Graduation time! It’s been that time of year again for university and colleges all over China, and a nice gift for each graduate has become a prerequisite. In seeking to be a little different, quite a few have come up with somewhat unusual choices.
As students everywhere have been throwing their mortarboards in the air, so have their graduation institutions sought for them the perfect commemorative gifts. This year, several universities and colleges stand out for gifts that are warm and meaningful, as well as practical. And a few less so.
Beginning in our very own Nanjing, graduates at one top uni received a double-sided pillow case. It may not sound like much (it doesn’t sound like anything at all, Ed.), but according to Nanjing Normal University, the gift is intended to help graduates to recall and preserve their memories of campus life. On one side, a sketch of the University’s Jingwen Library, and on the other, a representation of the unique style of roof which can be seen on many of the Suiyan Campus’ buildings, under a gingko tree. There you have it; memories of studying hard in an old building with leaves falling on your head. What could be better?
Somewhat less imaginatively, the graduation gift from the Sports Department of Nanjing University of Science and Technology is an USB drive, albeit one “exclusive and customised”. C minus. Needs try harder.
Over in neighbouring Zhejiang Province, gifts for departing students at Zhejiang Normal University vary by college. For example, the school of Physical Education and Health Sciences gave them a whistle. How original is that? Sarcasm aside, the gesture is hoped that the graduates will “blow their inner whistle and run to a broader world on their future journey”.
Elsewhere, the graduation souvenir from the College of Life Sciences in Henan Normal University is a framed butterfly specimen. According to The World Journal, the specimens were mysteriously made by the students themselves under the guidance of instructors.
Deep down south, students departing Kunming Medical University have graduated with a personally customised ring. On the ring face is the school logo, while the inside is engraved with the graduate’s name and student number.
Up north in Henan Province, the gift from Zhengzhou Aviation Industry Management College has us a little concerned. For their customised-graduate souvenirs this year appear to show an aircraft colliding with the school logo.
Finally, putting the cherry, literally, on the cake is Northwest A&F University in Shaanxi Province.
For their graduating students, the uni picked two tons of watermelon, three tons of cherries, one ton of melons and one ton of peaches for the students to share. A teacher was quoted as saying that it is hoped through these fruits, students feelings of “knowing, loving, strengthening and rejuvenating agriculture” can be cultivated. Much like the cherries themselves, then. Peachy.
