The Center for General Education at National Chung Cheng University launched its first intensive “Define Me: Explore Yourself, Define Your University Journey” program from September 4 to 6. Through an 18-hour micro-credit course, 40 first-year students began by gaining a better understanding of themselves and adjusting to university life before turning their attention to a rapidly changing world. Focusing on three major trends—AI, population aging, and sustainability—the program encouraged students to connect their interests and abilities with emerging social challenges. Design thinking provided a framework throughout the three-day experience, culminating in a team competition in which students identified issues, developed creative solutions, and transformed what they had learned into concrete ideas for their university studies and future development.

Surveys conducted during first-year student activities over the past two years showed that many new students felt uncertain about their sense of self, university life, and future careers. Building on the interdisciplinary talent development philosophy and model of the former CCU Elite Program, the Center for General Education redesigned its approach to supporting students as they began university. Starting in Academic Year 115 (2026–27), the Center introduced a new support mechanism for first-year students and recruited and trained 11 NEXTERs from different colleges and year levels to work alongside faculty in planning and delivering the program, creating a cross-year peer learning and support network. Initially limited to 36 participants, the first Define Me program attracted over 100 registrations in just three days, further highlighting students’ need for support in self-exploration, adjustment to university life, and planning for the future.

Throughout the program, NEXTERs served not simply as activity assistants, but as peer mentors who shared their own university experiences on topics ranging from course selection and interpersonal relationships to emotional adjustment and time management. This gave first-year students opportunities to learn about university life and build connections beyond the classroom. For the NEXTERs, meanwhile, participating in the planning and facilitation process provided hands-on experience in course design, teamwork, leadership, and communication, creating a model in which both new and senior students learned and grew together.

Professor Ya-Hui Lee, Dean of the Center for General Education, noted that university is an important stage at which students begin learning to make their own choices. First-year students do not need to have their futures mapped out from the moment they arrive; what matters is having opportunities to understand themselves, encounter different fields, and gradually discover directions that suit them. In a rapidly changing world, she added, university education must go beyond the transmission of knowledge and help students develop the ability to “learn how to learn.” Through repeated exploration and decision-making, students can learn to identify what they need to know, find the resources they need, and continue learning throughout their lives. Define Me therefore aimed to offer more than a course: it provided students with room to explore and a community of peer support at the very beginning of their university journey, giving them the confidence to navigate uncertainty and try different possibilities. This also reflected President Shaw-Jenq Tsai’s vision of a “Happy Campus,” where every student can find a sense of place, connection, and belonging at CCU and begin university life with greater confidence.

Carrying forward its commitment to self-exploration and interdisciplinary talent development, the former CCU Elite Program was transformed in Academic Year 114 (2025–26) into the Microprogram in Generational Sustainability and Smart Technology, centered on AI, population aging, and sustainability. Moving forward, the Center for General Education will use the 18-hour Define Me program as an entry point and encourage first-year students to continue their development through the microprogram. NEXTER peer learning, faculty mentoring, interdisciplinary projects, student dream projects, and hands-on learning opportunities will provide continued support as students turn their interests and ideas into practice. By applying design thinking across different stages of learning, the Center for General Education aims to build a continuous model of exploration, learning, practice, and mentorship, allowing the three-day experience to become the beginning of sustained learning and development throughout students’ four years at CCU.