On September 11, 2023, I arrived at Ecole Polytechnique in France to officially start my exchange program. École Polytechnique, or "X" for short, is the most prestigious and top engineering school in France and one of the oldest engineering schools in the world. X has produced many outstanding scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs, and many alumni have made outstanding achievements in the fields of science and technology, government, finance, and so on. Because of this, I have been admiring it for a long time, submitted an exchange application in the second semester of my senior year, and successfully came here to start an exchange life for half a year.

The second from the left is Cheng Yujia

I participated in the first semester of the third year of Cycle Ingénieur 3A and the first year of master's degree at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and I chose to join Informatique according to my major. Thanks to the four-year legal examination education in the Bar Academy, I adapted very quickly, and the curriculum here is the same as when I was an undergraduate. Each specialist class consists of a Cours Magistral (a big lecture in a lecture theatre) followed by a TP (practical lesson) and TD (exercises). There is also a new teaching mode such as the flipped classroom, which has greatly exercised my learning autonomy and ability to think independently about research problems.

*Flipped Classroom is a reversal of the teaching mode in the traditional classroom in which teachers teach knowledge in the classroom and students solve problems after class, and turns it into a teaching video for students to learn before class, and carry out in-depth learning activities such as problem solving and cooperative inquiry under the guidance of teachers in the classroom.

     The overseas exchange program I participated in corresponds to the first semester of the third year of X's engineering program and the first year of my master’s at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Based on my major, I chose to join the Informatics track. Thanks to four years of education at SPEIT, I adapted quickly. The course setup here is similar to my undergraduate studies, with each professional course consisting of a lecture (Cours Magistral) followed by a practical session (TP) and a discussion session (TD). They also have innovative teaching methods like flipped classrooms, greatly enhancing my ability to study independently and think critically.

X's curriculum has a strong focus on teamwork and project practice. For example, in the data visualization course, my classmates and I formed a small team, and we worked together to complete a timescale data visualization project for the COVID-19 epidemic that presented United States regions using the JavaScript d3 library. We've added interactive features that allow you to click and hover over a chart to see detailed data for a specific date, summarize data by month and year at the click of a button, or get more details. The end result of the entire project is integrated into an HTML page, so that anyone can access and use the tool directly from the web page.

In addition, the school offers a number of courses related to the humanities, economics and management fields, so that engineers can be well-versed in social and business environments, and also takes the Digital Innovation and Transformation course.

When we first arrived at X, the school held a welcome day to welcome us. In this activity, we met exchange students from various countries and regions around the world, practiced our oral and cross-cultural communication skills well, exchanged with Korea students about Korea TV dramas that are popular in China, tasted local food cooked by Iran students in the public kitchen, shared Chinese chili sauce with Viet Nam students, and praised the beautiful eyes of Georgia students.

With the benefit of free tickets to all major museums and galleries in France with EU student status, we enjoyed the smile of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, caught up with Van Gogh's themed exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay, saw the magnificent decorations in the Palace of Versailles and hiked in the garden until the legs were soft, or took advantage of Halloween to go on vacation to the beautiful south of France, basking in the bright sunshine, sitting on the stone piles on the coast of Nice, watching the waves of water surging with white waves crashing on the shore, left a stunning touch of blue in my heart for a long time.

Since many of our students are in France, we often travel together and even meet unexpectedly. In Rennes, a city in northwestern France, when we were just about to walk into a street restaurant to order, some Chinese walked in behind us, and when we turned our heads, we found that it was a classmate, so the restaurant owner helped us record this moment.

One weekend, we visited Mont Saint-Michel, which had taken place in the final exam of the French translation class in our sophomore year, and met two groups of students who had come to climb the mountain at the foot and halfway up the mountain. With Mont Saint-Michel in the background, we left a group photo with a unique commemorative significance. During our days in a foreign country, we formed a deep friendship.

3. Gain touch

I was deeply touched by the experience of going to France. In terms of learning, after the training of domestic engineers in the preparatory stage, I personally came to France to experience the teaching system and academic atmosphere of France engineers, communicate with international outstanding scholars, teachers and students, and broaden my academic horizons. Getting along with classmates from different countries, I learned respect, tolerance, and teamwork; Language communication is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity to improve my language skills, and this experience has improved my ability to communicate internationally in the future.

Overall, the exchange program in France has provided me with a platform for all-round development. Not only did I gain a deeper understanding of the professional field, but I also gained valuable experience in cross-cultural communication and personal growth. I would like to consider this unforgettable experience as an indispensable asset in my life!

Welcome to like, forward, and follow

END

speit2013

http://speit.sjtu.edu.cn/