Here in Renmin University of China, we have many exemplary classes whose stories are worth learning. In addition to their commitment to study, they also demonstrated a high sense of responsibility in voluntary service and other aspects of life. The 2021 M.S. Chemistry Class is one of them. Let’s look at its stories.

A Class of Enthusiastic Volunteers

For most of the 2021 M.S. Chemistry Class, voluntary service is their shared interest. Overall, students from the class have participated in voluntary service for 2,500 hours, or 60 hours per capita.

It was in the depth of winter when Zhang Dongfang stood upright outside the Capital Indoor Stadium, holding his head high. The hot air he exhaled condensed into small droplets of water on his eyelashes, as if ice crystals had condensed on pine trees. Zhang Dongfang is a city volunteer for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics who called himself nothing but a "small street sign" of the city during his service, never thinking that this "small street sign" has been viewed as the "Guest –Greeting Pine" outside the stadium.

One morning, Cui MingSuo was offering chemistry course to students in LanPing middle school online. On the one hand of the online class, Cui was busy with an interesting chemical experiment. On the other side, the students were enthralled by the magic chemical phenomena, which made the seemingly boring and abstruse knowledge much easier to grasp. It is Cui’s goal to help students appreciate the charm of the subject, enrich their knowledge and ultimately boost science education.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Han Wenwen could always be seen inspecting the laboratory, holding a tablet computer in hand. As the head of the second phase of the Laboratory Safety Patrol Team of the Department of Chemistry, Han will spend at least an hour every day to check the laboratory to forestall hidden risks at the height of the epidemic when many teachers were not allowed to enter the university. No case of safety incidents was reported during that time.

Zhang Dongfang, Han Wenwen, and Cui Mingshuo are all keen on volunteering work. The three students shared the same identity of RUC Youth. Besides, they all come from RUC 2021 M.S. Chemistry Class.

RUC 2021 M.S. Chemistry Class composed of 39 students. Overall, students from the class have participated in voluntary service for 2,500 hours, or 60 hours per capita. Three of the class once participated in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and 28 have been actively involved in epidemic prevention and control. 15 of the class have been awarded the honorary title of "Epidemic-prevention Pioneer" by Renmin  University of China.

“Most of the students in our class have been actively participating in volunteering service from the very beginning. In every volunteer activity organized by the school or the department, students in our class could always been seen in the front of the line”, said class Qing Chenglin, the one in charge of class affairs.

A Class of science popularizers

The 2021 M.S. Chemistry Class is not just a class of enthusiastic volunteers, but also a class of passionate science popularizers. Over the past 2 years or so, they have unveiled many engaging activities for the popularization of science through the integration of academic knowledge into people’s everyday life.

Last year, the university launched the "Chemistry Culture Festival", a large-scale science popularization activity for all students and faculty members. The event was hosted by the Department of Chemistry and organized by the 2021 M.S. Chemistry Class. The event was divided into three phases: the first phase was an offline exhibition, the second phase was a chemistry knowledge contest, and the third phase was the final of the Chemistry Culture Festival. More than 30 students from the class participated in the whole process of planning, hosting and publicity. “The wonderful moments when the contestants brainstormed on the stage and quickly answered the questions on the big screen left a deep impression on me”, said Li Chenyuan who hosted the contest. " "In the process of question answering, students of the Humanities and Social Sciences classes also felt the marvelous charm of chemistry", said student head Cui Mingshuo.

Rong Yu is also one of the hosts of the Chemistry Culture Festival. The work done by her classmates behind the scenes impressed her even greater than the hosting experience itself. "At that time, many students in the Chemistry Department signed up for the volunteer work and we, the students of the 2021 M.S. Chemistry Class formed the bulk of the volunteers. Like the work in front of the stage, the staff behind the scenes worked hard too. They played a significant role in everything including the beautiful decoration and orderly arrangement outside the venue, the meticulous rehearsal on the stage, the meticulous auditing under the stage and etc. Without their painstaking efforts, the event won’t be as wonderful as it was. Their efforts greatly added up to the vitality of the Department of Chemistry in the campus.

In addition, the activity of "Presenting your hometown food” initiated by the headteacher Mr. He Yonglin also represents one of the brand activities of the class. Every year during the winter vacation, students enthusiastically sign up for the activity, showing their hometown's New Year's Eve dinner or specialties. They also used their knowledge of chemistry to introduce the production process and the stories behind the dishes.

The activity not only strengthened the communication among students, but also greatly enriched their understanding of cultural differences between different regions. This is exactly what Yin Yongyue, the main person in charge of the event hoped. The original intention of the event is to show the stories behind the New Year's Eve dinner through the New Year dishes of students of the department of chemistry who were enjoying family reunion, staying in the campus for study or standing fast at their post. Most importantly, we hope to dig out the knowledge of food chemistry in cooking through the specialties of different parts of the country, and to encourage more people to come to realize the beauty of chemistry. 

According to another student head Qing Chenglin, the class has formulated a series of incentives and assessment measures to encourage classmates to partake in voluntary work, produce academic outcomes and engage in mutual benefit academic cooperation. Thanks to our early efforts, our Class members have an average GPA of 3.78, and have won more than 20 national and provincial awards, more than 100 university-level awards. Up so far, 36 papers and patents were published by our classmates.  The class also had remarkable performance in other fields. "The dormitories of our class stood out among many dormitories, and three dormitories won the title of excellent dormitory in 2022. I am thrilled that my classmates' hard work has paid off”, said Zhou Zhuangzhi with joy, the student responsible for the supervision of male dormitories.

Additionally, the M.S. Chemistry Class of 2021 has established a class social media group where students can speak freely and exchange ideas or share anecdotes about their lives at any time, which has become an important channel for the Class Council to gather feedback from students. "By doing this, we hope to understand how people really feel after participating in class activities, to continue our good tradition and figure out our shortcomings and correct them." Said Zhang Zhenchuan, the one responsible for the organization of class activities.

With joint efforts and shared goal, the class will brave the wind and waves and achieve even greater progress in the days to come.