Education in China: From Disappointment to Opportunity

This might be a bit rambling, but here we go.

The Initial Dream

My biggest disappointment at that time was probably my university experience. One of my main motivations for coming to China to study was to continue developing in mechanical engineering—to see how Chinese engineers work and how factories operate.

Reality check: I didn’t set foot in a Chinese factory until 2024… but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Harsh Truth

It became clear very quickly that they weren’t going to teach us anything meaningful. Everything was just for show, nothing was allowed, and the attitude was essentially: “Why are you even here? After graduation, you can work as English teachers.” (Because apparently, that’s what I’d dreamed of my whole life.)

The Crossroads

I realized I had two choices: either leave or pivot to a field that would be more inclusive and less restricted by China’s ubiquitous limitations. Naturally, I chose Computer Science (FTK forever in my heart!).

Key Lessons Learned

I made some crucial decisions:

• Never study in a program with foreigners (3 years instead of 2, but this actually gave me huge advantages)
• Study in Chinese and actually pass the language requirements
• Definitely work in Chinese big tech

The Challenge

Passing HSK-5 in October when I started learning Chinese in February seemed like madness. But somehow, I managed to pass both HSK-4 (well) and HSK-5 (barely passing), got through the selection process (honestly, not too difficult), and enrolled in one of China’s top universities—Tsinghua University.

Later, I successfully worked in Chinese big tech and even received an award as the best new employee (优秀新员工) - I even have a medal!

The Bottom Line

Those 3 years were incredibly tough, but they taught me resilience and opened doors I never imagined. 自强不息，厚德载物。

I’ll tell you more about those difficult 3 years sometime later. See you soon!