Journey of hearts and minds: Ma & Morley Scholars in China
The experience of a lifetime awaited 27 Scholars from the Ma & Morley Scholarship Program who travelled to China for a 12-day cultural immersion earlier this year to broaden their global awareness, connect with other cultures and gain insight into life in China.
The group of students from the 2023, 2022 and 2021 cohorts of the Ma & Morley Scholarship Program visited Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing to engage in wide-ranging opportunities for knowledge sharing and cultural exchange. Among the many highlights were visits to the Alibaba campus and West Lake, where Jack Ma first met the Morley family, before travelling to Beijing to tour fascinating ancient sites including the Great Wall of China.
The Ma & Morley story first began in China in 1980 when the Morley family met Jack Ma beside West Lake in Hangzhou where Jack sought out tourists to practice his English. A trip to Newcastle a few years later provided Mr Ma with eye-opening experiences to a world outside China.
Mr Ma made a USD 20 million philanthropic commitment to the University of Newcastle in 2017 to honour his lifelong friendship with the late Mr Ken Morley and his family who live in Newcastle.
Since the beginning of the Ma & Morley Scholarship Program, I’ve met so many incredible people, had many different experiences and new learnings that I’ve taken on board. I’m very grateful for that. It’s helped me grow as a person as well as a Scholar."
Millie Mills
2023 Ma & Morley Scholar
New experiences bring new perspectives
This trip has allowed me to experience Chinese culture firsthand, which is very different to the way our media portrays it… I’ll take these experiences home and continue to form my own opinions and hopefully influence others to do the same."
Cooper Ivory
2023 Ma & Morley Scholar
To find out more about the Ma & Morley Scholarship Program, please visit newcastle.edu.au/ma-morley
To watch a video of behind-the-scenes footage of this life changing experience, click here.
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