2020-03-06 [“Language” Accompanying You:] A Warm Fight Against the Pandemic, Language Bridges to Sunny Skies — A Record of the Anti-Epidemic Efforts by the Party Branch of Class of 2019 Foreign Languages and Literature Major, School of Languages and Communication Studies.

The sudden outbreak of the epidemic at the beginning of the year forced everyone to become “homebodies” under the epidemic. Plans to return to campus were indefinitely postponed, leaving everyone to gather “in the cloud” via the internet. To ensure that all students could return safely and in good health to the Red Orchard when spring arrives, four members of the Party Branch for the 2019 Master’s Program in Foreign Languages and Literature actively responded to the call of the School. They immersed themselves in the front lines of online pandemic prevention, fully demonstrating the exemplary conduct of student Party members and helping to build a warm, protective harbor for the entire 2019 Foreign Languages and Literature community against the pandemic. In order to win this war without gunsmoke as soon as possible, everyone has made tremendous efforts. Immediately after the outbreak of the epidemic, the branch committee decided to establish a system of “responsibility assigned to individuals” during the epidemic. This measure is to ensure that Party members can timely understand the problems and puzzles related to students’ online course learning feedback, physical and psychological status during their stay at home. Once problems are identified, they can be promptly reported to the college for timely adjustments. Wang Yue, Secretary of the Party Branch, spent four years as an undergraduate in Hubei. During her postgraduate studies, she met a girl from Hubei—and, quite coincidentally, they became roommates. When the pandemic began to spread, Wang’s foremost concern was for this roommate who had just returned to her hometown in Hubei from campus. At this moment, her dual identity as both a “Party member” and a “roommate” motivated Wang Yue to proactively take on the responsibility of providing “one-to-one” support. Beyond checking on her roommate’s physical well-being daily, the two also shared across the distance what delicious meals they had cooked at home that day or what new skills they planned to learn the next. Though both were in the heart of the severely affected region, amid the hardship and intensity they managed to find moments of calm and enjoyment. From initial anxiety and worry to a peaceful acceptance of the situation, the two became more like comrades-in-arms, encouraging each other every step of the way. After learning that nearly half of the students in the class were located in areas with severe epidemics, the deputy secretary of the Party branch, Liu Kangning, took the initiative to approach Wang Yue and proposed the need to carry out investigations and psychological counseling within the class as soon as possible. At the same time, Party members should act as messengers to spread positive energy and lead the way to not believe rumors. He believed that during the epidemic, people have to stay at home, especially after receiving a large amount of negative news, which can easily lead to negative emotions such as anxiety, restlessness, depression, and loneliness. With the new semester approaching, the psychological state of students is also related to whether they can smoothly transition into the new semester. His keen observation also reflects his sense of responsibility as a Party member. Ma Zhixin, the class monitor, became the busiest person in the class during the pandemic. On one hand, he had to collect and organize the daily updates from his classmates on time. Whenever a student reported feeling unwell, he would patiently inquire about their condition to ensure the pandemic had not affected anyone in the class—only then could he submit the data with peace of mind. Though the task seemed simple, it required considerable time and effort, yet he never complained. Despite his busy schedule, he never forgot his primary role as a student. In both the class and course group chats, he was often seen sharing learning resources such as French newspapers and open online courses with his peers. By encouraging everyone to join in the initiatives of “continuous learning during the break” and “research from home”, he helped foster a positive academic atmosphere within the class. Lian Ziyi, the youngest Party member among the four, has been keeping her oath since joining the Party in November last year, always keeping class and branch affairs in mind. In order to better carry out the learning and research tasks of the new semester and ensure the quality of home-based learning, she carefully studied the usage methods of various course platforms before the official start of classes, and guided her classmates to smoothly solve the problems of using course platforms, ensuring that all students can proficiently use online course platforms to enrich their learning content. Additionally, Lian Ziyi co-founded a study progress mutual-support group with her peers, carefully planning academic schedules for everyone while encouraging mutual supervision and communication—all to facilitate a smooth transition into the new semester’s learning rhythm. Now, although we are confined at home, our hearts are constantly with the 17 students of the 2019 graduate class in Foreign Languages and Literature. Despite being scattered across the country, and separated by geographical distances that only allow us to interact through internet cables and screens, what remains constant in our hearts is our longing for the School of Languages and Communication Studies and Beijing Jiaotong University. We eagerly await the day when we can once again hear the bus announcement, “Next stop, East Gate of Beijing Jiaotong University”, and reunite in the Red Orchard at an early date.