More than half of the inaugural graduating class at Wenzhou-Kean University is pursuing their Master’s degree. They may have started at Wenzhou-Kean University, but their paths have taken them in many directions. For Yitao He, this is no different.
Yitao He, also known as Zack, is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. He has attributed his willingness to pursue higher education in the United States to his passion to learn technical skills and his eagerness to explore the world.
“I am very interested in education policy, higher education administration, as well as technology development. Studying finance in college, I realized I had more passion for the non-profit sector,” says He. “I felt like I needed to learn some practical technical skills such as data analysis and program evaluation, which are core courses for a public policy program,” He said.
A graduate of Wenzhou-Kean University with a degree in finance, he has big plans for making the world around him better for everyone. His preparation at the campus across the world was made possible not by just his strong work ethic and passion for learning, but because of the supportive educators and student body who helped him get the degree that he put in the effort for.
“My favorite memory of Wenzou-Kean University was of my professor Dr. John Prince, who shared with me his philosophies of life and meditation techniques. He would bring in cookies for the class and would help students register for courses,” He commented. “I was actually his research assistant! We did a project together to relate Confucianism with the common law system. It was great pleasure being his student as well as his assistant.”
He will miss the times of when Wenzhou-Kean was first starting back in 2012, and the gradual build-up of notoriety the school got through it being recognized as a prestigious school throughout his education there.
“[My class] did not have much to begin with, yet everybody was so dedicated to establishing a world-class university,” He said. “This was the time when some students [from other schools] did not take us seriously as an institution and we fought back with our success. It was then when I realized how important each one of us were to this brand new school.”
Luckily for He, the lessons he obtained at Wenzhou-Kean are still being experienced, as his Wenzhou studies are connected seamlessly with his public policy major at the University of Chicago, especially in terms of the education system.
“Syllabi, homework, Blackboard, discussions, evaluation, so on and so forth, they are all same, so I immediately adapted to the new environment,” He said. “Also, the coursework I studied at Wenzhou-Kean University, such as economics and comparative politics, gave me the advantages when receiving rigorous quantitative and qualitative training.”
He decided to attend the University of Chicago due to Chicago’s beauty and the school’s academic prestige.
“I felt that I needed more quantitative training and the University of Chicago’s public policy’s data-driven attitude attracted me,” He said, “...and my training here also allows me to incorporate data analysis into my study. My career goals are streamlined with my academic goals, so the school is perfect for me.”
His interest in higher education policy and technological development fuels his passion to make the public world around him a better place to live. His career goal, specifically, is to end educational inequality among students of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
For the career he plans to embark on, he owes it all to the times he spent as a student of Wenzhou-Kean University.
