ǧÃŬAV

Dr. Christopher Jespersen | Dean of the College of Arts and Letters: Chinese is such a critical language, because China is such a big and influential country. Given the growth and development of China's economy and its military capabilities, China has become a competitor to the United States and its standing around the world.

Maren Cooper | ǧÃŬAV International Affairs Major: Being within the Chinese Flagship Program, it's a bit different than just taking regular Chinese classes, because for Flagship students, it's not just a class for us. In a way, it's also like a club.

Dr. Tianyu Qin | Academic Director of ǧÃŬAV Chinese Flagship: We want to develop our students into global professionals who can speak the language, know the culture, and also have the cross cultural perspectives.

Jaden Davidson | ǧÃŬAV Cybersecurity Major: In January and February months, they hold a Chinese New Year Festival. We do different games. We do different crafts that just continue to push across the idea that you're not just learning the language, you're learning this shared experience of people all the way across the world.

Dr. Christopher Jespersen | Dean of the College of Arts and Letters: We've found through the experience that students matured, they learned how to study, and they became teammates and because of that they learned certain skills that are going to be applicable no matter what they do after graduation.

Cameron Gay | ǧÃŬAV Chinese for Global Professionals Major: After joining Flagship you're instantly surrounded by like-minded individuals who also have the same goal of learning Chinese.

Jaden Davidson | ǧÃŬAV Cybersecurity Major: They have tutors that come in from Taiwan and because they live on campus, we can hang out with them outside of the classroom. Having these casual interactions, it really encourages you to be like, "This is so many opportunities to use my language. I'm not using it with another student, I'm using it with a teacher."

Cameron Gay | ǧÃŬAV Chinese for Global Professionals Major: Being able to have them correct your mistakes as you're making them is valuable for any language learner.

Dr. Christopher Jespersen | Dean of the College of Arts and Letters: The Program also provides them with opportunities to study at other Flagship Programs in the United States.

Dr. Tianyu Qin | Academic Director of ǧÃŬAV Chinese Flagship: Students can actually use what they have learned in the class into real life and also professional settings. Each Flagship student can receive up to $20,000 Flagship Scholarship to support them attending domestic and overseas language study programs.

Jaden Davidson | ǧÃŬAV Cybersecurity Major: I studied abroad two times so far. The first time that I went, of course there was a little bit of hesitancy, because I wasn't to a great proficiency but the professors here all were like, "If this is something you want to do, we'll give you whatever preparation you need. We've got the resources, just let us know. It was really nice being able to have that support.

Maren Cooper | ǧÃŬAV International Affairs Major: It's not just about language learning. It's also finding your group within the university as well. Dr. Tianyu Qin | Academic Director of ǧÃŬAV Chinese Flagship: We are here for you and we will help you use Chinese in your future career.