood nothing except the name and the nationality of my professor,” she said.

However, due to her unyielding spirit, Zhao never lost heart. “Back then, if anyone had ever noticed a girl listening to TED Talk on the balcony of her dorm room every morning and practicing crazily over and over again, it would have been me.” Starting in August of the freshman year, she practiced English for nearly four months until November, when she signed up for a campus English Speech Contest as a way to encourage herself to speak in public.

After that English Speech Contest, she began helping Professor Nikita in the College of Liberal Arts translate ancient Chinese poetry. Further, she became an Admission Ambassador and started teaching speech classes at Wenzhou Experimental Middle School as a student mentor. Zhao has changed from a freshman who could not even tell the difference between “eighteen” and “eighty” to a girl who can speak fluent English.

Zhao is attending an English Speech contest

Zhao was chosen to be one of the outstanding graduates this year. In June, she will give an English speech in front of hundreds of people at the graduation commencement. She said, “I enjoy standing on stage, especially, when the audience shows their appreciation and affirmation, which makes me more confident.”

Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone and Embarking the Adventure

For Zhao, one of the biggest changes in her four years at university has been a change in her mindset. “Such a change is rewarding for me,” Zhao said.

Back in high school, Zhao judged other students only based on their grades. After entering WKU, she gradually changed her mind as she interacted with her classmates and foreign professors from all over the world. “My friends are always ready to help me, and my professors also show respect and concern to all of us.” The diverse and free atmosphere at WKU gives her the courage to break the past criteria for judging people.

During her freshman year’s summer vacation, Zhao took an adventure after being persuaded by her classmates. She went abroad to Australia, where she experienced a 48-day work-for-housing trip. The adventure began on a no-signal farm in the small town of Kyogle, passed through Brisbane’s foreign student colony and a “modern family” on the Sunshine Coast, and ended with a camping trip on Fraser Island.

“By stepping into local people’s daily life, I was amazed to see the wonderful change going on inside and around me.” It was because of this 48-day exploration that she decided to experience her future with a more optimistic and more open mindset.

Zhao Jialu (on the left) with her friends from different countries

From an Accounting Major Girl to a Lecturer in New Oriental

“When you open your heart, your inner voice will come out naturally.” After being an accounting firm intern in her junior year, Zhao realized that accounting was not the area she wanted to work in. Instead, the countless speaking experience has allowed her to gain the pleasure of communicating with others, and also made her figure out her real calling – being an educator.

Not trying to stifle her own thoughts, Zhao put more effort into fulfilling her inner desires. It was almost at the end of her junior year that she began to apply for graduate programs related to education. Meanwhile, she kept looking for a suitable education position in the job market to enhance her practical background.

During the summer holiday of her third year, Zhao happened to notice a job posting from New Oriental school in Xi’an. She made up her mind to submit her resume. In the final round of interviews, all her competitors were returnees who have gotten their master’s degrees in language majors. Attributing to her years of public speaking experiences, she finally got this job at New Oriental School.

Zhao recently got an offer from the Australian National University in Applied Linguistics for her master’s degree. However, she decided to work first. Working in New Oriental School, she hopes to find out her shortcomings and what she wants to study in the future. Then, she will apply to graduate school again. “In doing so,” Zhao said, “I will be clearer about what I want to do.”