The more than 1,400 Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics graduates of the Class of 2025 have each travelled a long road to reach graduation. But three have travelled more than most.
China natives Yihong Chen, Tingyu Zhang and Ruolan Zhi are the first students of the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics–University of Delaware (SWUFE-UD) joint education institute of Data Science to graduate from UD’s Newark campus.
Chen and Zhang spent two years at UD, while Zhi spent one year to become the first student to graduate in the 3+1 program.
“I wanted to do something that I’d never done before, like going to a new country,” said Zhang, a management information systems and operations management major. “Everybody knows that America has the best college education, so I just wanted to experience that. Also, my English was better than some of my peers, so I was confident to go to a country where English is spoken to study.”
The three students, who had never visited UD before moving in, quickly grew to enjoy the campus and town.
“It’s a suburban area with a lot of countryside. It’s really different from big cities; everything is peaceful here and not crowded,” said Chen, an MIS and mathematics and data science major who enjoyed walking and hiking during the weekends.
All three mentioned that they felt Newark was a safe place to live.
“At first, I thought Newark was boring, because it’s a small town and I couldn’t go anywhere without a car. But I started to enjoy this place, because there are a lot of parks nearby and it’s a really safe town,” said Zhi, an operations management major.
Zhang and Zhi both noted the differences between classes in China and UD, with classes here featuring more group presentations.
“I found the classes I took here are easier than China, and the course materials were easier,” said Zhang. “One difference is that UD features a lot of student presentations per semester, which is something that doesn’t happen as much in China.”
“It was hard to adjust, because it was completely different from my learning experience in China,” Zhi said. “I’ve always been the only international student in my courses, and that can be a bit challenging, especially since we have a lot of group projects.”
Chen noted that one positive difference was the flexibility of creating his schedule.
“I think the key difference is everything here is more flexible, especially for the courses and class schedule,” he said. “I can make decisions for myself about which courses to take, what kind of experience I’d like to have and what kinds of student groups I’d like to join.”
The three students were all appreciative of Lerner professors for helping them during their transition to studying in a new country.
“The professors are really nice,” Zhi said. “I’ve always been shy about talking to professors, but they have been so nice and willing to offer help.”
“The professors are very accessible and care about the well-being of the students,” said Zhang, who received letters of recommendation for his grad school application from Professors Jared Sharpe and Ahmed Rabaa’i and will be attending grad school in Hong Kong.
Chen, who worked with Professor Harry Wang as an undergraduate research scholar and for Professor Leting Zhang as a teaching and research assistant, also mentioned his appreciation for Professor Brian Greenstein who took students to a Phillies game early in his UD experience.
Zhi noted that students have more freedom for activities during their free time, saying, “You have to do everything on your own. For me, I’m a foodie who loves going to the grocery store with my friends, and I learned how to cook.”
Zhang mentioned hitting the gym and visiting Christiana Mall, while Chen enjoyed volunteer activities as a UD Student Alumni Ambassador.
The students made many international friends, including Zhi, who met her close friends at an International Coffee Hour.
“We have a lot of students in the SWUFE program. We are really close and basically spend every weekend together, so I was able to build my own friend group,” she said.
All three have enjoyed their experience at UD and would recommend the program for their peers back home.
Zhi, who will be studying statistics as a grad student at Columbia University in the fall, agreed.
“Just enjoy the life here. It’s a safe, small town, and the campus is beautiful. Everyone is really nice and friendly,” she said.
Chen, who has accepted an offer to attend grad school at Baruch College, agreed.
“Just come here and get the experience,” he said. “Everything about UD has been really impressive.”
The SWUFE-UD JEI graduation took place in Chengdu, China on June 20. Lerner College Dean Oliver Yao, Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Rick Andrews, and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs Julia Bayuk attended the ceremony, which honored approximately 150 graduates. Yihong attended the ceremony, while Tingyu attended the graduation reception and events.