The years go by and it's a new year. As the action plan of "Study at BIT" is about to enter its tenth year, the commendation ceremony for outstanding foreign students in 2021 and the New Year Party in 2022 were successfully held in the afternoon of January 12, 2022. The event was broadcasted live worldwide through Yanhe Classroom and Tencent Conference by combining online and offline methods. All the faculty and staff of the International Student Center and thousands of students, alumni and parents from 149 countries gathered together through the Internet to review the dream journey of "Study at BIT" in the past ten years and welcome the 2022 year full of hopes and opportunities.

With the theme of " Study at BIT - to the future together with you", this recognition party is divided into five chapters: opening, looking back, seeking knowledge, Winter Olympics, and fame, and the annual recognition is organically integrated with wonderful programs. The spirit of role models and diversified cultures are intertwined to form an audio-visual feast.

On behalf of the university, Wang Ying, Director of International Student Center, expressed her heartfelt thanks to all the international students, alumni and parents for their continuous care and support to " Study at BIT " and sent her sincere wishes to them. In her speech, she introduced the achievements of BIT in the past year and encouraged all international students to be diligent and hardworking with a positive and healthy attitude and powerful actions, so as to welcome the arrival of hope with their best selves.

A total of 81 outstanding international students were awarded this year. In the past year, they were awarded the honorary titles of Outstanding International Students, Outstanding Volunteers of BIT and Best Assistants of BIT, etc. for their outstanding achievements, performance and contributions. Through the simple testimonials of the award-winning students, we can deeply feel that it is the silent contribution of each outstanding international student that makes the light of "Study in BIT" shine extra bright!

The review of classic programs of previous years, commendation gala and the dedication of the new generation of "Study at BIT" students are the highlights of this commendation gala, which are accompanied by each other with ease and elegance. The documentary " Study at BIT 2021" led everyone to relive the unforgettable time when " Study at BIT" was forging ahead and all the teachers and students were working together in 2021. A piece of "Twenty-four Seasonal Drums - Dream" was performed. The drums thundered and rang through the clouds, signifying that BIT and BITers will move forward in the new year with an even more exciting and vigorous attitude. The carefully edited classic programs of the 2013-2019 gala brought the atmosphere of the gala to the climax, including the Bollywood dance series, Chinese kung fu, kuaibanr, diabolo, and the gentle and quiet Chinese style. The classical programs were renewed with new vigor through time and space, which filled the teachers and students with memories instantly. Six Malaysian students composed and sang the original song "BIT Story", which once again ignited the atmosphere of the party. The students turned their two-year journey into words and notes, and sent their New Year wishes to the school and all teachers and students. A number of overseas students also designed and produced many wonderful works, expressing their sincere blessings and longing for the university with their heartfelt chanting, full of emotion and energetic blessings. The alumni of overseas students who are always concerned about the development of the university also sent their blessings through video, and expressed that they would contribute more to the construction of their alma mater and the development of the cause of studying in China.

The journey of ten years is not over yet, study at BIT will start again! May the pandemic dissipate as soon as possible, and when the clouds have cleared and the flowers are beautiful, we will reunite with all the international students from abroad on the BIT campus! I wish all international students a prosperous future! I sincerely wish that "Study at BITi" will strive to be the first and make new and greater contributions to the university in the process of building a world-class university.

Some student testimonials

Norman (from Pakistan)

Physical Electronics, Class of 2017

PhD student

One of Albert Einstein famous quote, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

Due to covid-19 pandemic, it has been two years that we left for our hometown from our beautiful BIT campus.

Perhaps the biggest immediate challenge of this pandemic period was the mass shift of so much of our lives and work online. In a few days BIT moved fast to create a flexible, responsive online service, which gave students confidence and skills for the future, with student feedback crucially driving online innovation and change.

I want you to know BIT is here all the time to support all of us however the university can. We all are part of the BIT family even when we are required to be physically distant from one another.

Through this span of time I was in full and continuous contact with Professor and lab colleagues. As all the time they treat us with the most wonderful and graceful way.

During this time, I published three papers as the first author and a few publications as a coauthor. This is only possible due to the proper guideline of my professor and lab colleague. In addition, I am nominated for the Outstanding Student Award for the academic year 2020-2021. Furthermore, I am grateful to the International student office of Beijing Institute of Technology for their unwavering support and encouragement of us all.

Ellen (from Venezuela)

Computer Science and Technology, Class of 2020

Professional Master's students

"Today is the first day of the rest of our lives” That was the phrase my dad said to wake me up every day to go to school. This taught me that we always have the opportunity to start over and strive for what we want.

This is the phrase that today represents all of us in this time of pandemic, working everyday for a better future regardless of the circumstances and overcoming the difficulties experienced.

We all are distinguished students of BIT for all the hard work we have done to be here today.

I am sure this year will be full of blessings and successes. We are all working hard to overcome the challenges that might arise and that is the key to success. Happy New Year and blessings to all!

Luo Yiwen (from Burkina Faso)

Undergraduate student of Computer Science and Technology, School of Computer Science and Technology, Class of 2020

It is a great honor to be selected as one of the outstanding students of this year. I believe you all know that because of this pandemic, a group of international students could not return to school for classes. We had no choice but to take online classes and participate in some online activities. I am very grateful to the teachers of the Study Abroad Center for their help and encouragement, which allowed me to experience a different kind of online study abroad life.

Secondly, I would also like to thank my friends. Thank you for adding so much color to my ordinary college life. Although we haven't really met, thank you for being so tolerant of me and accompanying me to study and grow together.

Finally, I hope we can all return to school soon. I am very much looking forward to meeting you all. Thank you all!

Lin Yanling (from Malaysia)

Undergraduate student of Information Management and Information Systems, School of Management and Economics, Class of 2020

I am very grateful to BIT, which I think is one of the best universities in China, providing very good study conditions and high quality of teaching for students, especially international students. I am honored to be a student of BIT.

I would also like to thank the teachers, especially the teachers in charge of international students, who provide us with all kinds of thoughtful services and care.

In the future, I will study in China for two more years, and I will cherish these two years and continue to study hard, so that I can live up to the expectations of my teachers and contribute to the development of China and Britain after graduation. Thank you all!

Wang Yijin (from Malaysia)

Undergraduate Student of Computer Science and Technology, School of Computer Science and Technology, Class of 2018

In order to welcome the New Year's Day and Chinese New Year, BIT has prepared a special online gala and award ceremony for outstanding students this year. Here, I am honored to represent the outstanding international students to share with you my four years of university life studying in BITi on such a special day.

I miss my time at BIT when I can't return to school. What impressed me more was that we established our first 24-season drumline in the summer of 2019. That summer, we worked out hard, learning drumming techniques as well as beats. From knowing nothing to being able to present a show, from 5 people, we slowly grew to 22 people, and the 2019 Recognition Ceremony was our first performance and we were happy to be the opening act for the New Year's Eve party.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, I'm sure many of my students are very much like me and have been taking online classes at home for close to 2 years. During this period, all lectures were conducted in the form of online classes, and there was some discomfort at first. The impact of unstable network greatly slowed down the progress of our classes, which was a moment when the teachers at BIT provided a lot of help. Some teachers even set up a small group chat so that we could ask them questions when we encountered problems. The teachers of the International Student Center were also very helpful in helping us solve the problems of online classes. For the classes that were not recorded, the teachers of the International Student Center would come to the classroom and live-stream the classes for us. Thank you very much for the teachers who worked hard during this period.

Thanks to BIT, I have gained a lot from my university career, from academic to personal qualities, and have been fully cultivated and exercised. I believe all these experiences and accumulations will become valuable assets for each of us in our life path. I love BIT. I hope the epidemic will dissipate soon, so that I can return to campus and draw a beautiful end to my college life.

Undergraduate student of Computer Science and Technology, School of Computer Science and Technology, Class of 2018

Some of my classmates might remember that during our first days at school and attending the orientation classes, we were asked to write about our goals in mind and what we want to achieve over the next four years of our lives here at Beijing Institute of Technology, in fact I still have a picture of my goals list saved. That was in 2018, here we are, almost four years later from our first days in our campus in Beijing. Now in 2022, we are all scattered over the globe due to COVID-19 pandemic that occurred two years ago. We were all very affected by this pandemic and even to this day, the ways we meet, study, even walk or stand in the streets are different. We students are now living in different time zones, geographical locations and cultures. However, we all still have the same goals we made during those first days as students. We are all still in the same family that is Beijing Institute of Technology.

Even though the past two years have been very tough, we made it to the very last year with the help of ISC, teachers and coordinators and of course our determination.

As a representative of international students in BIT, I want to first of thank ourselves, us students, for staying strong and motivated during these years. Next, thanking our teachers. Without their help it would have been impossible to get past all the challenges and the last but not the least, Office of International Studentsfor their non-stop support of international students.

All in all, I hope you will have an amazing holiday. May 2022 be the year of motivation, hard work and determination. And finally, I hope that 2022 would be the year I would see my classmates again in person, somehow, somewhere in the world. Maybe as Master students in BIT, at the flag square next to Office of International Students.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone.

Lanna (from Turkmenistan)

Undergraduate student of International Economics and Trade, School of Management and Economics, Class of 2020

Last year was not easy for all of us, and the first year of university is always a bit difficult. Although I have only just started to improve my skills and knowledge, I can already say now that university has made my life better and that BIT has opened the door to a world of new opportunities for me, and it is here that I have met so many amazing people. If we've had such great success in just one year, imagine what we can accomplish in the next three years! We need to continue to work hard in all aspects of our lives and be more productive than ever before.

Finally, I would like to thank my family, friends, and all of the faculty at BIT for your support and help.

Zhong Dewei (from Indonesia)

Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, School of Mathematics and Statistics, Class of 2020

A year and a half of taking classes online is indeed a very difficult period. Problems with the network, problems with the system, boredom, sadness, grief, and situations around us that may not allow us to study properly are all problems that we must face in online classes. But no matter how difficult it is, I will continue to fight and I will overcome all the problems we need to face one by one. I will not give up. I believe that these difficulties should bring a lot of help in my future life and let me improve my ability to adapt. So, we must persevere and not give up. The difficult times will eventually pass.

I also participated in some interesting online events, one of which was called Global Town Hall 2021, where I was able to see many famous scientists and politicians discussing issues facing the world, such as epidemics, technology, youth power over the world, fair distribution of vaccines, etc. From this event, I was able to listen to many new perspectives that made me more focused on what is happening in our world. Finally, I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Recap of the ceremony

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