This year (2023), CHU collaborated with a marketing team to design icebreaker games for the new student orientation event, using interactive activities to shorten the distance between teachers, senior students, and freshmen.

CHU President Dr. Victor Liu pointed out that the new student orientation in previous years tended to be monotonous, mainly composed of educational lectures and exams. To break from tradition and engage students enthusiastically without letting them play with their phones, this year, they collaborated with an event team to incorporate fun interactive games into the mandatory educational agenda, bringing everyone together.

Especially at the highlight of the orientation party on September 11th, when the president danced with the new students, many freshmen said it was their first time dancing up close with the president, and it felt super novel! Some students even proactively interacted with the president, breaking the stereotypical image of an unapproachable authority figure.

Photo1 / A Freshman student successfully gets a hug from CHU's president Dr. Victor Liu (right), on the first day of school.

Dean of Student Affairs Dr. Yan Ke-Chin said we could see originally shy and socially hesitant freshmen make earnest albeit awkward dance moves under the enthusiastic lead of the event team. This is strong proof that group dynamics can expand one's social circle and break psychological barriers, which is very important given students' general apathy towards public affairs nowadays. He hopes this positive change can give freshmen a good start and increase their sense of belonging to CHU.

Dr. Chiu-Jung Tseng, Director of the Library and Information Service Center and a freshman mentor for the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, said the new students were very quiet and reserved when meeting their mentors at noon but opened up and interacted actively with unfamiliar classmates at the night party. Many students approached her proactively for handshakes and high-fives, which was truly touching! She believes activities like this can help freshmen quickly integrate into campus life.

Photo2 / CHU freshmen gradually opened up through team-building games, working with students from other departments to complete game missions.

At the closing ceremony of the orientation event, CHU’s Vice President, Dr. Hsieh presented awards to commend outstanding departments. He encouraged students to continue building friendships and networks like they did in the past two days, to embark on new journeys in college life and future careers, perfectly concluding the two activities.