Off to a Flourishing Start

NYU Shanghai held its fourth Convocation ceremony, kicking off  an Orientation Week full of activities for the Class of 2020’s 300 new students who hail from 39 countries.

To mark the occasion - and in the spirit of this year’s theme, “Flourish” - students, one by one, placed a blinking LED star on a giant “2020” sign as they arrived for Convocation. View more pictures here.

In his welcoming remarks, Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman told the assembled students: “You achieved something extraordinary when you earned admission to this school. And now you have seized the opportunity to receive an education that is unique in the world, an education that is profoundly different from the one you have received before, and profoundly different from the education that your friends will receive at other universities.”

After Convocation, students hit the ground running with a series of Orientation events on campus and around the city designed to help them settle into their new lives at NYU Shanghai.

Freshmen heard from a panel of returning seniors about their experiences both on campus and while studying away in New York, Abu Dhabi and elsewhere in NYU Global Network. The student panelists offered  advice and insight about the best ways to adjust to college life in Shanghai.

This past week, the new students also had opportunities to lunch with professors, navigate the library and Academic Resource Center (ARC), discover student government, clubs and sports teams. They sampled some of campus’ social offerings, including a cabaret dance, the Coffeehouse talent show, a SH’MASH variety performance and a scavenger hunt around Shanghai.

Student Body President Lyndsy Qu also participated in the welcoming ceremony, saying: “Having you guys here has really made NYU Shanghai whole.  I hope that you can truly enjoy the school, find your true friends, explore the world from here and flourish yourself. Make the world your major!”

“The most exciting thing about being here is getting to know new people from different cultures and backgrounds. Talking to them is really fun. I chose to study here because I really like the multicultural atmosphere. My roommate is awesome and to sum up my first week in one word, I’d say: Exciting!

-- Audrey, ‘20 (Shanghai, China)

“The most exciting thing has just been getting to meet new people from all around the world. You definitely get a glimpse of what it’s like to live in other parts of the world and I think that really exemplifies the global network that NYU promotes. I chose to come study here because I’ve always been interested in Chinese. My week in one word: New.”

-- Matthew, ‘20 ( Florida, USA )