On January the 11th, 15 intrepid students set out to brave the icy waters in kayaks to prepare for their Duke of Edinburgh International Award. The weekends training was designed to give the students the skills and confidence to take part in a weeklong kayaking expedition to Thailand. Kayaking is a new experience for […]
As of January 15, 2025, 8 students from SCIE Class of 2025 have received conditional offers from the University of Oxford. The programs include Mathematics and Computer Science, Materials Science, Physics, Chemistry, and the highly competitive PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics). Congratulations! We wish all the other students success in receiving their dream offers!
8 SCIE Students Secure Oxford Offers: A Triumph for the Class of 2025! Read More »
Recently, our school received exciting news from Homerton College, Cambridge University: Charles Wei, a graduate of SCIE’s Class of 2020, has successfully completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Natural Sciences (Systems Biology) with First Class Honours. He was awarded a prestigious College prize, and his name will be listed on the Principal’s List for
Exciting News from Homerton College, Cambridge University Read More »
In the quiet embrace of the early morning, a soft ray of sunlight seeped through the gap in the curtain, like nature’s gentlest alarm clock, quietly stirring me awake. The day held a special promise—a deep longing for the upcoming journey to explore the financial world of Hong Kong. With a heart full of excitement,
Financial Exploration in Hong Kong: Reflections and Discoveries Read More »
In the upcoming 2025-2026 academic year, SCIE will further enhance its AP programme, offering an estimated 15 AP courses. This will provide students aiming to apply to U.S. universities with a broader range of options and a solid academic foundation. In the future, SCIE plans to adjust or expand AP offerings based on demand, with specific
SCIE AP Programme Expands, Offering 15 AP Courses in 2025-2026 Read More »
This week, our Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) Faculty, student clubs and members of House and Sports Division organised a wide range of fun arts and sports activities for our students to celebrate VPA Week! From activities like the competitive Sports Combine to see which SCIE Varsity Team is the fittest, to the Music Concert, and
VPA Week: To Know About SCIE from Another Angle Read More »
November has been a month full of achievements for the SCIE sports teams! Whether in Malaysia, Thailand, or Hainan, China, SCIE students showcased exceptional skills and a spirit of determination across various international and domestic sports competitions. They excelled in football, volleyball, basketball, and badminton, bringing honor to the school. Here’s a recap of their
SCIE Sports Teams Shine Bright! Read More »
As we near the end of another busy and fruitful year, as part of SCIE’s Christmas tradition, the school once again invites all staff to contribute a small token of appreciation to our property management team. This gesture is a heartfelt thank you to our dedicated cleaners, technicians, and all the behind-the-scenes heroes who work
A Red Envelope, A Touch of Warmth, Thanking Our Campus Guardians Read More »
Life needs a sense of ritual. Sports Day is one of such occasions that turns ordinary days into something extraordinary and memorable. Late November marks the best time in Shenzhen —a faint chill of the breeze and the gentle warmth of the sun intertwined. As the autumn wind brushes by, sunlight penetrates through the clouds,
Flowing with the Wind – 2024 SCIE Sports Day Read More »
The winter sun shines warmly, with light clouds gently drifting by. In the first week of December, Shenzhen College of International Education (SCIE) held its flag-raising ceremony. We were also honored to welcome Mr. Joe, Director of Quality, Performance, and Risk, Business Performance, International Education from Cambridge University Press & Assessment to celebrate the outstanding
Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards Presented to SCIE Students Read More »
My essay is on the recent development of China’s mental health care system and how it can help address this question. Though, I actually parried the question raised by the prompt, and I did not in the end emphasise too much that more care should be devoted to the socially vulnerable. Rather, I intended to underscore the complexity and ambiguity in any employment of these two notions — “socially vulnerable” and “responsibility” — in the concrete working of society. Through my study I discovered that the train of legislative efforts made in the 1980s to 2000s to legally recognise, to enhance public knowledge of, and to erect new asylums for, “the mentally ill,” in fact coincided spatiotemporally with government efforts in putting new agendas of foreign policies and city development to work. Thus, the recent development of China’s mental health care, from scratch to full maturity, is not solely the consequence of “humanitarian effort,” but also of some other ulterior motives. In my conclusion, I hinted that any answer to this question would entail empirical investigation into the concrete working of social institutions, and depending on the nature of this “socially vulnerable” group, claims of “responsibility” may be leveraged as veils for other purposes.
Before starting my research I did not by then have a well-formed hypothesis, but I did have Michel Foucault’s intriguing study on madness in mind. Due to the rather peculiar nature of the object of my study, I was not able to apply the sociological theories (Marxism, Functionalism, e.g.) I learnt in class to my own research. I must thank my sociology teacher for his encouragement and provision of many textbook resources and classical studies done in the field of mental health care. In addition to that, he prepared a statement of the school for my application to conduct short interviews at a local mental health hospital — this application, however, though quite expectedly, sank into oblivion — without his help this project would be very difficult.
I made a documentary “The Definition” about the situation of elderly in Shenzhen to enter this competition. As I have some previous knowledge in filmmaking, learning from TBU studio, I though it would be meaningful if I combined my filmmaking skills with sociology knowledge. In the meanwhile, after learning the very first chapter of sociology, The Family, I found out that the situation of elderly in the UK is different from that of elderly in Shenzhen. For instance, elderly have the responsibility taking care of their grandchildren and dance in the park for entertainment is distinctive in China. Therefore, I decided to make a documentary to record the interesting culture.
I learnt a lot during the preparation for the competition. I learned a lot about how to carry out an individual primary research when I was filming “The Definition”, which helps a lot in my current sociology study. Also, I understood sociology theories better. For instance, postmodernism used to be only a vague theoretical perspective for me, yet it amazed me knowing that elderly people participate actively in public activities can be considered as view of postmodernism.
Most importantly, I realized filmmaking can make some impacts on people, portraying problems of society. Experience of BSA opened my eyes and led me rethink about my future major in college. I want use my skills and knowledge to help more people, so I will probably try a major with humanity and filmmaking combined instead of pursuing the dream of being an artist alone.
Learning sociology gives me a new perspective in seeing how the world works, and it also lets me care more about the vulnerability in the society. Thank you to my sociology teacher, Richard Driscoll, who gave me lots of inspiration such as filming the dancing in the park, which is interesting to British people, and recommenced lots of sociological books about the elderly.
By listening to his advice, “The Definition” eventually divides into two parts: one is about the elderly in nursing home and the other is about people dancing in the park. Also, there is many interviews in the documentary to give a more well-rounded perspective.
I would like to thank my Math teacher Michael Jin and my friend Franchaska, who helped me with the voice over. Also, thanks to my family members, especially my dear grandmother, who gave me lots of insights related to the issue of elderly.
I made this documentary just before the deadline, thus it’s not so perfect. I’ll probably elaborate some shots and reedit it in the future.
If you are interested, you can click the link below and watch it.
Teng Xun Video：https://v.qq.com/x/page/u0862usad2v.html
Bilibili：https://www.bilibili.com/video/av38188271?from=search&seid=10452775157822232568
