Name:
Till Alexander Lembke
Program:
HNC Certificate '13
Hometown:
Brussels, Belgium
Undergraduate Institution and Major:
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Chinese and Politics.
Favorite course at the Center:
Chinese Constitutional Law with Professor Zhao Juan
Center extra-curricular activities:
Dance Class and teaching English as part of the Migrant School Learning Initiative
Why did you choose the Hopkins-Nanjing Center?
After having spent four consecutive years in London doing very little Chinese, I realised I wanted and needed to go back to China to maintain my Chinese. At the same time, however, I wanted to pursue my interest in politics and law (especially within the East Asian region), and combine a year in China with studying something I could later make use of in my professional life, something beyond mere language classes. The Certificate Programme at HNC was thus exactly what I wanted: it allowed me to fulfil my academic interests while at the same time maintain and improve my Chinese language skills.
How would you sum up your experience at the HNC?
In two words: Absolutely Amazing!
Advice for prospective students:
Don’t be disheartened by the first few weeks (months) – everyone will tell you it is awful to get used to the workload and studying in Chinese, and most will feel very stressed in the first semester. Take a deep breath, a step back, and put it in perspective from day one: the workload is definitely manageable, everyone’s in the same boat, and you should make plenty of time to engage in extra-curricula activities, explore Nanjing, and make the most of living and travelling in China and Asia.
Post-graduation plans:
I will be heading back to London in August 2013, when I will start working as a trainee lawyer for the American law firm Latham and Watkins – a position which will hopefully, in the long term, allow me to go back to China/Asia and work on issues related to the East Asian region.
