Oklahoma State Freshman Spends Year Studying in China

Friday, September 25, 2009

(Stillwater, OK   September 25, 2009) - Oklahoma State University freshman Matt Lamoreaux of Mounds, an exchange student at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, China, never expected to be invited after two weeks on campus to represent the 7,700 freshman students and deliver an inaugural speech.

But that is exactly where he found himself earlier this month, providing a welcome speech in both Chinese and English during the school’s opening ceremony. He took the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discuss OSU, Orange Power and his own determination to promote international education on the Southwest Jiaotong campus. 

The new semester opening ceremony is very important for Chinese universities, who gather all students, faculty, staff and administrators to celebrate the beginning of a new year. The university president also welcomes students back to the campus and presents the goals for the new semester, while student leaders or representatives speak on behalf of all students to express their new semester resolutions.

“I’m enjoying the school work and the atmosphere and especially the students, who are extremely friendly,” said Lamoreaux, who visited China while a Tulsa Booker T. Washington High School student and spoke to a thousand students on that trip.

As the first Oklahoma State University exchange student to visit China under a reciprocal exchange agreement signed recently with SWJTU, located in Sichuan Province, Lamoreaux began his intensive Chinese language and culture courses in August and will continue his studies until next May.

“The university has been very supportive and gone out of its way to make sure that things flow smoothly for me and the rest of the Chinese language students,” he said.

Lamoreaux was thrilled to discover that he could become part of the OSU Study Abroad program and realize his dream. “The only way I could further my Chinese studies was to study abroad.”

He currently lives in an apartment with a Chinese family that is expecting a baby in October.  “The man works at the university and his wife is due around the middle of October, so I get to help raise a little Chinese baby,” he said.

He also loves the spicy food of the province, but said he makes sure to avoid what he calls the “numbing peppers.”

“SWJTU is lucky to establish a close partnership with OSU and very thankful that OSU chose SWJTU as a reciprocal exchange partner,” said Dr. Yanjun Qiu, professor in highway and transportation engineering and director of the International Affairs Office at SWJTU.

“We're lucky to have such responsive participation to help make the program well recognized by both universities,” Qui said. “Matt did a great job before 7,700 freshmen and hundreds of university teachers and parents.”

While Lamoreaux is in China, six Chinese students from SWJTU are currently at OSU where they are concentrating on coursework in architecture, engineering and business.