Hopkins-Nanjing Center Blog

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center hosts an array of interest groups and extracurricular activities. This semester, students are connecting in classes on calligraphy, ping pong, and erhu. Students are also enjoying interest groups like badminton, afternoon tea, chess, and Quiz Bowl. Below are a few highlighted groups. To read about other interest groups at the HNC, check out the Connecting Through Hobbies blog from last semester. Many HNC students at a recent happy hour Ping Pong Class Ping pong tables are always set up in the HNC's west auditorium and are only taken down for events every now and then. Whether class has just let out or if students need a 20-minute study break, the large room usually emits the sweet sound of ping pong. Besides spontaneous ping pong matches, HNC students are able to take a ping pong class that is taught by a semi-professional player. The teacher and students meet every Sunday for practice, technique, and intense fun. Not only have students been able to let ...

A group of American HNC students recently visited the U.S. Consulate General Shanghai  for a career trek. They had conversations with foreign service officers and consular fellows about their careers and opportunities at U.S. embassies and consulates. Students gained valuable insights into the day-to-day responsibilities of diplomatic professionals and learned about the diverse pathways available for pursuing a career in international relations. Deputy Principal Officer We were first welcomed to the Consulate General with an opening half-hour discussion with the deputy principal officer. He detailed his storied experience of worldwide service as a foreign service officer (FSO). The officer shared with us what skills you will build as an FSO including subject matter expertise, thinking strategically, building a generalist knowledge base, and gaining insights from multiple different rotations. These compound on one another to build a more generalist perspective as you move up in the ...