Alieu Bah: Everything Begins with a Belief

Alieu Bah is a sophomore student of Tianjin University (TJU) majoring in chemical engineering. He won the second-class scholarship at the university’s annually held commendation conference for outstanding students. Two years ago, Bah, at that time a high school graduate from the Republic of the Gambia, embarked on a fantastic journey to China.

Starting with a dream, bracing up to hardship

When talking about the reason of choosing China as the destination of college study, Bah shared his dream of studying aboard. “It feels like when you go out of the country, you can see the world in a broader vision.” A determined look on his face revealed that he was that kind of person who never let chances slip away. Despite his resolution and courage to study abroad, it’s still an arduous task for a foreigner to overcome language and cultural barriers, let alone being taught in Chinese for chemical researches. “Deep down in me, I knew I want to do something that would be useful to the society. I want to be a pioneer.” TJU, the pioneer of modern China’s higher education, then became his first choice.

However, Bah didn’t enjoy a soft landing of his study after the arrival in China since he needed to attend a one-year language preparatory course at Tianjin University’s School of International Education. Besides the basic in-class learning of pinyin and grammar, he tried many ways to improve his Chinese. For instance, he played bilingual program on webs and apps whenever he got time. One year later, he finished the preparatory course with excellence and delivered an eloquent and inspiring speech in Chinese during the graduation ceremony.

Rising to challenges with the inner belief

Now, as a sophomore student, Bah describes his life as a busy one. He needs to attend both language and professional courses at the same time in a very tight schedule every day.

“Sometimes, the stress is overwhelming. You feel like being tied to countless assignments,” said Bah, “No use to complain. Life shouldn’t be easy for it has to be meaningful.”

The language barrier doubled Bah’s study time, and academic pressure is huge. What’s worse, he suffers a lot from homesickness. When asked how to cope with those challenges, Bah said that he took them as a test from life and faced them with strong belief.

“You will go through lots of emotion, but the things you can keep in mind is who you are and knowing why you are here.” For him, he never regards goals as missions impossible but necessary challenges on the path of growth.

April showers bring May flowers. Bah thinks that the past hardship reshaped him to become a better man. “The two-year oversea study life made me a different man. I became stronger and more self-disciplined.”

Leaning is only for a time, but not learning is forever.

On the current stage, Bah focused his study on alternative energy and hopes to do something for his own country. “My mother always told me, ‘you cherish the fleeting learning time, or you will regret forever’ .” He is willing to share his experience with more students, “ As long as you believe in yourself and work persistently toward your goal, you will make it.”

By Xie Fuyu

Editor: Eva Yin