The Office of International and Cross-Strait Academic Exchange of Soochow University invited Guo Yunxin, a counselling psychologist, to hold a lecture on "Beyond the Comfort Zone and on the Road to Multiculturalism" in the 5216 Elite Lecture Hall of Downtown Campus on December 6. She shared her journey from studying abroad to job hunting experience with students.

In recent years, "jumping out of the comfort zone" has become a craze. It seems that as long as you step out, you will definitely be able to break through yourself; however, people often feel panic when facing the unknown, because things are uncontrollable. This sense of loss of control leads to anxiety and makes us hesitate.  "Embrace the unknown, focus on the controllable things, and open your mind to the uncontrollable things," said Guo Yunxin.  Instead of worrying about being out of control, we should focus on things that we can control— time and pressure management. Finding out the root causes of your stress can effectively adjust the mentality and avoid falling into negative emotions repeatedly.

"Self-care is the most important thing." When faced with life's setbacks, it is you that should encourage yourself the most. And, it’s okay to be vulnerable. Only by being aware of your emotions and knowing how to face them with a positive attitude can you effectively deal with your emotions. Guo provided four steps for you to look at. First, be honest with your feelings. Letting off some steam can make you feel relieved. Second, focus on the things that did not make your situation worse. Third, find out if there are similar and successful experiences in the past. Fourth, if it is possible to start again, how will you deal with it? Try to make the goal concrete, so that you have a clear idea. By following the four procedures above, it helps you to clarify your goal and develop tenacity.

Near the end of the lecture, Guo mentioned a TED talk video, “The Danger of a Single Story”. To prevent discrimination from happening, we must first cultivate curiosity about international issues, and improve our knowledge and skills by reading international related news and understanding the background history of different countries. Understanding different cultures allows us to have empathy and to be more flexible to get closer to different stories and people.

【ICAE Volunteers】Written by Vivian Gao and Janie Song; Photo by: Nana Sha