Study Abroad: Discover a better self in art and design

In March 2020, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, parsons school of design in the United States, where Qunzhenyuan studied, converted offline classes to online classes, and many students chose to return to China. Qun Zhenyuan also bought a ticket to return to China, but due to various reasons such as the rebound of the epidemic, the ticket was always canceled. In the end, he gave up his return to China and decided to stay in the United States.

Online classes in New York

It's been more than a year since Qun Zhenyuan last returned home, and during the epidemic, he can only rely on the Internet to contact his family. Qun Zhenyuan rarely goes out, except for going to the supermarket to buy daily necessities, most of the time he "stays" at home to attend classes and study.

Parsons School of Design's professional classes are held twice a week, and because students are given time to design and make models on site, one of them is 5 hours and 40 minutes, and the other is 2 hours and 40 minutes. For Qun Zhenyuan, the course was fully changed to online, "I don't feel uncomfortable, and online classes at home can save commuting time, which is quite good."

Qunzhenyuan's residence is about half an hour's subway commute time from the school. Before the outbreak of the epidemic, he needed to bring his works or materials to the school site to make them, and then ask the teachers to comment. Because some works require that glue cannot be used, most of the materials use wood, paper or foam board, and sometimes the size of the works is large, and it is not convenient to catch the subway with these materials. "Change to online classes, the work is done at home, but there is no such inconvenience." Qun Zhenyuan said, "However, because the teacher can only teach remotely and observe the students' works from the photos, the integrity of the three-dimensional works is difficult to present through the flat form of the picture, whether it is the teacher assigning homework or the students displaying the work will increase the communication time." Especially when the teacher is more engaged or passionate, it is easy to forget to look at the time, often dragging the class for an hour or two. But in Qun Zhenyuan's view, in this way, "you can also learn more things, and you can better appreciate the teacher's sense of responsibility and love for design."

During the epidemic period, Qunzhenyuan will communicate with parents every day and report safety to each other. The decision not to return home was also respected by my parents, "I have lived alone in the United States since high school, and they also believe that I have the ability to manage my own life." ”

Try applying to an art school

Going abroad to attend high school was not Qunzhenyuan's original goal. In elementary school, he attended an international school that emphasized both academic and extracurricular activities. After entering junior high school, Qun Zhenyuan slowly found himself more interested in the teaching mode of foreign high schools, so he told his mother in the second semester of the second semester of junior high school that he wanted to go abroad to study in high school. His family analyzed the pros and cons with him, discussed them repeatedly, and finally decided to support him.

Malden Catholic High School, where Qunzhenyuan attended, is located in Boston, United States. Founded in 1932, the school is a preparatory boys' school, the school attaches great importance to teaching according to the aptitude, will design the corresponding academic curriculum for different types of students, quite famous in the local area.

Initially, Qun Zhenyuan did not determine the direction of art, but tried in many directions. He has joined soccer teams, tennis teams, chemistry clubs, art clubs, and volunteered as a holiday docent at the Boston Children's Museum. It wasn't until grade 11 that he found design interesting, and he also had a talent for craftsmanship and the patience to portray every detail of the work.

The twist came in 2019, the year he designed works that won prizes in the American Youth Art and Literature Competition. The award gave him confidence and the idea of applying to an art school.

Discover more innovation possibilities

Before enrolling, Qun Zhenyuan did not think that he would be admitted to parsons school of design, because "this school is so famous." Founded in 1896, Parsons School of Design is a new York City-based school of art and design with a reputation in the field of art and design. Most of the school's teachers are art practitioners, who are familiar with the design trends in the industry and can provide students with very new ideas.

The reason why I filled in the Parsons School of Design, in the words of Qun Zhenyuan, was just to "give it a go". "Because I was a 'halfway monk', my painting skills were weak, and I was a little late in preparing my portfolio. Unexpectedly, I was admitted to the Parsons School of Design and offered a scholarship. ”

In fact, Qun Zhenyuan is very talented in art design, and the teacher has a high evaluation of his works, and one of the works is still permanently retained in the school archives.

Qun Zhenyuan studied interior design, and at that time he was not only admitted to parsons school of design but also pratt school of art. But he prefers the former's educational philosophy – emphasizing the integration of indoor environmental management and cultural sensitivity, providing students with more space to innovate.

For the future, Qun Zhenyuan plans to find a design studio internship in the United States after graduating from undergraduate, and then return to China after working for a period of time. "The scope of interior design is very wide, including a lot of disciplines that can become a profession, such as lighting design, materials science, color, etc. I think it's very important for interior design students to get involved in practice, no less than what they learn in school. After working for a few years, if I find an area that I would like to delve into or study deeper, I will consider further education. For now, we still do a good job in each of our design works and strive to make up for the shortcomings. Qun Zhenyuan said.