The Lecture "From Dependent 'Apprentice' to Proactive 'Learning': Retrospection and Reflection after Graduation for One Year" Successfully Held

At 10:00 am, September 14, 2023, the Lecture "From Dependent 'Apprentice' to Proactive ' 'Academic Researcher': Retrospection and Reflection after Graduation for One Year", a joint theme party day event of the Postgraduate and Doctoral Party Branch of SSDPP, was successfully held. Huang Guan, an outstanding doctoral graduate of SSDPP, was invited to share academic and work experience. Huang Guan is a 2022-enrolled Ph.D candidate majoring in public administration at SSDPP. He is currently a lecturer at the School of Politics and Public Administration of Zhengzhou University and a postdoctoral researcher at the Public Administration Postdoctoral Research Mobile Station. More than 40 students were present at the event.

At the very beginning, Huang Guan briefly introduced his current work situation, and talked about his achievements over the past year and how he addressed confusion. In terms of work, based on his experience, Huang summarized that his teaching courses are closely linked to the industry, and he's done well in research project application. Regarding how to adapt to local culture and allocate a large amount of free time reasonably, he suggests that we should actively participate in academic conferences and high-quality group meetings related to public management and sociology. In addition, we can also take part in teaching, scientific research, and social services.

In the second part, Huang shared his learning experience during his master's and doctoral studies. He said that the doctoral stage is, based on his experience, a process of sitting on a cold bench. He suggests that the students should actively take courses to promote their research. The course assignments can also be designed for studies and published as academic papers. Then, he guided everyone to think about the scope of public management to further determine the field of our chosen research topic. At the same time, the students should, he said, cherish and make good use of the opportunities provided by Beijing Normal University. When talking about his research inspiration, Huang suggested that we can try writing academic essays to find inspiration.

In the third part, Huang Guan talked about the connection between his "apprenticeship" period and his quasi academic career. During his doctoral studies, he persisted in keeping a diary and recording his thoughts during his involvement in the project. After completing his doctoral thesis, he still persisted in keeping a diary while reviewing his research and reflecting on his future career development needs. When entering the quasi academic stage, he suggested that we establish our own academic community and spend time developing our critical thinking.

In the fourth part, Huang introduced his proposed project. His project originated, he said, from the course topic selection during class, and the in-depth interviews after the topic selection got him into the discourse system of children's welfare. Despite many difficulties in data collecting, he tried all ways to contact the teacher, and finally yielded satisfying results due to perseverance.

In the fifth part, Huang shared the most valuable experience. Firstly, we should maintain a passion for life and record our emotions at any time. Secondly, he once again suggests that we can consciously record our thoughts and sparks of thinking in daily life. Secondly, Huang believes that academic pursuits require sustained thinking and writing, and we should maintain openness and be sincere in communicating with others. After that, Huang Guan suggested that the students should maintain their imagination, dare to approach "big shots", and break through the bottleneck of information. Finally and most importantly, Huang Guan hopes that the students can trust and love their study and make effort for it. While conducting one's own research, one can also attend more courses and participate in academic lectures. Huang also showed his diary to the students present and welcomed them to exchange ideals with him.

Finally, Teacher Xu Xiaoxin summarized the event and mentioned that the experience of peers on the academic path is very valuable. We need to learn more from our senior schoolmates to achieve "reverse growth". Huang Guan's lecture is valuable and I believe that we have all benefited a lot from it. Now, the event has come to a successful conclusion.

I hope that all students of SSDPP can learn from the experience of outstanding seniors and move towards a better self!

Text/Photo by: Yang Meng

Reviewed by: Shen Haotong