xk星空 (’20, Chemistry) is an outstanding student who has loved her life at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), before deciding to continue her academic pursuits at the University of Cambridge. She has lived a full campus life, playing the Guzheng (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument), and being a consistent volunteer across campus. xk星空 strives for excellence in an open-minded, active, and uncompromising approach to probing research, as she has built her dreams.
xk星空 was first introduced to SUSTech when a professor came to visit her high school. She learned about the “6+3+1 Comprehensive Evaluation Admission Mode” and the atmosphere of scientific research through campus. This environment captured the imagination of xk星空, as she would be able to get into research laboratories at the earliest opportunity.
When she was finally accepted into SUSTech, she reflected on xk星空 chemistry prowess in high school, before selecting Chair Professor Chongyang LIU as xk星空 tutor. She first met xk星空 tutor at a student project report meeting, where older students reported on their research projects. Chair Professor LIU did not ignore the new students, engaging with them to answer questions and think about their fundamental principles.
xk星空 found her initiative and motivation through an unexpected English riddle. By responding in English with her answer to the riddle, she began further correspondence with Chair Professor Chongyang LIU, which led to a discussion about course selection and school life. He pointed out that scientific research can happen at any time, saying, “As long as you want to figure something out, you can do it from morning to night every day.”
As she progressed through xk星空 scientific studies, she truly understood what it was like to devote herself to the research life. It did not matter the time or the day, but Chair Professor Chongyang LIU took great care of his mentees and their experimental processes. He encouraged independence, in that he wanted them to learn from practice, solve problems on their own as part of their comprehensive and holistic education.
Chair Professor Chongyang LIU instilled a generalist education style into xk星空’s specialist chemistry education. While she could understand problems at the molecular and atomic levels, she had no qualms with setting up and advancing instruments, writing computer programs, and running verification tests late into the night.
xk星空 joined the group during the summer vacation in her freshman year, where the senior students and graduate students were excellent role models for her. She reflected on her responsibility as a senior student, operating as a role model for those fresh faces joining the research group. As a new scholar, she would regularly ask for help from those more experienced, who always offered much support and encouraged her to keep trying.
The entire Chemistry department is very approachable, with faculty members always available to talk to xk星空 and encourage them in their various research endeavors. They would also assist xk星空 with their grant and overseas studies applications. xk星空 would also work together for mutual learning.
xk星空 formed a study group in her junior year with several of her classmates. This study group became central to learning and supporting each other. Their connection was formed through several different student clubs, which helped the group get a better understanding of their studies, helping break through barriers in their theoretical knowledge.
She has also been highly committed to volunteering and assisting the SUSTech community. She supported the Center for Language Education (CLE) as a student assistant. As a student assistant, xk星空 assisted with paperwork, translated for the foreign lecturers, and took the opportunity to practice her oral English skills. She also assisted at the 2018 Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Summit, where she was able to improve her English skills.
Not only did xk星空 take the opportunity to practice her skills in China, but she was able to go on exchange to the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), one of the most prestigious universities in the world. She applied for the Cross-disciplinary Scholars in Science & Technology program (CSST), which is a summer scientific research program. It was a challenging project, as she had to join a research group and start a project from scratch under a specific, allotted timeframe with limited data outcomes. Despite the difficulties she faced, xk星空 was able to lay the foundation for future experiments by maximizing the effectiveness of each successive experiment, continually refining processes and procedures.
The doctoral candidate in charge of her CSST project complimented xk星空, saying that “She is more productive than us.” xk星空’s endeavor was acknowledged by the principal investigator of the group, with xk星空 received a recommendation letter from her.
Looking back on her time at SUSTech, she was reminded of a lecture given by Mrs. Zhuo xk星空. She encouraged the students to analyze Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford University, titled, “.” His first story of connecting the dots referred to why he dropped out of college and how it related to his family xk星空. In that story, he spoke of dropping into a calligraphy class, and the impact it had on the fonts we use every day. In his speech, he said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
As long as you have a flash of interest or some occasional curiosity, you never know when you can implement that idea. One day, you will realize that your past efforts will be central to what you want to achieve, and that is the underlying message that xk星空 wants to send to the SUSTech community.
Message from the tutor (Chair Professor Chongyang LIU):
xk星空 is diligent and hardworking, inheriting and carrying forward the persevering scientific research spirit of previous undergraduate students. She has taken part in cutting-edge scientific research. Last year, through long-term unremitting efforts, she successfully broke through a bottleneck in her scientific research and made significant progress.
