Hi, everyone! I am Yu Zhang. I take the sport and society course this semester. I will try to bring some different thoughts from another culture, try my best to absorb your ideas from the class and your blogs.
This is my second semester in BGSU. My major is Kinesiology, and my specific interest is exercise psychology. I plan to do my thesis proposal this semester, and start my research this April, due to I would like to pursue my doctor degree in future. This week, I began to help an obesity research which is conducted by Dr. Berger, Dr. Darby, and Dr. Carels. Kallie and Courtney, which are nice to me since we took the same courses last semester, are also in group. This is my first time using English to test the participants, but they make me feel less tense.
Sport is a part of my life since I was born. I live in a small city called QinHuang Dao in China, which has 3,000,000 people. We have a National Sport Training Center in our city which is my mom works. National top sport teams will be here for training in the summer. When I was young, I had a lot of opportunities to watch their play. These experiences and memories became a factor which influences me to choose my major in future.
After graduated from high school, I decided to pursue my bachelor’s degree in sport psychology in Wuhan Institute of Physical Education. Wuhan is one of the biggest cities in China, which has 9,000,000 people, and far away from my hometown. Most of students are college athletes in our university, and some of them are Olympic Champions, Asian Champions and National Champions. I had 48 classmates, which took the same courses in the same time for four years. That’s a lot fun, because we knew each other very well. But after graduated from college, only two of us chose to pursue master degree in exercise science, which me and one of my best friends, and none of us chose to work in a relate area. The most important reason is exercise science is a new field in China, and it difficult to find a job.
However, after 2008 Olympic Games, the situation was changed. China changes their focus from elite sport to public sport, which means China will pay more attention to common people rather than athletes. The government has made August 8th National Fitness Day. Therefore, the exercise science in China will more important and more developed in future.
A small city of only 3 million people? I enjoy having you in class Yu, as it is statements such as those that make me realize the importance of our personal perspective! You have also had such a very interesting background and the opportunity to interact with many top athletes in China. I am sure that these connections will benefit you in your research. I am also glad to know that China is starting to work on the exercise component of the common people.
ReplyDeleteHi Yu,
ReplyDeleteI am very interested to read about your background and sports' interests, especially as related to the Olympics. I was surprised to see that China has changed its emphasis from elite sport to participation sport. I wondered why that was. Thank you for sharing your background in sport. I can imagine that it is more challenging to write in your second language but you have made a great start to your blog.
Dr. Spencer
Hi Yu! I have also enjoyed having you in multiple classes this school year. I am so glad to have the chance to get to know you and learn from you at the same time! You are extremely brave for traveling so far away from home to pursue your educational goals. The experiences you have of watching the top athletes of China train will be exciting to hear about!
ReplyDeleteI think it is fantastic that you have come so far from home to gain an education and achieve your goals. I applaud you tremendously for learning so much new material in a different language. I am sure that you do great with the participants for your research. I have heard from several people who did not grow up in the US that say that sports on the local level are not as important in other cultures. It seems as the US is very adamant on giving everyone a "fair chance" at greatness and sometimes even celebrate mediocracy. When we were watching the 2008 Olympic Games, it was amazing to see how much pride all of the athletes from China had for their country. They were truly competing for their country and not for individual accolades. That is what I think the Olympics is about and more athletes could take note of that! Anyway, I am excited to hear your perceptions of our culture as well as learn new things about yours!
ReplyDeleteYu,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you have you in my classes and help with the study! You definitely have an important role here at BGSU and I am so glad that you chose this school to do your Graduate studies at. I love hearing about your country and how some things are different and some things are the same. Growing up, I took advantage of the fact that I had a brother, but after reading that you are the only child and remembering China’s one child policy, it makes me take a step back and realize how different our societies are. I really enjoyed reading this blog and can not wait to read more about the differences between China and the United States when it comes to sports!
Hi Yu, we have had a few classes together and unfortunately we have not had much opportunity to converse. I think it is great that you are here. It is a great opportunity for us to learn more about your culture first hand and for you to do the same about us. I hope we don't dissapoint you. I want to say that commend you for presentations. I could not even imagine standing up infront of a class where their language is not my first. Is has to be intimidating but you do a great job. I look forward to learning more about you.
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