On December 6th, there was a sense of excitement in the air as 76 basketball students from our TALENT program arrived in buses at the gates of the China National Film Museum. Eagerly waiting to meet them was a bus of volunteers from Sinopec Engineering Incorporation and their leader for the day, Charles. Everyone gathered at the entrance of the museum to be welcomed by seven of ABC’s most dedicated TALENT volunteers and all of ABC’s staff and DREAM students. As the long lines of students filed into the museum, they stared in wonder at the impressive and modern exterior of the museum and chatted excitedly about what they might find inside. In the entrance, everyone received a personalized nametag, and each student was matched with a volunteer and presented with an interactive quiz to complete together. All participants then paired up and explored the different rooms of the museum to find out more about the fascinating history of Chinese film and to complete their quizzes. After an hour of exploring, everyone entered the cinema to watch “Interstellar,” the latest science fiction film. Students and volunteers alike were engrossed in the film and couldn’t believe they were watching it on the largest screen in Asia! One student from Qinghonglan informed us that this was her first trip to the cinema, and she couldn’t wait to go home and tell her parents all about it! After the film finished, everyone went downstairs to eat lunch and to chat together in groups about the film. Following this, Sinopec volunteers presented all students with gifts for successfully completing their quizzes. Students opened gifts of pencil cases and wooden toy animals with delight and excitedly compared and played with them. As the day drew to an end, the students were all smiles as they posed for a group photo outside the museum and headed back to their buses to return home. Sinopec volunteers gathered together to reflect on the day with ABC staff. Everyone agreed it had been an extremely successful day, and Sinopec volunteers expressed enthusiasm about their next event with ABC.
SEI Volunteers, ABC staff and volunteers, DREAM students and Basketball students pose for a group photo outside the National Film Museum after a wonderful day