Tao Canyang

Before the winter vacation in 2022, I was honored to be introduced to the National University of Singapore 2022 Winter Vacation Online Program by my masters tutor.

The National University of Singapore (NUS), established in 1905, is the oldest and most prestigious university in the world. It is a member of the Asian Universities Alliance, the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, the International Alliance of Research Universities, the Universitas 21, and the World Economic Forum’s Global University Leaders Forum. The NUS has 17 schools and 30 university-level research centers and 12 overseas colleges, offering interdisciplinary and interdepartmental academic programs, and leading far-reaching research projects. Characterized by a highly innovative and entrepreneurial spirit and a global perspective, NUS is committed to delivering high-quality education and research in an international framework, highlighting Asian perspectives and strengths.

I was impressed by NUS’s rich history and talented faculty before the online program even started. Although civil engineering was my major in both my undergraduate and graduate studies, it is now considered a trend in the information age for people to learn about computers, artificial intelligence, and machine algorithms. Since I have great admiration for the National University of Singapore and am a traditional engineering student, I was eager to begin this winter vacation online program because I am highly interested in learning computer science.

I have benefited a lot from the online program from the first day of the course to the very end. I was immersed with the enthusiasm from the lecturers who led the online program because they were so serious, responsible, cordial, and compassionate. When I wrote an email to the teachers with a question concerning an assignment I didn’t comprehend in class, I always got a timely response from them. On the final day of the lecture, I had the great fortune of meeting Prof. Motani online, who made me appreciate the attitude and manner of a great scholar because he was warm and courteous while also precise.

Since civil engineering is my major and I am unfamiliar with anything related to computers or code, I had anticipated that I would encounter some difficulties in learning. When I had trouble, I did my best to learn the relevant knowledge by watching online videos about the subjects, and since everyone had been divided into groups by the teachers before the course, it was very convenient to communicate in the group as well. The eight members of our group had never met, but we were constantly discussing and exchanging learning strategies, which made me pleasant and cheerful. The majority of the students in my group were from more prestigious universities of Project 985 in China, which made me realize the gap between myself and these highly educated students while simultaneously being drawn to their seriousness, rigor, and commitment to learning. This online program was quite memorable!