NYU Shanghai is a great university, but I wish we could study abroad in China…Just the other night, I went to a talk by Stephen Harder, an NYUSH professor and the managing director for the Shanghai branch of Clifford Chance, an international law firm. Like many working-age adults in the international sphere, he’s traveled and lived in many places around the world, a fact that alone was enough to capture the attention of all the students in the room. However, when he started speaking about his first moments in China a spark lit up in his eye. The roomful of students collectively held their breath and leaned forward in their seats to hear his story.Harder first came to China in 1980, which was just four years after the end of the Cultural Revolution. At that time China was still an exotic place to the western world and there were only a handful of foreigners who could speak Chinese. His first experience in China had a fantasy-like quality: stepping out onto the street of Wangfujing at 5 AM on his first day in Beijing, everything was shrouded by a thick fog. It was silent, and there was nothing in sight but an indistinguishable floating red light suspended in the air. The light flicked to green, and an incessant whirring noise started up. People on bikes passed by him, then floated on and disappeared back into the fog. The light flicked to red. Silence. The realization that he was in a vastly different place from home hit him in that brief moment.China has come a long way since 1980. Economic reforms and modernity has narrowed the gap between China and the Western world, but the shock of entering China still exists. I know; I experienced it as well. I still remember the feeling of utter terror and excitement when I was led by my host father down an old Beijing alleyway without a single Chinese word under my belt. That was the start of my first wild ride of a year in China. Over that year, I struggled more than I had ever before in my life. Countless nights beating my head against the proverbial wall. Culture shock. Language gap. It was terrifying; it was also the best year of my life.Sadly to say, I’d wager that most students at NYUSH will never experience something like that. They might never connect with the Chinese culture; they might never get a grasp of the language. That’s sad to me, and it should be sad to you too - what are we here for if not for a cultural exchange? Half of our student body is international and the other half Chinese, and although I have great Chinese friends, it pains me to face the reality that many of us will leave without ever really getting to know one another.One purpose for the creation of NYUSH is often overlooked by both administration and students. The value is that of true cultural exchange, and I’d dare to say that so far it has largely only happened on one side. I am so delighted to see my Chinese classmates and friends quickly mastering English. It warms my heart when, in excited conversation, my Chinese friends say “Oh that’s so dope,” and then are able turn around to write an articulate analysis of scientific philosophical theory. However, where is the support for us international students to get such an immersive experience in Chinese? As many of our classmates can tell you, a language must be truly lived to be mastered. Especially one so different from English as Chinese. I fear that four years of one-hour-a-day Chinese class will not be enough to cut it for most to graduate from this institution speaking any sort of advanced, intellectual form of Chinese.So NYUSH, please — for the sake of fulfilling the goal that this university set out to achieve in the the first place — let us study abroad in China. The environment we live in now nowhere near delivers the immersive experience we need to gain a deep understanding of Chinese culture, language, and most importantly, Chinese people. We cannot be trained to expect our Chinese counterparts to adjust to us before we can identify with them. This is a country of one billion people; together, they can move mountains, and will change the world.I know that many of us will be severely disappointed if we leave without a comprehensive understanding of the language, let alone the ability to connect with the people we see on the street. We as a whole need to gather the momentum necessary to start these reforms. Without immersion, we are hard pressed to learn the language. We offer it in English to our Chinese classmates here (in China), and even have similar immersive language programs established in our study away locations. It’s preposterous that there are still no opportunities for those who wish to live with a host family, or for those who wish to study a real subject in Chinese. Perhaps this can take place within the walls of our own campus, perhaps it needs to be established at a local university, or even one outside of Shanghai, but something needs to change. Please NYU Shanghai, let us study abroad in China. This article was written by Oscar Fossum. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Justin Scholar