My beautiful experience in China

My journey in China began three years ago when I got enrolled to UCAS to pursue a master degree in Microbiology. Though happy to receive my scholarship in one of the world's famous institution (Wuhan Institute of Virology 中国科学院武汉病毒研究所), I was scared to travel to a new country as I had no prior travel experience. I wondered how I would cope with the culture, environment, food, and language.

Albeit all my doubts, my curiosity got the best of me and in September 2017, I found myself in Beijing ready to face my fears. On arrival, I remember to find the weather rather very hot than what I had anticipated. This was a new experience and surprisingly, I was happy rather than saddened by the quick atmospheric change. I arrived late but lucky enough found someone to guide me to find a Taxi to ferry me to school. This was the first of many acts of kindness I got to experience.

Once I arrive at my school, despite the language barrier, the staff were more than willing to help and guided me to my room. I henceforth began my studies and started to learn a bit of Chinese for survival. In Beijing, students and staff were very cooperative and made me adapt fast to the environment, food, language, and culture. I remember feeling very warm and lucky to have adapted fast.

I marveled at many things in China, among them, the beauty of the infrastructure, the amazing and diverse food. But amongst all, the best was the ability to travel here and there safely. China has a very sufficient transport system and elaborate guide that could help anyone get to any place easily.
During my one year stay in Beijing, I visited many beautiful sites among them the Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall.

Post a year, I had to travel to Wuhan for my laboratory studies at Wuhan Institute of Virology. At this time, I was fully prepared as I learnt much in Beijing. Once in Wuhan, I found the culture there a little bit different from Beijing. In Wuhan, the common food was noodles and it was very delicious. A delicacy I enjoy to date. I also got to visit many beautiful sites in Wuhan and watched the beautiful city grow every day.

I enjoyed my stay in Wuhan until the day that an outbreak struck the city. At this point, the city came to a standstill and no one was required to move. Lucky enough, as a trained virologist, I took this chance to work in the frontlines against the new virus that had struck the city. I remember working nights and days sometimes with little sleep just to make a difference. In really thank the government of Wuhan and China for their strong support and stand to make the city and country safe. I also thank the Wuhan Institute of Virology, CAS for the amazing education and training they offered me. This helped me work on the front line and help diagnose patients affected by the outbreak. From this outbreak, it just proved that the future of china is bright as they managed to contain an outbreak that has plagued many other parts of the world. As the epidemic ended, I got awarded the best student international student of Wuhan Institute of Virology and got a PHD offer. Now from a master's student of 2017, I am a 2021 PhD student in china.

If someone asks me what the future holds, I would say "endless opportunities await those who dare to chase them". I do be live that China is the next biggest country and anyone who has experienced it would be glad they did. CHINA is the gateway to the future.

I am a current PhD student studying Microbiology at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. I studied my undergraduate in Kenya and passed highly to get awarded a masters scholarship in China at the same institution. In my four year and continued stay in China, I have made tremendous progress and grown both academically and socially. I have achieved many awards including some due to my efforts in fighting the COVID-19 disease. These news reports may help summarize my progress.

武汉病毒所硕士生获2020年度中国科学院大学优秀国际毕业生称号 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/b9AhmKVLDCai6-tnS43V9g
https://english.wbg.cas.cn/ns/es/202010/t20201014_244792.html

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.