Written by Hsu Tsu-Yueh. Image credit to NCKU News Center.

National Cheng Kung University’s 16th Freshman Camp, “Rise to Prime, Shape the Unknown” opened at the Chung-Cheng Hall on the morning of September 2. With the new academic year set to begin on September 7, around 3350 freshmen are joining the NCKU community this year. To welcome the new students, a student team of 330 senior students organized the 16th NCKU Freshman Camp. Integrating Tainan’s unique “Turning 16” coming-of-age tradition, the team has prepared a series of lively activities to welcome freshmen while encouraging them to think more deeply about what it means to grow up.
 

NCKU 16th Freshman Camp, “Rise to Prime, Shape the Unknown” opened at the Chung-Cheng Hall on the morning of September 2

The NCKU Freshman Camp will take place over three days, from September 2 to 4. In addition to traditional activities such as campus challenges, senior student talks, and corporate forums, this year’s camp features a variety of interactive activities, including a co-create exhibition, a mobile-based reality puzzle game, a stage play, and character interactions. Through these activities, participants are invited to explore different sides of themselves from various perspectives, including daily life, emotions, imagination, choices, and the unknown, and also to rethink what it means to grow up. Tainan has recently experienced unusual consecutive rainy days. Despite the rain, many freshmen attended the opening ceremony on September 2, filling every seat in Chung-Cheng Hall. Just before the ceremony began, the sun even made a rare appearance. For this year’s freshmen, the start of their new university journey has already brought a mix of unexpected challenges and experiences. With enthusiastic senior students by their side, they are sure to make a memorable start to their university life.
 

Tainan has recently experienced unusual consecutive rainy days. Despite the rain, many freshmen attended the opening ceremony on September 2.
 

NCKU Vice President Yung-Chun Lee gave a speech at the opening ceremony.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, NCKU Vice President Yung-Chun Lee said that university is an important turning point in life as it marks the beginning of independence and maturity in which students will face more unknowns, choices, and decisions. He encouraged the freshmen to “break free” from the learning frameworks they have followed in the past. In the open and free university environment, he hoped they would make lifelong friends, explore the vast world of knowledge, as well as take part in a wide range of student clubs and activities, and to discover the diversity of learning and campus life at NCKU.

Vice President Lee also stressed the importance of interdisciplinary learning in the age of AI. At the end of his speech, he shared three passions in life described by the renowned British philosopher Bertrand Russell. The first is the longing for love. The second is the search for knowledge. The third is unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. From building relationships and pursuing knowledge to caring for others, Lee encouraged the freshmen to keep these three passions in mind throughout their university years. He hoped they would build a rich and meaningful university life while laying a strong foundation for their future.

The hand-drawn key visual of the NCKU 16th Freshman Camp (Provided by the student team)

“Becoming an adult may not have a true finish line. Instead, it is a continuous process of exploration and change.” The NCKU Freshman Camp student team explained that this year’s camp uses surrealism as its shared visual and storytelling medium. The concept draws inspiration from the everyday experiences of university students and reexamines things that are often taken for granted. Through the camp, participants are encouraged to see themselves and the world around them from different perspectives.

The key visual design for this year’s NCKU Freshman Camp was hand-drawn by Li-Kai Kuo, a student from the Department of Industrial Design. According to the student team, the key visual design and event planning team began discussing the concept in December 2025. The four members including general coordinator Tai-Wei Wang from the Cross College Elite Program, deputy coordinators Chao-Hsiang Wu from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Chia-Yi Chien from the Department of Chinese Literature, and designer Li-Kai Kuo spent nearly two months developing the concept. They drew on mythical images of thresholds, the past and future, choices, and transformation. These ideas were turned into objects, scenes, and characters in the artwork. Each element was then connected to the real experiences of university students as they face changes in identity, uncertainty, expectations, and the unknown. After many rounds of discussion and revision, the final coloring was completed at the end of the 2026 summer vacation.
 

A student team of 330 senior students organized the 16th NCKU Freshman Camp. Integrating Tainan’s unique “Turning 16” coming-of-age tradition, the team has prepared a series of lively activities to welcome freshmen while encouraging them to think more deeply about what it means to grow up.

The objects and stories in the key visual design are not limited to the promotional posters, but are also used in the mission handbook, event spaces, character interactions, and 16 projects. This allows participants to discover connections and recurring ideas across different activities. In the co-create exhibition, participants work together to create an artwork through interactive activities, where they can step into a dreamlike setting and experience moments when some things do not need an immediate response. The reality game uses the mobile platform PlayReal to turn the difficulty of expressing emotions into an immersive puzzle-solving experience. The campus challenges, market, stage play, and character interactions each explore a different aspect of growing up. Participants can make their own choices and create their own journey through the camp.

Unlike previous years, this year’s NCKU Freshman Camp is not only for freshmen. Some activities are also open to current NCKU students and members of the public. The student team believes that “growth does not happen only at 16, nor does it happen only on the day we enter university. At every stage of life, we may face choices, changes, and the unknown again. Therefore, we hope to welcome more people into the camp and see what kind of person they are becoming through different stories and experiences.” For more information, please visit the NCKU Freshman Camp website and check the “What Can I Join?” section for details.
 

Sunshine made a rare appearance before the NCKU Freshman Camp began. With the support of their senior classmates, freshmen are ready to begin their exciting university journey despite the changing weather.

To help freshmen make a smooth start to university life, the NCKU Office of the First-Year Student continues to provide timely online support. It also offers a special program for freshmen, “NCKU Login: Freshman Campus Quest,” which features a variety of practical campus missions and exciting prizes. Freshmen are welcome to explore every corner of campus, and discover their own NCKU stories.

Starting next week, a variety of activities for freshmen will also take place across the NCKU campus. These include the library’s “NCKU Library Exploration Challenge” and the Office of Student Affairs Career Consultant Division “Freshman Career Exploration Workshop.” For more information, please visit the NCKU Activity Information System. The NCKU Student Club Fair will also be held at the Kuang-Fu Campus on September 15 and 16. The fair will introduce freshmen to student clubs and provide information about campus organizations, helping them begin an exciting new chapter of university life.