When 23-year-old Sheral Shivanjali began her Bachelor of Finance Degree in China in 2015, she never imagined that she would be graduating virtually from Nepal.

The former Swami Vivekananda College student went for a holiday in Nepal when borders closed because of COVID-19.

This week, her class graduated from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. An elated Ms Shivanjali said her experience in China had been nothing short of amazing.

“At first it was difficult, being away from home. I had difficulty adjusting to the new environment, especially the food. I found myself lost in a whole new world alone,” she said.

“Eventually, I found a few countrymates Arieta, Asena and Praneel who helped me get through with the initial registration process and the visa. Later on, I made friends from Bangladesh and Nepal and we all started the journey together.”

She said befriending people from different parts of the world enabled her to adjust to the Chinese way of life and helped her overcome homesickness.

“The major difficulty I faced during my programme was the language barrier. The entire course was in the Chinese language and my knowledge of preliminary Chinese was not enough.”

During classes, she had to learn new technical terms and translate lecture notes to English to understand the course concepts.

“Interacting with the locals was difficult at first because I couldn’t speak Chinese and they couldn’t understand English. At that time translation apps were my best friend.”

Ms Shivanjali attributed her achievement to her parents and relatives in Fiji, the Fijian Embassy in Beijing and the Fijian students in China for their support.

“Through my years of experience living in China, I can say I love staying here and I wish to continue staying here and further my studies if I’m given another opportunity.”

She encourages Fijian students who would like to study overseas to prioritise China as a place to study and live in.

Edited by Ivamere Nataro

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