Genesis Morris ’22
Genesis was also featured in the Wheaton Magazine (Volume 24, Issue 2, Spring 2021)!
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Q1: Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
A1: I am a sophomore here at Wheaton studying Chinese and International Relations with a certificate in Peace and Conflict Studies. I grew up in XianYang, China and Madrid, Spain and my family still lives in Spain, but I moved to the States last year for college! I love music, art, spending time with friends, photography, and exploring new places. And some of my favourite Chinese food is chaomian, tangyuan, and jiaozi!
Q2: What brought you to studying Chinese?
A2: I grew up in central China speaking Chinese, and the biggest reason is that I love the Chinese people and their language and culture! When I came to Wheaton, I was actually planning on being a professional translator, and while I think God has slowly moved my focus away from that into something else, the language is still incredibly important to me and I am still studying it to hopefully fully learn it well! I speak and understand pretty well, but my reading and writing is not great, so I am mostly focusing on learning to read and write Chinese characters in my Chinese classes.
Q3: What is your career plan, and how may your proficiency in Chinese play a role in it?
A3: Career wise, I am hoping to go into some kind of policy work or work with a non-profit organization that focuses on peace and reconciliation work in an international setting. I hope to be working with people from all over the world, and knowing Chinese well would allow me to connect with Chinese people in their heart language, which I think is extremely important – especially if we are communicating about reconciliation and peace work.
Q4: What do/did you enjoy the most in the Chinese program at Wheaton?
A4: I love how close the Chinese department comes to be through all of the classes that Chinese majors or minors take together. It is a smaller department and there aren’t a ton of students who study Chinese, so those of us who do get to know each other and our Chinese professors well through all of the classes we take together. That allows for our classroom setting to be more relaxed and personal, which I think helps learning a lot! And the fact that the Chinese department is also extremely hospitable and welcoming to all of its students and even non-Chinese majors is amazing!
Q5: Could you give some advice to future Chinese majors?
A5: First, I would say definitely lean on your professors to help you if you ever need anything. They are so willing and want to help and will give you resources that you didn’t even know existed! And I would also say that if you are serious about learning the Chinese language well, take the time to study it on your own. It takes effort and time, and it is slow, daily practice kind of learning, but that is how you will engrain it into your mind long-term. Passing classes is doable without learning the language well, and I would encourage and challenge you and myself to actually learn the language well. Excited you are here! Good luck!