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Students, old and new, are returning to the campus for the new academic year
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 UM Rector Wei Zhao urges first-year students to make the most of the four university years
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First-year student of the Faculty of Business Administration Sandy Lei
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First-year student of the Faculty of Science and Technology Zen Lou

The new academic year has begun. Students, old and new, are returning to the campus in droves. This year, more than 1,300 undergraduate students joined the big family of UM. New students are usually with the highest expectations for a completely new environment and they breathe new life into the campus. In his welcome speech UM’s Rector Wei Zhao urged all first-year undergraduate students to make the most of the four university years and study hard so that one day they could become “responsible citizens, creative thinkers, and versatile professionals adaptable to a fast-changing world”.

On 29 August, the first day of the new academic year, the campus was bustling with fresh-faced students whose eyes radiated excitement in anticipation of the four university life awaiting them. This year, more than 1,300 undergraduate students joined the big family of UM. UM also recruited twenty-one new academic staff from both at home and abroad. These new students and staff injected new vigour and vitality into the campus. To familiarize the new students with university life and help them adapt to the new environment, UM organized a Freshmen Discovery Program of University Life. In his welcome speech, UM Rector Wei Zhao said: “I am glad that you have chosen UM at this significant stage of your life. You will experience a whole different life from your high school as your journey will start with many changes: more courses to choose from, fewer class hours but more assignments, no constant reminders from your teachers, and more friends you can talk to with some from very different background.”

In his welcome speech, Wei Zhao also noted: “the educational system of UM is designed to be consistent with the growth of individuals. This is made possible by UM’s unique ‘four-in-one’ pedagogical model that consists of discipline-specific education, general education, research and internship education, as well as community and peer education. Our “four-in-one” pedagogical model is designed precisely to make schooling consistent with your personal growth.” He further stressed that a university is not a “supermarket where credit hours are up for sale” and that entry to a university does not guarantee “good career prospects or a life of comfort”. But he assured the students that as long as they “make the best of university education”, they will “graduate from UM to become responsible citizens, creative thinkers, and versatile professionals adaptable to a fast-changing world”.

First-year student of the Faculty of Business Administration Sandy Lei said: “I am deeply interested in global business management. UM has an all-English teaching environment and offers many opportunities for study and exchange programmes overseas, which I believe will help improve my expertise and English proficiency. I will also have more freedom to participate in different kinds of groups and organizations and make more friends. I look forward to living in a residential college on the new campus. I can’t wait to move there, because I know the new campus will be a lot larger than the current one, and the environment and facilities will also be better.”

First-year student of the Faculty of Science and Technology Zen Lou said: “I have chosen UM because first of all UM is the best university in Macao and also I really want to stay in Macao. I hope that in the next four years I could have a solid command of computer knowledge so that I can become an excellent programmer upon graduation. The biggest difference between secondary school education and university education is that the latter offers a greater variety of subjects to choose from. Apart from the major programmes, I think I will also indulge my personal interests and choose some programmes in sports and economics. I believe they will help me expand knowledge and make friends from different departments and faculties.”