In May 2019, nine NUS students embarked on an adventure east to Hangzhou, China, following the establishment of the CKC-USP Summer Seminar: Strategic Leadership, Innovation, and Society between Zhejiang University’s Chu Kochen Honors College (CKC) and NUS University Scholars Programme (USP). As its title suggests, the programme is focused on the topic of future leadership, with the aim of tackling the critical questions of how leaders of tomorrow should prepare for an increasingly internationalised world. How do we want our tomorrow to be? Who do we want to see leading it? How connected should our world be? Such curious questions guided the interdisciplinary discussions that ranged from entrepreneurship and stem-cell research to cybersecurity and international economics.

Thirty students from CKC jointly participated in the discussions and debates with us for over a week. Outside the classroom, we explored the city of Hangzhou, and learned more about China’s growth from humble beginnings to a rising power.

The programme as a whole was very enriching for me. It gave me the opportunity to experience China first-hand instead of just learning about it though the media and internet. As I am interested in Computing and Entrepreneurship, I enjoyed learning about China’s tech innovation culture and the many tech unicorns it has produced in recent years. Through the programme, I have developed the skill to appreciate a diverse set of ideas and working together with people from varied cultures. It also satiated my curiosity in learning across a spectrum of different subject disciplines, for example, I was acquainted with the subject of Brain Sciences for the very first time.

I feel incredibly privileged to be part of this new USP International Programme. I am looking forward to more of such USP International Programmes to widen my horizon, and to build myself up to become a truly global citizen.