哈萨克斯坦女孩：昆山杜克是我的第二个家

2020-6-11 20:22:17

昆山杜克大学

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哈萨克斯坦女孩：昆山杜克是我的第二个家

昆山杜克大学

昆山杜克大学 · 本科生故事

第 7 篇

文 |Galiya

我叫 Galiya Kaidarova，来自哈萨克斯坦的首都阿斯塔纳。

我出生在俄罗斯的鄂木斯克市，在那座城市生活了七年之后，我们一家人移居到了历史悠久的国度——哈萨克斯坦，我在那儿度过了几乎全部的校园时光。高二那年，一次文化交流项目让我有机会去到美国，在密歇根州的一所公立学校学习了一段时间。六月，我拿到了象征着全优成绩（GPA 5.0）荣誉的红色文凭证书，顺利从阿斯塔纳的七十五中毕业。

我那时收到了一封昆山杜克大学发来的邮件，邮件中所描述的大学正是一个非常适合我的地方。不仅因为我向往这个接受中美教育，并在两个国家学习的机会，也因为我的成长历程总在不同的城市和国家间移徙——这与昆山杜克秉持的全球主义理念不谋而合。我很希望能够和来自不同国家的人们成为同学，并从他们的不同观念中获益。此外，昆山杜克的地理环境也深深吸引了我：她坐落在美丽而宁静，并在快速发展中的昆山市，而且非常靠近上海。

3月30日晚上7点左右，我收到了学校邮件发来的录取通知书。我一看到开头的“祝贺”两个字后便开始尖叫——我甚至已经无法继续读完剩下的部分！家人都跑来问我发生了什么事，我欣喜若狂地大喊：“我被昆山杜克大学录取了！”说完，我们全家人激动地紧紧拥抱在一起。终于平静下来之后，我又一一打电话给我的祖母和其他家人，他们都祝贺我并为我感到骄傲。

2018年8月，我第一次来到中国。刚开始，有点担心自己是否能独自生活在一个语言不通的陌生国家。但是当我真正抵达中国，所有的不安全感都消散了。当我在街上或火车站迷路时，我可以向任何人求助，他们总是乐于帮助我。我也很幸运能结识许多支持帮助我的苏州和昆山本地的小伙伴。我们一起去了苏州，上海，无锡和昆山周边地方旅行，常会在周末一起喝奶茶和逛淘宝，我也与他们的家庭往来密切。十月国庆假期间，我们还在附近的山上进行了一次徒步旅行！

昆山杜克大学

昆山杜克的寄宿家庭项目让国际学生们很好地了解和体验了中国的生活方式。通过这个项目，我有了一个在中国的家。每当一起共度周末时，都感觉到他们都把我当作家人一样对待。我相信所有这些建立起来的情感联结都将是持久的。

昆山杜克大学

到目前为止，我最喜欢的课程是 Ben Schupmann 教授主讲的《理论与社会》，这是与我未来将要选择的社会学专业相关的第一堂课。在这一门课程中，我们学习了很多社会思想家的理论，他们包括卡尔·马克思，胡适，卢梭等。课堂讨论部分总能发人深省，每个人都根据自身的文化背景分享自己的观点，有时会就一些有争议的问题进行积极的辩论。各种想法相互碰撞，很有意思。

我在哈萨克斯坦时的上课时间是从周一到周六，而在昆山杜克则是从周一到周四。时间表的改变刚开始让我有点不习惯，但教授和导师的额外关照帮助我迅速调整和适应。

我想，昆山杜克就是我的第二个家。我很感激能成为她的一员，尤其是成为她的第一届本科生。

My name is Galiya Kaidarova, I am from Astana, Kazakhstan.

I was born in Omsk, Russia, and after living there for the first seven years of my life, my family moved to our historical homeland, Kazakhstan. I completed all my years of schooling in Kazakhstan except for my sophomore year, where I took part in a cultural exchange program in Michigan, United States. In Michigan, I was studying in an American public school. Last June, I graduated from Gymnasium #75 in Astana with a Red Diploma certificate (with Honors, for maintaining GPA 5.0/5.0 for junior and senior years).

I had been receiving emails from Duke Kunshan and from the emails, I felt like it was the perfect fit for me. I liked the opportunity to get both Chinese and American education and to study in two countries. DKU's philosophy of rooted globalism was very meaningful to me, as I spent most of my life moving around different cities and countries. So, I was very excited to have classmates from different countries and to learn a lot from their perspectives. Also, the location of DKU attracted me: to live in the beautiful and calm, yet fast-growing city of Kunshan, which is also very close to Shanghai.

I received my acceptance letter by email on March 30th at around 7 pm. When I read the first word of the first sentence, “Congratulations”, I couldn’t focus on the rest of the email and just started to scream. All my family members ran to me and tried asking me what was going on. In response, I screamed, “I’ve been accepted to Duke Kunshan!” All of them were so happy and hugged me really tight. After I calmed down, I called my grandmother and other close relatives - they all congratulated me and said how proud they are of me.

I arrived in China for the first time in August 2018. At first, I was a bit nervous about living in a new country by myself, wondering if I could survive without speaking Chinese. But all these insecurities faded away once I arrived in China.

Now whenever I am lost on the streets or the railway stations, I can approach anyone and ask for help. People here are always eager to help. I am also lucky to have supportive roommates. They are locals, from Suzhou and Kunshan. Together we have traveled to Suzhou, Shanghai, Wuxi, and many places in Kunshan. It is our tradition to get bubble tea on the weekends and order things from Taobao. I am very close with their families too.

During October break, we even went hiking in the mountains nearby. I am glad that DKU encourages students to be exposed to the Chinese lifestyle by initiating the host family program. Throughout this program, I was able to spend time with a family in China. We hang out every Saturday and they treat me as a member of their family. I believe that all the connections I have established in China will be long-lasting.

My favorite class so far is Theory and Society, which is taught by Ben Schupmann. It is the first class related to my future major, sociology. In this class, we are learning about social theorists, such as Karl Marx, Hu Shih, Rousseau, and others. The discussions of this class are all thought-provoking, sometimes we have healthy debates about some controversial questions. Everyone in the class shares their own opinion based on their background or the culture they have grown in. All of it makes it interesting to be exposed to the diversity of ideas.

Back in Kazakhstan, I studied from Monday to Saturday, while here in DKU, we study from Monday to Thursday. Such change of schedule was a bit unusual for me at first, but with the additional help from professors and tutors, I was able to adjust quickly.

I can definitely call DKU my second home. I am so thankful to be a student of this institution, and especially, to be part of their inaugural class.

昆山杜克大学

Galiya妈妈：

我们渴望让更多人知道昆山杜克

我叫 Raushan Kaidarova，是一名律师。我们的家庭由我与丈夫、Galiya 和我们最小的女儿 Rahiya 组成。我们居住在哈萨克斯坦的阿斯塔纳市。

昆山杜克大学

在Galiya申请世界各地的大学的过程中，我们从她口中了解到了昆山杜克大学。当然，我此前知道美国杜克大学，但那是我第一次听说昆山杜克。我一了解就觉得如果她能够去到那里就太棒了，因为这是获得中美教育的独特机会，也是我们女儿最理想的选择。

当Galiya告诉我们她被昆杜录取时，我们都为她感到高兴和自豪。我们至今依然会收到很多亲戚朋友对Galiya的祝贺。我们还经常被问到：Galiya的学习状况如何？这是一所什么样的大学？申请昆山杜克需要什么？当然，我们乐于分享有关昆山杜克的一切信息，因为我们非常渴望让更多人知道她。

在昆山杜克的学习经历是很有分量和影响力的，这将在Galiya未来的就业中发挥重要作用。昆山杜克是一所国际化大学，来自世界各地的学生前来学习，对于构建未来的人际网络至关重要。

中国与哈萨克斯坦接壤，双方一直是重要的合作伙伴。而现在，Galiya有了了解中国的历史文化和学习中文的宝贵机会。

2018年春天，我第一次来到中国，去了西安和北京。我喜欢这些城市安全的城市环境，街道的整洁，中国人的热情好客，当然还有中国菜！

明年夏天，我们全家计划再去一次中国。

My name is Raushan Kaidarova. I am a lawyer by profession. Our family consists of my husband, Galiya and our youngest daughter Rahiya. We live in the city of Astana (Kazakhstan).

We learned about DKU from Galiya, when she was applying for admission to various universities around the world. Of course, I already knew about Duke University in the USA, but not about Duke Kunshan, which I heard for the first time and immediately thought that it would be very great if she went there because this is a unique opportunity to get an American and Chinese education. This is the most optimal and best option for our daughter.

When Galiya told us that she was accepted to the university, we were very happy and proud of her. We still accept congratulations from relatives and acquaintances on Galiya’s acceptance to the present day. We are often asked: how is studying going for Galiya? What kind of university is it? What is needed to apply to DKU? Of course, we share each piece of information about DKU because we are eager to have more people know about this great university.

Studying at DKU is prestigious and will play a big role in Galiya’s future employment. DKU is an international university where students from all over the world come to study, which is very important for establishing networking in the future.

China borders with Kazakhstan and has always been an important partner. Galiya has the opportunity to learn about Chinese culture and history, and learn Chinese.

In spring 2018, I visited China for the first time, I was in Xian and Beijing. I liked the safety in the cities, the cleanliness of the streets, the hospitality of Chinese people, and of course the Chinese cuisine!

Next summer we are planning to visit China with the whole family again.

本文译者

昆山杜克大学