I’m David, from Heidelberg, Germany, and am enrolled in the MID Program since September 2013.
I decided to head for China for my master studies because I wanted to see and understand the situation here regarding the development and social and environmental aspects and to study Chinese language. Back in Germany I studied in environment and development related fields and was engaged in environmental protection, but I felt like having an incomplete picture if I stay with the theory and don’t actually see what’s going on. The environmental and economic development of China today is a big issue for the whole world, for instance regarding greenhouse gas emissions or poverty alleviation, what made it interesting for me to come and understand the problems and the decision making here. Before, I had already heard from Tsinghua as one of China’s top Universities and found out about the MID Program offered at the School of Public Policy and Management. I found it interesting because it was exactly what I wanted to study. So I applied, got admitted and arrived in the End of August...
The MID program is a relatively new program but with awesome coordination and guidance. The SPPM professors are experts in various fields such as politics, economics, public administration and development. The courses provide a relatively broad approach to the topic, and apart from a few mandatory classes the focus can be on different areas depending on the preferences of the students. In addition to the coursework, the SPPM organizes a lot of events and lectures from other organizations, political institutions and guest professors every week that provide a big opportunity to get in touch with those people and see the work they are doing. For the practical part, the Field Trips offered in the MID are a great opportunity to see what development and public administration means today. I believe that my time here at SPPM and in China gives me the training and experience I need to work on today’s real world problems.
Studying here at Tsinghua provides a big chance to get in touch with experts on development and political issues in China and the world, but also enables meeting people from all over the world as classmates. Our class consists of people from nine nationalities, four continents and plenty of different working and educational backgrounds what is a great chance to get different perspectives and to see what other people experienced in their countries. The Tsinghua Campus with its libraries, canteens, sports facilities and thousands of students is a really great living and studying environment. So I’m looking forward to spend two exciting years here ;)
David Wichmann
