We address postpandemic student stress by exploring the integration of mediated-reflexivity assignments to foster positive communication and enhance well-being. The three-part assignment—student reflection, instructor feedback, and final student response—builds on critical reflexivity and positive communication principles. Findings suggest that this assignment improves student engagement, retention, and critical thinking. Students reported a deeper understanding of course concepts and improved real-life application. Instructors benefit from connecting personally with students, adjusting lesson plans based on reflections, and fostering an inclusive, supportive classroom environment. The technique offers a scalable, flexible approach to enhance student learning and well-being.

Telework—the performance of paid labor activities at sites other than conventional workplaces and through the use of communication technologies—has not been considered a legitimate work form in China. Analyzing in-depth interviews thematically, the authors found that teleworkers from the post-80s generation not only legitimized their work form pragmatically and morally but also elevated it as a better choice for more achievement, flexibility, autonomy, efficiency, and professional development. Although they evaluated their choice positively, these teleworkers also acknowledged the unique challenges in cultivating guanxi (building relationships) and careers in China when working remotely. The authors suggest that telework in China offers a contested site for studying the dialectic tensions between traditional Chinese values and Western business discourses.