文/馬克·力文 (Mark Levine，美) 譯/張佳藝

中國的大學(xué)會(huì)定期接受國家教育部或省級(jí)教育部門的審核。省級(jí)政府部門負(fù)責(zé)審核省級(jí)大學(xué)；教育部負(fù)責(zé)審核國家級(jí)高校。在中國，教育部門的審核尤為重要。中國正積極尋求提高大學(xué)水平，尤其致力于建設(shè)“世界一流”大學(xué)。中央民族大學(xué)（后文簡稱“民大”）便是入選“雙一流”的大學(xué)之一。

民大已在為教育部審核做準(zhǔn)備。在實(shí)際審核前一兩周，我們收到了關(guān)于日期和一些其他細(xì)節(jié)的通知。審核工作將持續(xù)一周，由11人小組完成。此外，因?qū)Α笆澜缫涣鳌贝髮W(xué)稱號(hào)極為重視，該團(tuán)隊(duì)還包括兩名外國人，且都是美國人。

中國少數(shù)民族學(xué)生的“哈佛”

2018年，審核團(tuán)隊(duì)到達(dá)的第二天，共有10位英語教師參加了會(huì)議，大多來自英語系，教授英語文學(xué)和翻譯專業(yè)課程。我們大約聊了一個(gè)小時(shí)。談話先是聚焦于學(xué)生能力，后又轉(zhuǎn)向評(píng)估學(xué)生英語能力的進(jìn)步。經(jīng)過一番討論后，另一位在美國國家科學(xué)基金會(huì)擔(dān)任提案評(píng)估員20多年的審核員提出一個(gè)問題：“這里有來自中國各少數(shù)民族的學(xué)生和教師，你們?nèi)绾翁幚韼熒g的種族沖突?”

我舉起手，回答道：“我的班級(jí)中，學(xué)生來自漢族、藏族、布依族、黎族、哈薩克族、維吾爾族、蒙古族、朝鮮族、壯族、羌族、回族、彝族、土家族、苗族和中國其他少數(shù)民族。他們一起學(xué)習(xí)、一起玩、一起逛街。出去吃飯時(shí)，如果同學(xué)里或室友中有一個(gè)是穆斯林，他們就會(huì)選擇去學(xué)?；蚋浇那逭娌蛷d吃。這是我來民大任教的第11年，在這里我認(rèn)識(shí)了很多學(xué)生、教師和行政人員。人們信賴我，和我敞開心扉聊各種事。在將近11年的時(shí)間里，我既沒見過也沒聽說過校園里發(fā)生過任何種族沖突的事件?！?/p>

Chinese universities regularly undergo inspections by the national or provincial ministries of education. For provincial universities, it is the provincial government that is responsible for this and for national universities it is the national Ministry of Education. This process is especially important in China which is actively seeking to improve the standards of its universities and, in particular, working to develop a number of “World Class” universities. Minzu University of China (MUC) is proud to be one of those that have achieved this status.

MUC is getting ready for an MOE inspection. Finally, about 1-2 weeks before the actual evaluation, we are notified of the dates and a few other details. The inspection will take a week and will be done by a team of 11. Furthermore, particularly because of the desire for the World Class University designation the team will include 2 foreigners. Both of the foreigners are Americans.

Be like the Harvard for Chinese minority students

In 2018, the second day after the team arrived, there are a total of 10 English teachers for a meeting. Most of us are from the English department where we teach to English literature and translation majors.We meet for about an hour and the early questions focus on our students’ abilities followed by questions related to evaluating the progress by our students in their English abilities. After some discussion of these matters, the other American, who has worked as a proposal evaluator for the US National Science Foundation for more than two decades, asks, “You have all of these students from every Chinese ethnic minorities and faculty from different ethnic groups. How do you deal with ethnically related conflicts between students and teachers of these different groups?”

My hand shoots up and answers this question: “I look out among my students in my classes and I see Han students, Tibetans, Buyi, Li, Kazakh, Uyghur, Mongolian, ethnic Koreans, Zhuang, Qiang, Hui, Yi, Tujia, Miao and students from other Chinese ethnic groups. They study together, play together, and shop together. If they go to eat and if one of these classmates or dorm mates is a Moslem, they will eat in one of the several Halal canteens on campus or of an even larger number of restaurants in the neighborhood. I am in my 11th year teaching at MUC. I know lots of people here, students, faculty and administrators. People confide in me with all kinds of information. And, throughout those nearly 11 years, I have neither

seen nor heard of a single instance of any ethnically-based conflict between

any members of the campus community.”

民大的校訓(xùn)是“美美與共，知行合一”，這正是大家所看到的民大校園。

這位審核員非常驚訝：“這怎么可能？為什么他們之間沒有沖突？”

我回答道：“少數(shù)民族學(xué)生為能夠進(jìn)入民大學(xué)習(xí)而倍感自豪，他們中的許多人認(rèn)為這里就相當(dāng)于中國少數(shù)民族學(xué)生的‘哈佛’。我游覽過中國近30個(gè)省份，每次去少數(shù)民族地區(qū)時(shí)，人們都很興奮地告訴我，他們的同學(xué)、朋友或親戚在民大就讀或就讀過。與此同時(shí)，民大的大多數(shù)漢族學(xué)生非常珍惜在民大學(xué)習(xí)的特殊性和獨(dú)特性。在這里，他們可以了解到中國鮮明的多樣性。他們所有人都為中國所取得的成就感到自豪，并意識(shí)到美美與共，即多種文化交織，只會(huì)使中國變得更加強(qiáng)大。”

“這是有意培養(yǎng)的嗎？”

“坦率地說，我無法證實(shí)這一點(diǎn)，畢竟我從未見過民大的相關(guān)使命宣言。但教育和社會(huì)環(huán)境都鼓勵(lì)這種求同。我是一名社會(huì)學(xué)家，盡管已經(jīng)離開學(xué)術(shù)界幾十年了。但我相信，如果圍繞學(xué)生對(duì)其他族裔群體的了解和態(tài)度的變化進(jìn)行研究，結(jié)果將是，他們對(duì)這些群體的了解不斷增加，他們初來校園時(shí)可能存在的負(fù)面形象或刻板印象不斷減弱?！?/p>

這不是我第一次或最后一次解釋這個(gè)問題，但它已經(jīng)成為我演講中越發(fā)常見的話題。我在中國許多大學(xué)中作過關(guān)于“中國之旅，如詩如歌”的演講，都講述過這個(gè)故事。無論我走到哪里，民大的故事我都會(huì)繼續(xù)講述，也會(huì)繼續(xù)加深對(duì)這個(gè)故事的理解。

學(xué)習(xí)語言、文化和不同的思維方式

2018年，自那次會(huì)議上對(duì)審核員發(fā)表“美美與共”的言論后，我對(duì)民大的探索還在繼續(xù)。這使得我那天說的話，以及后來的討論和演講得到了深化。

在2018年10月的一次校園演講比賽中，我對(duì)民大有了更深入的了解。該比賽旨在挑選學(xué)生參加外語教學(xué)與研究出版社組織的賽事。選拔賽的獲勝者是英語專業(yè)的大一新生李欣璐（音譯）。幾乎每個(gè)人都認(rèn)識(shí)Lily，她的英語水平很高，相當(dāng)于英語母語者的水平。Lily也投票給了那位獲勝者，但引起我注意的是另一名學(xué)生。這是一位出色的演說家，她叫Sandy Quan（全雅婷，音譯）。

I introduce the fact that the motto of the university is “Unity in Diversity, Theory in Practice” and that is exactly what you see on campus.

As a look of astonishment comes to his face, he asked:“How could this be? Why aren’t their clashes?”

I answer: “Minority students are especially proud to be able to attend MUC which many consider to be like the Harvard for Chinese minority students. I have traveled to nearly 30 provinces in China and when I go to minority areas, people are very happy to tell me about their classmates, friends or relatives who are studying or have studied at MUC. Meanwhile most Han students, who attend MUC, come to appreciate the specialness and uniqueness in being able to attend this place where they can learn about the great diversity of their own country. They are all proud of China’s gains and realize that unity in diversity, the weaving together of so many different cultures merely makes China stronger.”

“Is this intentional?”

“Frankly, while I cannot confirm this because I have never seen a mission statement of the university but it seems that both the educational and social environments encourage this unity. I am a sociologist and although I have been away from academic sociology for many decades, I am confident that if I were to undertake a study of changes in students’ knowledge of and attitudes towards those from other ethnic groups, the results would show both an increase in knowledge and a decrease in whatever negative images or stereotypes that might have existed when they first arrived on campus.”

This is neither the first nor the last time I explain this but it has become an increasingly common topic for my presentations. My presentation on “Stories and Songs from my Chinese Journey,” that I have done at a number of universities across China, tells this story. The story of Minzu University is one that I will continue to tell wherever I go but my learning of that story continues.

Learn language, culture and other ways of thinking

My learning about MUC continues after my “Unity in Diversity” comments to the evaluators in 2018. Learning which reinforced what I said on that day and in subsequent discussions I have had and presentations I done since then.

An important lesson begins to take shape in October 2018 at a campus public speaking competition to select a student to represent MUC in the upcoming competition organized by the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. The winner of the selection competition is Li Xinlu, a freshman English major. Lily, as virtually everyone knows her, is a well-known for her strong abilities as English speaker. Lily’s selection is unanimous but it is a different student who gets my attention. It is another excellent public speaker and her name is Sandy Quan [Quan Yating).

I ask her major.

馬克·力文（中）與學(xué)生們的合影

我問她的專業(yè)。

“我學(xué)的是維吾爾語言文學(xué)專業(yè)。”

“你是維吾爾族人？”

“不，我是滿族人?！?/p>

我在美國時(shí)，認(rèn)識(shí)的不是非裔美國人卻主修黑人（非裔美國人）研究的學(xué)生寥寥無幾。雖然在這里，主修中國少數(shù)民族語言和文化的大部分學(xué)生來自少數(shù)民族，但也有一些學(xué)生是漢族。

“你學(xué)維吾爾語嗎？這個(gè)專業(yè)有很多非維吾爾族學(xué)生嗎？”

“我大一時(shí)，班里有20個(gè)學(xué)生，但后來有6人轉(zhuǎn)了專業(yè)，現(xiàn)在班里14人?！?/p>

學(xué)期結(jié)束前，我在校園里偶遇到Sandy幾次，得知在我遇見她的當(dāng)晚，她因表現(xiàn)出眾被選中，代表民大參加由《中國日?qǐng)?bào)》英文版和面向?qū)W生讀者的《21世紀(jì)報(bào)》主辦的另一場比賽。

直到2019年秋季學(xué)期初，我才再次見到Sandy。正在校園里散步時(shí)，我遇到了她，向她感慨好久不見了。她對(duì)此回應(yīng)道：

“上學(xué)期我一直遠(yuǎn)在新疆?！?/p>

“真的嗎？聽起來不錯(cuò)。但你怎么去新疆了呢？”

“I major in Uyghur language and literature.”

“Are you Uyghur?”

“No, I am Man.”

When I was in the US I personally knew only a handful of students who were majoring in Black (African-American) studies who were not African-American and while most students majoring in specific Chinese minority languages and culture come from those minorities, there are a few who don’t.

“And you study Uyghur? Are there many non-Uyghur students who do that?”

“When I was a freshman our class had 20 but 6 changed majors so now we have 14.”

I come across Sandy on campus a few times before the semester is over and learn that as a result of her performance on the evening I meet her she is selected to be is selected to represent MUC at a different competition run byChina DailyEnglish-language newspaper and its student-oriented paper21st Century.

I don’t see Sandy again until early in the fall semester of 2019. We are walking on campus when I see her and suddenly realize that it had been a long time since I had last seen her. I comment on that and she responds,

“I was away all last semester. I was in Xinjiang.”

“Really, that’s great but what were you doing there?”

“我當(dāng)時(shí)寄宿在一個(gè)維吾爾族村戶里?！?/p>

“這是你自己找的還是學(xué)校安排的？”

她解釋說，是學(xué)校安排他們?nèi)?4名學(xué)生在新疆的一個(gè)村莊里度過第四個(gè)學(xué)期的。

2019年，我來到民大已經(jīng)12年了，但這是我第一次聽到這樣的安排。對(duì)此，我興趣頗濃，且印象深刻，意識(shí)到這可能就是打破文化誤解或沖突的東西。我和Sandy說，我非常想更多地了解這方面的情況，并告訴她將在幾周內(nèi)同她聯(lián)系。

大約10天后，我們倆進(jìn)行了一次更有針對(duì)性的討論。首先我們談了她是如何成為14名維吾爾語專業(yè)學(xué)生中非維吾爾族者之一的。

她解釋道：“我想學(xué)一門語言，但我的高考成績不夠高，無法被外國語學(xué)院錄取。但如果我選擇維吾爾語專業(yè)，那我就能進(jìn)入民大。既然我想在這里讀書，這是我唯一可選的專業(yè)。”

“只有維吾爾語可以選嗎？”

“有些年份是可以選擇藏語或哈薩克語的，但2017年我報(bào)考時(shí)只有維吾爾語?！?/p>

“那你對(duì)這種情況怎么看？”

“我很高興有機(jī)會(huì)來到這里學(xué)習(xí)語言。大一結(jié)束后，我們可以轉(zhuǎn)專業(yè)。我有一些同學(xué)轉(zhuǎn)到了歷史、博物館學(xué)或社會(huì)學(xué)專業(yè)。我也考慮過這件事，但我其實(shí)很喜歡我的專業(yè)，所以沒有轉(zhuǎn)。我很慶幸自己堅(jiān)持了這個(gè)專業(yè)?！?/p>

“你在新疆的那個(gè)學(xué)期過得如何？”

“課程大綱中，這部分安排在我們大二的第二學(xué)期。民大把我們送去新疆維吾爾自治區(qū)的一個(gè)村莊，我們每個(gè)人都住在那個(gè)村子中不同的寄宿家庭里。學(xué)校會(huì)給這些家庭一些經(jīng)濟(jì)支持來負(fù)擔(dān)開銷?！?/p>

“你在那里都做什么呢？需要上課嗎？”

“周末，我們有一位老師、一堂課，但其余時(shí)間我們就只是生活在那里。我們跟寄宿家庭交流，和他們的孩子聊天，給他們幫忙。我的寄宿家庭非常友好，他們?yōu)槲抑匦卵b修了房間，給我添置了一張新床。他們家有三個(gè)男孩，都叫我姐姐。當(dāng)我們?cè)诖謇锷⒉綍r(shí)，人們會(huì)盯著我們看；但當(dāng)我們和他們說話時(shí)，他們其實(shí)很友好。

在村里，每當(dāng)有人搬家時(shí)都會(huì)舉行特別的茶會(huì)，親戚們都會(huì)到場。我隨我的寄宿家庭也去過一次，在我用維吾爾語說了‘很高興見到你’后，大家紛紛鼓掌?！?/p>

“I was staying with a host Uyghur family in a village.”

“Did you work this out on your own or was this arranged by the school?”

She explains that the university arranged for her entire class, all 14 students, to spend their fourth semester in a single village in Xinjiang.

It is now 2019, 12 years after I arrived at MUC and this is the first time I have heard of such an arrangement. I am intrigued and impressed by this and realize that this is something else that can he breakdown cultural misunderstandings or conflicts. I tell Sandy that I am very interested in learning more about this and tell her I will contact her with a few weeks.

About 10 days later, we meet for a more focused discussion about it. We begin by talking about how she came to be one of those 14 non-Uyghur students major in Uyghur language.

She explained: “I wanted to study a language. I took the gaokao (the college entrance exam) but my overall score was not high enough for admission to the School of Foreign Studies. I could be accepted at Minda if I entered at a Uyghur language major. If I wanted admission here, it was the only thing available for me to study.”

“Only in Uyghur?”

“Some years you can enter to study Tibetan or Kazakh, but in 2017 when I started it was only Uyghur.”

“What did you think about this?”

“I was glad to come here and it was a chance to study a language. After our first year we are allowed change majors. Some of my classmates changed theirs to subjects like history, museology or sociology. I was thinking about it but I actually enjoyed my studies so I didn’t. I am really glad that I didn’t.”

“What about your semester in Xinjiang?”

“Part of this program is that during the second semester of our sophomore year, Minda sends us all to a village in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Each of us stays with a different host family in the same village. The school gives the family some financial support to cover expenses.”

“And what you do while you’re there? Do you have classes?”

“On the weekends we have a classes and a teacher but the rest of the time we are just living there. We are talking with our host family, talking with their kids, helping them. My host family was very friendly. They redid a room for me; got me a new bed. They had 3 kids, all boys who called me older sister.

When we walked through the village, people would stare at but were very friendly when we talked to them.

“你在那里還有什么其他經(jīng)歷？”

“那里的每個(gè)人都聽說過民大，對(duì)來到這個(gè)村莊的學(xué)生們印象深刻。每周我都會(huì)去附近的一個(gè)大城市購物，然后打出租車回去。路上，司機(jī)們總問我在那兒做什么，為什么去那兒？可見，哪怕是司機(jī)都會(huì)因民大學(xué)生來這里學(xué)習(xí)而感到興奮?！?/p>

我讓Sandy多告訴我一些關(guān)于民大維吾爾語系的情況。她說維吾爾語系有三個(gè)專業(yè)，有些人主修維吾爾語言文學(xué)，有些人主修維吾爾語—漢語翻譯。這些都是維吾爾族學(xué)生，而她在另一個(gè)面向非維吾爾族人的專業(yè)學(xué)習(xí)維吾爾語言文學(xué)。通過系里正式或非正式的活動(dòng)，她和另外兩個(gè)專業(yè)的學(xué)生有了更多互動(dòng)。

“我們彼此之間都互相認(rèn)識(shí)。我在系里有幾個(gè)朋友，和他們相處是很好的學(xué)習(xí)方式。除了語言和文化之外，我還可以學(xué)到不同的思維方式。”

最后，我問Sandy是否認(rèn)識(shí)藏語和哈薩克語專業(yè)的學(xué)生。她說她在這兩個(gè)專業(yè)中各認(rèn)識(shí)一個(gè)人，并主動(dòng)向我介紹了他們。那天晚些時(shí)候，我有了他們兩人的聯(lián)系方式。在接下來的24小時(shí)里，我分別約了他們兩人會(huì)面。

我可以成為外交官的翻譯，或者那個(gè)外交官

Alice（蘇媛琪，音譯）來自黑龍江省，漢族，學(xué)習(xí)藏語。我們見面時(shí)，她已經(jīng)開始大二上學(xué)期的學(xué)習(xí)了，比Sandy小一屆。

她的故事與Sandy相似。Alice的英語口語很好，但就其高考成績而言，她唯一可選的專業(yè)就是藏語。轉(zhuǎn)專業(yè)雖然是一種選擇，且她的20個(gè)同學(xué)中有5個(gè)都轉(zhuǎn)了，但Alice并沒有。

Alice下個(gè)學(xué)期將在西藏度過，她補(bǔ)充說：“去年夏天，在老師的帶領(lǐng)下，我和同學(xué)們?cè)谖鞑卮艘粋€(gè)月。我們遇到的每個(gè)人都待人友善、樂于助人。在那次旅行中，我們住在一家賓館里，但我們春天再回去赴約時(shí)，住在當(dāng)?shù)卮迩f里?！?/p>

Alice有兩個(gè)藏族同學(xué)，其余人像Alice一樣是漢族。她解釋說：“我的兩個(gè)藏族同學(xué)都只會(huì)說藏語，而不會(huì)寫，所以他們兩人在我們班?！?/p>

In the village, there are special tea parties when someone moves a new home. Relatives would come and I would go with my host family. I would say ‘nice to meet you’ in Uyghur and everyone would applaud.”

“What else about your time in the village?”

“Everyone knows about Minzu University and is very impressed that students from here are coming to this village. About once a week I would take a trip to a larger city nearby to go shopping. I would come back by taxi. The driver would always ask what I was doing there; why did I come? Even the drivers would be excited that MUC students come to stay and learn in the village.”

I ask Sandy to tell me more about the Uyghur Department at Minda and she explains that there are three majors with between 40-60 students in each year. Within the department some major in Uyghur language and literature and others major in Uyghur/Chinese translation. These are all Uyghur students. She is in the third major focusing on Uyghur language and literature for non-Uyghurs. Through the department she interacts both informally and through formal activities with students in the department’s other majors.

“We all know each other and I have several of friends within the department. I think this a wonderful way to learn. I not only can learn about the language and culture but also about other ways of thinking.”

Finally I ask Sandy if she knows similar students majoring in Tibetan and Kazakh. She confirms that she knows one in each of these majors and she offers to introduce me to them. She puts me in touch with both of them later that day and within 24 hours I have scheduled individual appointments with both of them within the next several days.

Maybe I can be a translator for diplomats, or that diplomat

Alice (Su Yuanqi) is from Heilongjiang Province in the Northeast. She is a majority Han Chinese and is studying Tibetan. When we get together she is in the first semester of her sophomore year, one year behind Sandy.

Her story is similar to Sandy’s. Alice is a good English speaker but according to her overall entrance exam scores, the only major she was eligible to take was Tibetan. Once again, changing majors after at the end of the freshman year is an option and while 5 out of her 20 classmates do, Alice doesn’t.

Alice will spend the next semester in Tibet but she adds, “My classmates all spent one month in Tibet last summer. We went with our teacher and everyone we met was very friendly and helpful. During that trip we all stayed in a hotel but when we go back in the spring we will all be staying in a few villages.”

Alice has two Tibetan students while most like Alice are Han. She explains:“My two Tibetan students both speak Tibetan but they cannot write so they are in our class.”

每周五晚上，Alice都會(huì)和同學(xué)們一起在校園廣場上跳藏族舞蹈。她的藏族室友英語不太好。“她們幫我學(xué)藏語，我?guī)退齻儗W(xué)英語?！?/p>

像Sandy一樣，Alice也很喜歡自己的專業(yè)?！拔覀儠?huì)學(xué)習(xí)歷史、語言和文化?！?/p>

Katherine也是一名大二學(xué)生，和Sandy一樣，是滿族人。她來自吉林，主修哈薩克語言文學(xué)。

“從小我就想為祖國做些事情。當(dāng)我接觸到‘一帶一路’倡議后，我決心為此貢獻(xiàn)出自己的力量。習(xí)主席的‘一帶一路’倡議最初是在哈薩克斯坦提出的，所以學(xué)習(xí)這門語言對(duì)我來說是個(gè)不錯(cuò)的選擇?！?/p>

Katherine和她的18位同學(xué)（其中兩人是哈薩克族人，但不會(huì)說漢語）的實(shí)地考察要比Sandy和Alice的稍微復(fù)雜一些。大一結(jié)束后，Katherine和同學(xué)們?nèi)バ陆囊粋€(gè)哈薩克村莊度過了一個(gè)月的暑假。這一個(gè)月她過得很開心，表示自己學(xué)到了很多。

“寄宿家庭是個(gè)大家庭，有父母、四個(gè)孩子、爺爺、阿姨和叔叔。每個(gè)人都很友好，飯菜也很可口。他們帶我參觀了不同景點(diǎn)，我們聊了很多，我也學(xué)到了很多當(dāng)?shù)匚幕！?/p>

“他們有一個(gè)兒子，有時(shí)會(huì)開玩笑問我想不想成為他們的兒媳婦。他們?cè)鴮⒁粋€(gè)女學(xué)生介紹給了一個(gè)當(dāng)?shù)啬泻?。我輔導(dǎo)他們的孩子學(xué)漢語，還去了當(dāng)?shù)氐男W(xué)教漢語。”

回到學(xué)校后，Katherine系里一位退休的哈薩克族教師帶隊(duì)組織了一次長城之旅。她很享受這次游覽，而且感激“他把我以朋友的身份介紹給其他老師”。

Katherine熱切盼望著大三的到來，那時(shí)她便會(huì)和同學(xué)們?cè)诠_克斯坦的一所大學(xué)度過一學(xué)年。而這是實(shí)現(xiàn)為國家和“一帶一路”倡議作出貢獻(xiàn)的一小步。因?yàn)橛羞@樣的目標(biāo)，她婉拒了父母讓她學(xué)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)的期望?！拔蚁胱鲆恍┬路f且不同的事。也許我可以成為外交官的翻譯，或者成為那個(gè)外交官?！?/p>

聽了Sandy、Alice和Katherine的故事，我對(duì)中央民族大學(xué)的校訓(xùn)“美美與共，知行合一”有了更精準(zhǔn)、更深入的理解。

Alice spends time with her classmates and joins the Tibetan dancing in the campus square every Friday night. She has Tibetan roommates whose English is not very good. “They help me with Tibetan and I help them with English.”

Like Sandy, she enjoys her major. “We study history, language and culture.”

Katherine is also a sophomore and, like Sandy, is from the Man ethnic group. She is coming from Jilin Province. She, however, majors in Kazakh language and literature.

“Ever since I was a child I wanted to do something for my country. When I learned about the Belt and Road Initiative I decided that is what I want to help with. President Xi’s announcement of the Belt and Road was first made in Kazakhstan so learning the language seemed like a good choice for me.”

The field placement for Katherine and her 18 classmates - two of whom are Kazakh but do not speak the language－is a little more involved than it is for either Sandy or Alice. Katherine and her classmates spent one month after their freshman year in a Kazakh village in Xinjiang during the summer.

She enjoyed her month and says she learned a lot.

“My host family was very big. It included the parents, four kids, the grandfather, aunts and uncles. Everyone was very friendly and the food was great. They took me to visit different sites. We talked a lot and I learned much about the culture.”

“They have a son and joked with me asking if I wanted to be his wife. They actually introduced another student to a local boy. I helped their kids and we even went to local primary schools to teach Chinese to local students.”

Back at school, her department had a trip to the great wall that was led by a retired Kazakh teacher. She not only enjoyed the visit but also appreciated it when “he introduced me to other teachers as a friend.”

Katherine is eagerly looking forward to her junior year when and her classmates will spend both semesters studying at a university in Kazakhstan. This is just another step in realizing early ambition to help China and contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative. That ambition led her to reject her parents’ wishes for her to study economics. “I want to do something new, something different. Maybe I can be a translator for diplomats, or I can be that diplomat.”

Hearing Sandy’s, Alice’s and Katherine’s stories simply strengthens my understanding of the accuracy of the MUC motto of “Unity in Diversity, Theory in Practice.”