Q & A with GBJ Students

I talked to three students from the Global Business Journalism program at Tsinghua University and here's what they said...

Q: Where are you from?

Katarina: Hey, everyone. I’m Katarina Sai from Ukraine.

Qiu Hua: Hi, my name is Ng Qiu Hua. And I’m from Malaysia.

Colline: Hello, I’m from South Korea. My name in Korean is Yeonsu Kim. But please call me Colline 😊

Q: How did you end up at Tsinghua or Global Business Journalism program?

Katarina: When I came to Beijing three years ago, I knew pursuing a master’s degree here would be the right choice for me. I was living in Wudaokou, where the Tsinghua campus locates. Tsinghua was such a beautiful place to me! So, I started to look for a suitable program for me in Tsinghua. Since I’ve been working as a communication specialist in a public relations department, the GBJ program suits me well.

Qiu Hua: I’m the fifth generation of Chinese immigrants to Malaysia. Coming to Tsinghua for the journalism program is pretty natural for me. When in junior high school, I became interested in stories on the complexities of humanities and social trends. My bachelor’s degree in management, which intersects with communication studies, brought me here. This year, I attended courses in sociology. The one on social inequality and social movement is the best!

Colline: My mom’s a flight attendant. That partly explains why I identify myself as world citizen and love to meet people of multicultural backgrounds. One of my friends, who’s a GBJ graduate, told me about this program, “hey, this is an opportunity for you to grow with like-minded fellows from all over the world.” I have been to Tsinghua three years ago and clicked with the people I met here. My friend was probably right so I applied. Turns out my peers are the most dedicated students with clear purposes. I made a wise decision.

Q: What’s your dream job and how is this program helpful in your career building?

Katarina: Graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Chinese literature, I served as a translator and then as a communication specialist. Now I work in digital art, a booming field, but my job is still related to public relations. Networking matters in building my career. What’s good about GBJ is that I get to meet different people, even online, in addition to polishing my skills in communication strategies.

Qiu Hua: I’ve always wanted to be a journalist. This opportunity helps me to explore Chinese society. And since the Chinese and Malaysian society share a number of patterns, I can adapt what I learn in this program to explore the land where I was born with a different perspective.

Colline: I worked as an intern researcher in South China Morning Post before. That experience put me to think about how technology can be combined with liberal arts to better our lives. I believe journalism and communication studies offer a critical perspective of exploring this issue. Therefore, I come to GBJ with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, hoping that I can work in a social media start-up where I can come up with technological solutions to address problems such as information gaps in the future.