One university, two campuses, multiple opportunities: UTM student Alicia Dai, from Beijing, is making good use of the University’s extensive resources to pursue her many areas of interest and nurture her personal development
It has been a busy but rewarding time for UTM student Alicia Dai Yuting since she arrived at the University in the summer of 2021. From the start she has been active in various on-campus pursuits: supporting academic research, joining the debating team, being a student helper in the iRetail Lab, and even launching her own book club.
“Without the supportive UTM environment that offers so many opportunities to students, it would not have been possible for me to do all of that,” she says. Alicia adds the University is something of a ‘mini laboratory’, allowing students to experiment in different fields – academic and otherwise – something for which she is grateful.
The Year 3 student in the Tourism Retail and Marketing Management Bachelor’s Degree Programme made the initial trip from her hometown, Beijing, to study in Macao, attracted by UTM’s international standing in the field of tourism and hospitality. “UTM has a higher ranking than many other universities in China. My approach was to aim for a high-ranking institution,” she recalls.
What Alicia found at UTM was even better than she had expected, in academic and non-academic matters. For the past three years, she has been involved in a string of extracurricular activities, benefitting her as an individual, as well as in terms of knowledge and skills.
Since her first year at UTM, she has striven to be involved in research work. What started as an academic exercise for a course led by UTM’s Assistant Professor Dr. Jim Luo Yixin, sparked what is now ongoing interest in scholarly investigation.
“I asked if there were any opportunities to assist with research projects,” she says. “Fortunately, I became part of the [Dr. Luo’s research] team, initially helping with data collection.”
As she gained experience and a clearer understanding of research processes, Dr. Catherine Li Zhuo, Coordinator for the Tourism Retail and Marketing Management programme, invited her to try developing her own research projects. Alicia hopes the first academic papers including her name – produced with scholars at UTM – can be featured in upcoming conferences this summer.
She is particularly thankful for the help provided by Dr. Luo, as well as the advice offered by Dr. Li. She “encouraged me a lot to try different things and be more confident in myself,” says Alicia.
From UTM to Disney
Having always enjoyed discussing ideas with others – she was part of her secondary school’s debating team – it was a ‘no-brainer’ for Alicia to join UTM’s debating team in her first year at the University. She says being involved in debates in the Chinese language with students from other universities has sharpened her reasoning skills.
The debating team has offered Alicia plenty of opportunities to get on stage and exchange – in a formal setting – opinions with other students. She recalls how proud she felt when, while still a Year 1 undergraduate, she contributed to the team clinching a prize in a debating competition.
Reading is another long-standing interest of Alicia. Making use of the resources provided by UTM to support extracurricular activities, she strove to establish a reading club. Initially it was just for UTM students, but participation was eventually opened to students from other local universities. As part of the club’s activities, local scholars have taken part in special sessions, sharing insights on some of their research projects and academic work.
In the first semester of the current academic year, Alicia embraced a new opportunity thanks to UTM: a six-month curricular internship at the Shanghai Disney Resort.
At the theme park, she was involved in preparation work for the launch of a series of attractions inspired by Disney’s 2016 animated feature “Zootopia”. The attractions opened to the public last December.
“Our team was responsible for preparing a ‘People Behind’ series,” producing video clips featuring some of the professionals involved in creating the Zootopia attractions, recalls Alicia. “I was quite surprised that they would let an intern be involved in such a project.”
In total the team had to produce eight video episodes featuring a total of 20 interviews. The team was also involved in press release production, content writing, interaction with the media, and ensuring the official launch of the series.
“There was a lot of pressure, but I also learnt a lot,” Alicia says. “I have improved significantly my English-language skills, as that was the language used in the workplace.”
Having firsthand, behind-the-scenes knowledge of a Disney park was an eye-opener. “I’ve seen what working in a top company in the industry is like; that really broadened my horizons,” she states.
As her third year at UTM comes to an end, Alicia says she increasingly understands the advice of Judy Hopps, a rabbit who is a main character and police officer in the Zootopia animation: “Try everything”.
Editor: UTM Public Relations Team
