On February 21, HUST’s 2022 spring semester kicked off. All students and faculty members are participating in work, study and scientific research with the spirit of “Tiger”; moving into a bright future with a positive attitude.

Li Yuanyuan, Chair of the University Committee, and You Zheng, President of HUST, went to the East No.9 Teaching Building and the West No.12 Teaching Building to inspect the first class of the new semester. They inquired about the students' safe return to school after the winter vacation, as well as Covid-19 prevention and control measures. They also attended several classrooms to listen to lectures, and communicate with teachers and students.

Li Yuanyuan put forward several requirements, as for the maintenance of teaching facilities and arrangement of lectures and classes of the new semester. He emphasized that students should form good learning habits through hard work, and teachers should develop their pedagogies through conscientious teaching. Different university departments should do their best to serve the students and teachers. With the joint efforts, HUST will continue to lived up to its well-known university spirit as “learning at Huazhong University”.  

You Zheng pointed out that "the first lesson of the school" plays the role of an outline. It should be carefully designed and conceived from the perspective of the overall goals to convey the outline of the course, the theoretical depth and the professional characteristic and to expose students to the social meaning and practical values of the content. Thus their enthusiasm and initiative can be stimulated and students can learn with interest.

Let's start the new semester with a sense of ceremony

On the evening of February 20, the opening ceremony and orientation of the First Clinical School of Tongji Medical College was held. President Hu Yu delivered an inspiring first speech to the “doctors-to-be”. He told the young medical students that in the new era of soaring development, the Union Hospital will continue the fine tradition of shouldering heavy responsibilities, setting great aspirations. They should learn to be virtuous, to understand “the great medical spirit”, to develop great talent, to practice “benevolent heart and benevolent skills”, and to devote themselves to the construction of a “healthy China”. Next, presided over by Liu Yaling, Secretary of the Student Party Committee of the First Clinical School, the robe-giving ceremony and the review of Hippocratic Oath were carried out in sequence. The simple ceremonies and solemn commitments are an important moment for the 2019 class of the First Clinical School students on their journey to clinical practice.

On February 20, Liu Jihong, the dean of the Second Clinical School and the dean of Tongji Hospital, brought a course on "inheriting the spirit of mutual aid" at the spring opening ceremony for students who are about to start their clinical medical study. He encouraged everyone to be ambitious, to act for the times, and be virtuous in life. “Today's theme made me feel the profound history of the Tongji Hospital, and I also feel the high expectations on me and my classmates. Today is the first class of the new semester, and it is also my first step towards the sacred cause of medicine!” After the opening ceremony, students shared their thoughts and feelings.

They set themselves new goals

The first class of the new semester is particularly meaningful to Li Hongyu (first from the right in the front row), because this is also his first class of a new major. On December 2021, Li Hongyu transferred to the School of Physics. He was used to arriving at the lecture room at 7:30 and sitting in the seat closest to the podium, but today he failed to do so. "I didn't expect the students from the School of Physics to come so early. It seems that I have to be earlier next time!"

20 minutes to 8 o'clock, there were three young men sat down in the study hall in the East No.9 Teaching Building, deep in discussion over their computers. They were Tian Tongshuang, Yang Yifan, and Sun Ruize from the 2020 class of the School of Telecommunications, participating in this year's "American College Students Mathematical Contest in Modeling". The deadline for the competition is around the corner, and they are racing against time to polish their thesis.

Wang Chengrui, a PhD student of Center for Gravitational Experiments of School of Physics, welcomed his first class of the new semester earlier. Since the test team of Center for Gravitational Experiments successfully completed the development and in-orbit test of the important payload of the Tianhui 4 satellite on December 29, 2021, he has given up his vacation and has been processing the in-orbit test data of the the Tianhui 4 satellite. Getting an ideal set of data, he said, is the greatest joy of the New Year.

Zhi Jingjing, a PhD student of the Sino-British Joint Laboratory of the College of Life Science and Technology, carefully observes the development of spring wheat in China in the artificial climate room.

The teachers, using "18 kinds of martial arts"

On the platform of N104 classroom in the West NO.12 teaching building, Mr. Shao Kun wrote exquisite blackboard writing on four screens, over twelve columns while giving a detailed explanation. Since he came to HUST as a teacher in 1987, Mr. Shao Kun has been ensuring his blackboard writing, and his teaching content has been praised as "magic blackboard writing" by students. He said: "I insist on writing on the blackboard, which is not only my passion, but also to let students understand the process of thinking. Knowledge is acquired when the method is grasped."

In the fight against COVID-19, medical staff are the true soldiers and heroes on the battlefield, where countless touching deeds happened. These stories were introduced to the class by Mrs. Meng Heng of the School of Public Health as a vivid textbook of "medical psychology" in the first lesson of the semester. The students who attended the class either shed tears or were deeply encouraged, to always take saving the lives and healing the wounded as their solemn duty.

The Winter Olympics have just closed and its mascot, Bing Dwen Dwen, has become a big hit. Being so sought after, many people say it is quite hard to get one. However, a group of special Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon were made in the Engineering Practice and Innovation Center. It turned out that the class of 2020 of the School of Energy and Power Engineering were taught to 3D print the mascot under the guidance of teacher Li Lan and Wang Ying. The printed versions are incredibly cute!

In a class of the College Physics, students of the School of Artificial Intelligence and Automation looked puzzled as the professor Zhou Weihang took out a hair dryer, a table tennis ball and a half of a mineral water bottle. The props were not for a manual class, but for a fascinating experiment. Mr. Zhou, Associate Professor of Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center and the champion of HUST’s teaching competition, said that the novel small experiments are helpful to stimulate students' interest in physics.

"For the class Management Information System, I'd rather call it Management Information System in the Era of Digital Intelligence, which might be more appropriate." said Zhang Qianfan, Professor of the School of Management. Zhang hopes that students can learn from the class how to view management from the perspective of information flow and develop the mindset of the intelligent era.

For those international students who cannot return to the school due to the epidemic, they had their first lesson through video links. A broadcasting device was set for Hasnaa Abdulsattar Majeed Al-Bayati, a student from Iraq, in Mr. Wang Minghuai’s class. Thanks to the modern technology, she is enabled to learn from distance.

"It’s our duty to be responsible for students, to build the best platform for them, even when there is just one." said Liu Yang, the program manager from China-EU Institute for Clean and Renewable Energy.

Professor Chen Dezhi of the School of Electricity guided students to explore the beauty of formulas and led them into the world of electromagnetic fields step by step.

Why and how should we learn complex functions? Xiang Maosong, a lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Statistics, answered this question with lively and interesting classes.

Professor Cai Chengying from Taiwan gave the first offline lecture on Electromagnetic Fields and Waves.

The instructor Wang Rang gave her first class of Practice and Event Planning of Public Relationship in both English and Chinese.

Mr. Yang Zhihong from the School of Mathematics used a piece of music to share his education experience.

Associate Professor Chen Xinli from the School of Foreign Languages taught her first class in the multimedia smart classroom.

Pediatric Humanities and Doctor-Patient Communication, a brand-new class of the Department of Pediatrics of Tongji Medical College, made its debut.

Many more students have also attended their first class.

On the first day of the semester, Xue Yawen, an instructor of the College of Optoelectronics and Information Technology, gave a lecture on laboratory safety, regarding how to store hazardous chemicals and use the instruments. Xue said that "safety first, prevention first" is the guideline that everyone should abide by.

Professor Cao Hanqiang, a member of the University Teaching Supervision Committee, with 28 years of teaching experience, came to the East 9th Building at 7:30 for teaching supervision. Having a busy schedule the whole day, he said that by observing classes, he could give suggestions on teachers’ pedagogy and get students’ feedback directly.

Despite having no classes, Mr. Fu Honghao from the School of Physical Education came to the gym to fix the equipment and set up. He said, "Bows and arrows must get repaired. Otherwise it would impair learning effect."

The first lesson is not always in a classroom

With dreams in their heart, students are always energized for class.

Isn’t the sunrise above the Huxi Lake pretty? But it’s not as pretty as you, who set off for class at sunrise, who study hard at noon and who enjoy sports after class. Every one of you encapsulates the beauty of HUST.

Written by: Gao Yifei, Huang Bochuan, Qu Mengting

Edited by: Ye Jingyi, Chen Yuan, Scott, Jiang Jing