After we spoke to Doctor Liu Lisha, one of the brightest stars of the Center for Language Exchange had been shining for quite some time.

Zhao Yanchu, a student who had graduated from Shude High School Foreign Campus, had joined the Department of Finance in recent years and sought competitions to keep her motivation for learning going. When she walked into Liu Lisha’s debate class, she found a whole new world of options for her, and all sorts of new opportunities opened for her. This report explores SUSTech’s newest debating star.

How Did She Get Here?

Zhao Yanchu is from Chengdu in Sichuan Province and prides herself on her tolerance for spicy food. While women from Sichuan have often been said to have a fiery temper and such a thing is viewed as a negative stereotype, it is most assuredly a positive in Yanchu’s sunny disposition. She spoke happily about her experience at her high school, with its English focus on listening and speaking, compared to the traditional approach of reading and writing.

“Reading and writing is a very big part of the College Entrance Examination (for English),” said Yanchu, explaining that her school focused on listening and speaking because they believed that that is what mattered most in communication.

Opting to study Finance, she found her motivation in her parents. With both certified CPA accountants, she found motivation in frustration. Yanchu’s father would regularly talk about the stock market – a concept that, as a youngster, Yanchu had no understanding. However, turning frustration into a learning opportunity, she has sought to study finance to get a full understanding of the entire economic system. This quest for new knowledge has, incidentally, dovetailed perfectly into her newfound debating skills.

When we questioned Yanchu about why she chose to debate, she admitted that she had a close friend in the class. However, she found that it didn’t take long for her to enjoy the class enormously.

“It’s not just about talking and persuading others, but how to think critically, and I really benefitted a lot from this class,” revealed Yanchu. She also spoke of the sense of accomplishment from earning first place in her class with her friend in an intra-class debating competition. Given that she didn’t know anything about debating before she took the class or took part in any extra-curricular competitions, she had a lot of work to catch up on.

Competitions: Success Came Quickly

Zhao Yanchu found that while she has succeeded in competitions quickly, it hasn’t been without hard work. Her mentor, Dr. Liu Lisha, would work closely with Yanchu and her teammate to ensure that they were kept up to date with hot-button issues. With books of issues on matters like crime, sexual discriminations, #MeToo, political matters, and other matters running the gamut of current affairs, she felt fully prepared for the FLTRP Cup, the official British Parliamentary competition for Chinese university students. However, Yanchu found that motions were not particularly relevant. “They will provide a lot of information at the competition,” so it made it easy to get to seven minutes.

She found that preparing for debates was the most important part of any competition. Different approaches need to be taken, depending on when you speak in a BP debate.

“If we are in opening government, we need to give a definition, and that’s very important because that will decide what the debate will be about,” expressed Yanchu, speaking about the strategic decisions that she and her teammate make when they are preparing for each topic. Being in the Lower House or speaking in the latter half of British Parliamentary debate, Yanchu and her partner do not need to prepare so quickly for each debate, but they need to listen far more carefully. Given the lack of electronic devices permitted in debates, Yanchu cited her enjoyment of her English classes in high school as one of the reasons why she performs well in debates.

“(At high school) I got to treat English, not as a class, I treat it as a language, I can use it to communicate with others,” said Yanchu, “I didn’t treat it as a test I had to pass.” She found enjoyment in American TV shows and movies, as well as listening to Voice of America because it was a way of having fun for Yanchu. The listening and speaking skills picked up in high school have worked wonders for her, given the requirements of British Parliamentary debating, and it has been reflected in her results this year.

Her preparation for public speaking competitions goes back to her efforts in high school. Yanchu had done similar competitions in high school, so she did not find it particularly difficult. She compared the National English Competition for College Students, or NECCS, to be not substantially different from completing CET 6 (the College English Test, Level 6), which is the highest level for non-English majors.

Yanchu commented that “the level is like CET 6, but there are even more questions, but the load is very heavy. A lot of students just couldn’t finish the questions, they just leave it blank,” but that she had done a lot of these sorts of questions in high school, so she felt a little comfortable in this sort of environment. Along with the purchase of the competition’s official textbook, she was able to practice for a couple of hours every day, giving herself plenty of time to maximize her score.

Importance of Debating and Public Speaking

As we moved onto other issues around debating, we asked Yanchu about the importance of debating as a skill for students. Her eyes sparkled when she opined that a subject like CLE’s Critical Thinking and English Debate should be a compulsory skill. With many universities focusing on science and engineering subjects, they did not focus on other subjects like the arts or politics in the same way.

Yanchu said “It’s essential for students to grow up like a man, who is prepared to go to society. You can not only be prepared by the knowledge from maths and physics, and then expect to fit into society,” expressing the exasperation that not enough focus is placed on the importance of human relationships in society anymore.

We asked about some of her favorite topics to debate about, and she thought hard about this. She felt that the position she took in favor of people telling their spouses if they had had plastic surgery was the most enjoyable one for her. When pushed on her arguments, Yanchu argued that honesty and trust in a relationship are so important, that the consequences of finding out late in the relationship are so dire to be disastrous.

When asked about her least favorite topics to debate, Yanchu was quick to say that topics about feminism were her least favorite to debate, particularly when she is on the side that she does not believe in. It was clear that if pushed in the right environment, the traditional stereotype of fiery Sichuan women could explode in a burst of controlled rebuttal capable of melting the toughest of opponents standing opposite Yanchu.

On a lighter area of conversation, we moved to people’s fear of public speaking. When asked about how to try and get people to get over it in a university environment, she spoke of the first step – getting students to stand in front of the classroom and explain their PowerPoint Presentation. While it’s a simple step for many, for those that feel the nerves overcome them, it’s an important step towards conquering stage fright and nerves.

Other Areas of Success on Campus

When we asked her about other places that students are succeeding on campus, Yanchu pointed to five specific clubs that she felt students had found their own form of success.

Firstly, she pointed towards SUSTech’s Drama Club and their Improv sub-group. That group had attracted recent interest from staff and students, in an activity that many had not seen before.

The Student News Agency, very familiar to the author, had seen substantial success through their interactions with the Office of Communications and Public Relations. The student photographers have had many photos published and their willingness to write about articles all over campus are a credit to them all.

The Kung Fu Club performs at many festivals, reflecting SUSTech being rooted in China. With traditional Chinese culture being respected, the students work hard to come up with innovative routines for each event that is relevant to the festival.

SUSTech’s Science Fiction Writers have had recent success with Qing Ke having his first book published. The creative spark has been lit among the students at this club and given the pantheon of options for students to choose from for their writing; this author is sure that there will be more literary masterpieces coming from our campus in the future.

Yanchu also pointed towards the plethora of dance clubs on campus. With dancing popular in a variety of styles, success is harder to establish, but with students finding the freedom to express themselves in different forms, combined with the option for students to perform their preferred form of dance, there is always an option for students to find their unique form of success.

A Message for Those Wanting to Improve

When asked about a final message for anyone wanting to become a better public speaker or debater, Yanchu reflected on traditional Chinese culture. She felt that many Chinese students had been taught that making mistakes was a bad thing, so students were afraid to get up to speak because they did not want to be shamed for making a mistake. If students get up and speak in public, they will almost certainly make mistakes, because everybody makes mistakes, but the courage to get up and speak overrides any shame associated with any potential mistake.

In Summary

Zhao Yanchu came to SUSTech to become a finance student and has stumbled across a gold mine of opportunity in the realm of public speaking and debating. Her success in these extra-curricular fields has shown that when students step foot on our campus, there is no telling how they are going to succeed. It may be in the laboratory; it may be on the sporting field, or it may be in a classroom in another city altogether, pointing out the flaws in your opponent’s arguments.

Do you have a story about a student on campus succeeding in a non-traditional manner? Send us an email at sustechnewshub@sustc.edu.cn, and we will be in touch to find out more.