Vu Thanh Xuan, from Vietnam, earned her doctoral degree in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics from East China Normal University in 2014. She is now a faculty member in the Chinese Language and Culture Department of the University of Languages and International Studies under Vietnam National University in Hanoi.

Two decades ago, Vu arrived in Shanghai, starting an academic journey that would shape both her career and her life. Twenty years later, she returned to the ECNU campus with her daughter, strolling beneath the plane trees along the Liwa River. Across two generations, they share a unique bond as both mother and daughter and as alumni.

It was her daughter's first visit to ECNU. As the young girl reached out to touch the winter jasmine hanging from the Wenmai Corridor, Vu was reminded of a moment from her own student days, when an instructor once pinned the same flower to her collar.

Vu reflected on a day in 2003 at Hanoi Airport, when she said goodbye to her 17-month-old daughter and set off on her academic journey in China, clutching the admission letter for a Chinese Government Scholarship. Her heart was filled with both anticipation and nervousness.

She spoke warmly of the friendships she formed with classmates from diverse cultural backgrounds. In her first few classes, her Chinese still carried a strong Vietnamese accent, and her classmates practiced pronunciation with her every day after class. When winter snow fell, a South Korean classmate brought her a thick down jacket, and on another evening, a fellow student welcomed her back to the dormitory with a bowl of steaming noodles.

Her teachers offered not only academic guidance but also genuine care. Professor Wu supervised her thesis from punctuation to theoretical frameworks, and on the eve of her graduation, her mentor invited a few classmates to his home for a farewell meal.

Vu especially cherished the afternoons spent by the river, enjoying the breeze and dense greenery along its banks. Seeing the saplings from twenty years ago now tall and flourishing, she told her daughter that education is like cultivating trees, which requires care and dedication.

For them, ECHU not only witnessed the growth of two generations but also became a second home, encouraging them to explore the world with openness and resolve.

Source: Official WeChat account of Global Education Center of ECNU (ID: "ecnugec")