On September 17th, the 2020 undergraduate freshmen arrived at HUST, embracing their new phase of life. The Chair of University Council, Xinyu Shao, and Vice President Qian Liang greeted the newcomers in Einstein Square.

At the square, Xinyu Shao and other staff encountered Congling Li, a nurse of the medical team sent by Anhui province to fight the epidemic in Hubei, along with her son Zongxi Yu who was recently admitted to HUST. Xinyu Shao gave them a warm welcome and congratulated Zongxi Yu on his enrollment in HUST. Shao expressed his expectations that the freshman could follow the example of her brave mother and grew happily in the big family of HUST.

At the Einstein Square, free Herbal tea, gift bags, clock-in background boards and other materials for the freshmen and their parents were provided. Shao said to the newcomers the school would do its best to provide the most hospitable services for all students and that any questions and feedbacks are welcome.

The university leaders also visited some freshmen in dormitories. They came from different parts of China, including Wuhan, Lincang, Hong Kong, etc. When asking about why choosing HUST, the freshmen said that the education quality of HUST and the development potential of Wuhan impressed them a lot. Shao encouraged the freshmen to make a clear goal in life and study and be ready to confront the challenges of new life.

Many of the freshmen in the class of 2020 have a special link to HUST. The parents of the freshmen Caiwen Tai were frontline medical staff fighting against COVID-19 in Wuhan Union Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College. Four months ago, the family was named The Greatest Family Fighting COVID-19. Wentai Cai chose to major in clinical medicine in HUST just as his parents did. The father, Kailin Cai, said the photos of his wife working in the makeshift hospital influenced Wentai to choose the major, and he believed that Wentai would gain and grow a lot for the ideal academic atmosphere in HUST.

Many freshmen also offered to help other new students. Jiamei Zhang, a freshman from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, brought 2,000 masks as a special gift for the faculty and fellow students. She said her hometown Changheng has an abundance of medical supplies, and she hoped to make contribution to Wuhan as much as possible. The gift represented her best wishes for all HUSTers.

This year, there are 7,102 undergraduate freshmen, with the male-to-female ratio of 2.13:1. Only 42 of them were born in and before 1999, while the youngest freshman was born in 2005. And 53 freshmen would celebrate their birthday during the enrollment period.

Written by: Yikang Liu

Edited by: Rong He, Tony, Yumeng Peng