Embrace self-care and community life — “Cherish what we have and the people we meet.”
During the lockdown period, the HNC hosted several hotpot parties in the cafeteria, and Banwei – student leaders who organize student life and activities – held events both online and offline to alleviate students’ depression. Now the HNC is full of vitality and energy again. Many students who successfully arrived at Nanjing have tried hard to seize their days in the HNC. This semester, Banwei and faculty members organized amazing students activities, including a happy hour, a hot pot party, Hogwarts role-playing games, mountain hiking, sightseeing touring, calligraphy practice, table tennis practice, Erhu class, lounge movie nights, Women’s Day message board, and so on. There are also a variety of lectures, including academic exchanges, trend sharing, job-hunting counseling, and mental health lectures.
Niushoushan Hiking (Photo courtesy of HNC official WeChat account)
Alumni who completed their entire HNC education without the vibrant HNC community want to re-experience a more complete HNC life. HNC students who never had a sense of real community lacked the abundant events and activities that could have brought them together. Now that the three-year COVID-19 epidemic has become history, we need to open up our minds to reach out to people in the HNC community. Cherish what we have and the people we meet.
Hogwarts Award Ceremony and Secret Birthday Party for Professor Armstrong-Taylor (Photo courtesy of Yujie Dou, HNC Certificate 2023）
Sincere thanks to our volunteers who cordially shared their thoughts on this topic. For confidentiality, no real names were used in this article. If you experience any mental health problems, please seek psychological counseling as necessary. Learning some coping methods from a therapist could benefit your whole life. In addition to formal counseling, there are numerous ways for you to take care of yourself, including talking to a trustable person, going to the park for a walk, doing exercise step by step, and reading novels. Whenever you take action, please remember to impart positive feedback of your own, for instance, by writing a positive note, treating yourself to ice cream, or leaving time for a nice, long bath.
