Tu Jiequn, a senior with Nottingham Ningbo China won the second prize in the 12th International Tanka Contest, as learned from the University a couple of days ago. Tu received a certificate and a award money of 30,000 yen.

The short song she sent to the contest was merely a classroom assignment. It was completely a pleasant surprise for her that it could stand out of the 19000 candidate songs.

“Our teacher had us write five songs. I thought it was only an assignment. I wrote five songs and did not give much thought about them later”, she said. At the beginning of last semester, when her teacher learned about the contest, he wanted his students to take part in it.

She did not know that she got won a second prize until February this year

Among the 19,000 short songs, one won the first prize, 3 second prizes and 10 third prizes. Tu was the only Chinese that has won an award.

Tu started to learn Japanese in her sophomore year. But her Japanese was one of the best in her class. In addition, she is keen on Japanese culture in the middle ages.

The song she wrote was a love song.

"This is a kind of love that goes across the ocean, linking China and Japan, grand and momentous. It presents a dynamism in visual effect", commended the organizer.

As a senior student, Tu says she wants to seek MA studies in Japan. She majors now in international relations. She hopes she can study the history of communication between China and Japan.