Recently, seven students from Renmin University of China came up with a report on quake reconstruction, after doing research on similar reconstruction cases in many other countries. The report was adopted by the State Council and then sent to the Sichuan provincial government.

China Daily carries an article saying that the seven students have set a good example for university students to engage themselves in social practice, which has long been taken as an effective measure for them to prepare for the society.

While some students choose to gain practical experience through part-time jobs, the paper points out that conducting academic research on social problems is also a good way to gain a comprehensive understanding of the society.

The paper goes on to stress that university students should foster a sense of social responsibility, no matter how they choose to integrate into the society. When the most disastrous earthquake in three decades struck, many university students choose to volunteer in quake zones, caring for quake injuries or helping with the post-quake rehabilitation.

By involving themselves in such painful realities, university students developed a more solemn attitude towards life, and could also cultivate a stronger sense to care for people around them.

With students born in the 1980s often regarded as self-conceited, the paper says that the Sichuan earthquake has accelerated their psychological growth.