{"id":101,"date":"2021-09-29T07:34:47","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T07:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/?p=101"},"modified":"2021-10-19T00:53:42","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T00:53:42","slug":"how-trent-from-usa-crowdfunded-10000-usd-to-study-at-tsinghua-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/blog\/how-trent-from-usa-crowdfunded-10000-usd-to-study-at-tsinghua-university\/","title":{"rendered":"How Trent from USA Crowdfunded 10,000 USD to study at Tsinghua University"},"content":{"rendered":"
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China is a large country that offers many opportunities to students from all over the world. Finding the right opportunity in the right moment is what helps students to grow and develop. Listening to the stories of people who have already experienced China and lived here is all the more important in helping you to make the choice which is just right for you!<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Trent came from the USA to study politics and international relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing. I interviewed him and heard about his fascinating story. If you plan on studying in China or anywhere else in this world and you are not sure if you can do it, I know this story will inspire you to find your own way and make your dreams come true.<\/p>\n

Why China and why Tsinghua University?<\/h4>\n

Gerrit<\/em>:\u00a0What was your initial decision? What made you come here to China?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Trent<\/em>:\u00a0So, my interest for international relations first sparked when I studied abroad through a study abroad program from DePaul to Rome, Italy. It was a media studies program. That was my first time actually being outside of the US (\u2026)\u00a0So throughout the span of 2015 until 2017, I had accumulated a set number of fellowships and international experience, which sparked my interest in applying for universities here in China, such as Fudan, Peking, and Tsinghua I chose Tsinghua over Fudan based on\u2013 of \u00a0course, the city is like, this is the place to study politics and international relations. So, that\u2019s one of the reasons I chose it. Another reason is that they gave me a small scholarship. Not too much. But something to get by. Ever since then, it\u2019s been a really great experience. I paid for my first year, raising nearly $10,000 with GoFundMe. That was really stressful, but it was worthwhile. Otherwise, I wouldn\u2019t be here right now.<\/p>\n

Where there is a will, there is a way \u2013 Funding your tuition through GoFundMe<\/h4>\n

Gerrit<\/em>: Cool. How did you raise the money?<\/h4>\n

Trent<\/em>: I raised the money using GoFundMe. The total number of online and offline donations that I received\u2013 because I had friends in China, who were sending me money as well\u2013because union pay is not compatible with many payment platforms such as GoFundMe, they had to send it through WeChat Pay. The total amount is about\u2013 about $10,400.<\/p>\n

Gerrit<\/em>: That\u2019s cool. That\u2019s a clever way of funding, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Trent<\/em>: Yeah, yeah. It was quite stressful. It was quite stressful. Asking for money is not easy.<\/p>\n

Gerrit<\/em>: How did you get the idea to do that?<\/p>\n

Trent<\/em>: I actually got it through a really good friend of mine, who raised money to study\u2013not study\u2013 but he did this program. I can\u2019t remember the name of the program, but it was in the Nairobi Kingdom. He raised $5,000 to go through with this program, because he did not have the money, so I got the idea from him. He is the one who basically coasted me through and helped me out in the implementation process.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Gerrit<\/em>: That\u2019s quite inspirational. Because most people think that they can\u2019t study abroad, because it\u2019s expensive. You\u2019ve shown that you can just do it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Trent<\/em>: It takes a lot of drive as well. You have to build your following\u2013 I mean, your crowd. You have to have people that actually believe that what you\u2019re doing is good. It\u2019s all about how do you form your campaign.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gerrit<\/em>: Is there anything you communicate back to the people who have funded you? Do you tell them stories or tell them about your life and your experience and stuff like that?<\/p>\n

Trent<\/em>: So an integral part of my campaign involved a really good friend of mine who created a video for me. In the video, I told everyone about my process of teaching English in China, my fellowships, my academic abilities, my passions, what drives me, personal stories, and I created an email blast using my MO (?). I created these stories. I used Facebook, Instagram. What else did I use? LinkedIn. Even WeChat as well\u2013 have quite a few donations from WeChat. (\u2026) Two of my biggest donations came from people who I didn\u2019t even know, $500. I never met these people in my life. So, they were inclined to donate $500 to a person who they\u2019ve never met, but based on the person\u2019s story, they believe that the money would be going to good hands. That was quite inspirational. It kept me going, because there were days where I got nothing. It hurt. There were days when you get $500, and you feel like you\u2019re on top of the world. It was an enlightening experience for me.<\/p>\n

The Tsinghua Student Experience<\/h4>\n

Gerrit<\/em>: That\u2019s quite interesting. Maybe to start in a different direction, I would be interested\u2013 maybe in terms of your education\u2013what was the greatest experience that you\u2019ve made so far?<\/p>\n

Trent<\/em>: I would say that the greatest education experience\u2013there have been quite a few since August. So, the dean of The School\u00a0\"\"<\/a>of Public Policy and Management just nominated me along with two other people for this (\u2026) simulation program. It\u2019s basically where they choose three students to\u2013 they choose three students to go on this simulation model. It\u2019s going to be in February and March\u2013 on how to counter pandemics and epidemics. So, they chose us over a number of students to partake in this program.\u00a0Another really important part of my academic life here at Tsinghua is being able to successfully complete all of my classes (\u2026).\u00a0So, it was quite stressful, but I\u2019ve been able to power through the classes and get high grades on many of my tests so far. I still have classes to complete. Now, I serve as a\u2013 I have an internship as a case writer, so I\u2019m learning more about how to build case studies around the Chinese perspective on foreign relations and foreign policies. So, that\u2019s been quite interesting, both professionally and academic wise.<\/p>\n

Gerrit<\/em>: Was it hard to find an internship?<\/p>\n

Trent<\/em>: It\u2019s relatively easy to find internships. One reason is because Tsinghua has a lot of ties with many organizations, not only in Beijing, but also abroad. So when it comes to internships and fellowships, we get first dibs, I would say, along with Peking as well. But my program particularly, since it focuses on sustainable development goals, our program advisors tend to send us weekly emails about these internships, with Schwarzman College being on campus as well, we get to participate in their programs, and learn about what they\u2019re doing as well. It\u2019s all a means of\u2013 it\u2019s all about networking<\/p>\n

Gerrit<\/em>: Yeah. So, what would you recommend to students who are thinking about coming to China? Why would you encourage them to go to China? What would you, if anything, warn them about? What should they be prepared for?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Trent<\/em>: (\u2026) You have to understand that this is a different culture. This is a different style of teaching. This is an English program within a Chinese university. You have professors who have received their degrees not only their PhDs from Chinese universities, but also institutions in the US and Europe as well. So, I would tell students before they come here to not expect the same traditional style of teaching in their home countries, because they won\u2019t get that. If you come to Tsinghua only\u2013especially if you\u2019re a Master\u2019s student or a Phd student, if you come to Tsinghua or any other institution in China, looking for only the academic aspects of it, you will not have a good time. You will be lacking that if you were to come here only for that. It has to be a balance of the two. I\u2019ve come to learn that really quickly.<\/p>\n

Gerrit<\/em>: What do you want to do in the future after graduating from Tsinghua?<\/p>\n

Trent<\/em>: I plan on taking the foreign officer\u2019s test next year, so I\u2019m open to the\u2013 the big goal that I have in mind is a diplomat. That\u2019s the big goal, but there are many little parts to get to or overcome before I actually get there. So, I\u2019m hoping to pass the foreign officer\u2019s test next year. When graduation comes, I\u2019m hoping to be placed, maybe at an embassy here or back home in the US.<\/p>\n

You can do it too! \u2013 Apply Now<\/h4>\n

Trent\u2019s story has shown me that even though you might feel certain opportunities are beyond your reach, there is always a way that you can make your dreams come true.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

China is a large country that offers many opportunities to students from all over the world. Finding the right opportunity in the right moment is what helps students to grow and develop. Listening to the stories of people who have already experienced China and lived here is all the more important in helping you to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103,"href":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101\/revisions\/103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.globaladmissions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}