Living Library: 26th

DRIFTWOOD

Head of Moving Image at the School of Film and TV Arts 

Film-maker for more than 30 years / 11-year work experience with the BBC / Founder of Jayamac Productions

By my bedside lies a piece of driftwood I once found somewhere as I walked along a beach.  On it rests my wedding ring.  For me, that is almost a perfect symbol of my life.  I have always thought of myself as driftwood – a romantic notion of drifting along, stopping somewhere because something catches my eye.  Then exploring, resting, drifting till suddenly, one day, I cut myself adrift and move somewhere else.  It is as if it were planned but it also happens quite by chance – was it always thus meant to be?

Gliding along in this carefree fashion is definitely attractive; but it also makes for a very unsettling life.  I often think that the reason why this has never troubled me very much is because my stability comes from my marriage to Donald, as symbolised by the ring at my bedside and the real human being beside me.

Nowadays, when my heart is restless, I just drag him along…. But I am constantly amazed by how lucky I have been. And long may that luck continue!

Watch Dunhuang

Dunhuang watchman

In the summer of 2019, she was selected for the global volunteer dispatch program “Dunhuang culture watchmen”, thus becoming one of the ten watchmen. Ten watchmen, forty days, over 7.500 tourists to visit more than 250 vivid caves, murals, paintings for a total service of 20.000 minutes and 2000 kilometers of walking. What are the most memorable things that she discovered in forty days of watch tour? Did she meet any interesting souls? Once you become a Dunhuang watchmen, it is for life, and you could hear many different stories about Dunhuang. Being able to bring the ancient Dunhuang culture back to our times is a profoundly touching experience. Meet Duhuang, meet yourself, and meet you!

Keep infinite love

Year 4  Industrial Design

One of the Mingo founders / Former marketing director of a youth organization support team / Love expression & illustration

Unable to tolerate monotony and boredom, finds interesting things and people irresistible.

A very emotional person, new media lover, always passionate about words, she believes in the power of expression. She with her actions she hopes to inspire more people to express their kindness. Because of her passion in design, she established the brand Mingo with my friends, hoping to make some warm designs to bring a sense of belonging to XJTLUers.

Fate, too wonderful to explain

Year2 Applied Mathematics 

Captain of XJTLU & UoL RoboMaster Team/Vice president of XJTLU G-Master Robotic Club/Student lecturer of optional course “Build your Multi-Rotor drone”/Fellow of Summer Undergraduate Research

He has been passionate about robots, model planes, Wargame, and tennis since childhood. The free and open environment of XJTLU gives him a lot of space for growth and opportunities. In his spare time, he joined several clubs and organizations, actively participated in volunteer activities inside and outside the school while being been busy with robotic developing projects and summer undergraduate research projects. He is now a student lecturer of a “Build your Multi-Rotor drone" lesson; and serving as the captain of XJTLU & UoL RoboMaster Team, he will be preparing for the RoboMaster2020 Competition with the "enthusiasts".

Want to know how he will face the challenges of the future? Want to know how he achieved the balance of school, club, and life? Come and chat with him!

Keep forcing yourself to move on

Year 4 Economics  

Exchange student in the Netherlands during 2018-2019/ Member of the best award surf project team

He is a common member of many seniors, silently doing what he should and wants to do. A year of exchange experience in the Netherlands may be the most magnificent time in his college life. That year, holding the idea of going to see the current situation in Europe, he was alone in a journey to Europe. In a short period of time, he truly experienced the history and reality of Europe...

Use your feet to measure, use your brain to think, and use your heart to experience it; embrace the world and let yourself stand on a bigger stage.

Unstoppable Self-Explorer

Year4 Industrial Design  

Academic Excellence Award / Tencent Product Intern / Former Brand Marketing Director of Enactus/ Self-Explorer

She got the academic excellence award in Y3 and entered Tencent as a summer intern of product direction in the same year. She did the job of operating League of Legends’ online campaign in Tencent. Since entering the university, she has been exploring different directions from school organization to off-campus internships. She has done five internships within three different fields, including marketing, design, product management, etc.

If you want to know more about her experience and how did she find my direction, or the students who are interested in similar directions she have been to, please come and listen to her story.

When young, dare to try

Year 2   Actuarial Science

Technology and Innovation Association Minister of External Relations/Tencent Investment Incubation Center Intern/Kangaroo Red Scarf Hong Kong Investment Banking Leader

From being an intern in Hong Kong to becoming a leader, a change of position is not only the change in your title, but also the change of abilities and responsibilities to carry. Regarding internships, I went from jobs without a contract all the way to collecting more than 10 offers, I believe you will be interested in what I can tell you. There are thousands of paths you can go and choices you can make in the university. You may wish to communicate with one another and express your thoughts.

Why does it have to be photography?

Year 2 BA Filmmaking   

Indie-photographer / Co-founder of HANSHE

Stubbornly devoting himself to self-exploration, constantly under the attack of romance, he is obsessively searching for the balance between softness and harshness in the real world, attempting to break some stereotypes and redefine the rules, and giving his own devoted response to what goes beyond the reach of human language through pictures. Equipment and technique apart, what is photography actually about? Why is it nothing but photography? Ringo will start from his portfolio Light of XJTLU to expresses his perspective of contemporary photography.

Find yourself and keep going

Year 3 BA in Economics  

From Xinjiang/ Rap Fan/ Internship Offers Collector/ Amateur Keyboard Player

Gentle, determined and hardworking are the

words to describe her. She likes to spend time 

with her friends but also with herself. She 

suffered from depression, but now she’s 

willing to start over. After the difficulties 

she experienced, she set up her own ways of 

thinking. 

People always make choices in life. We are 

constantly thinking about the meaning behind 

everything. For instance, the meaning of an 

internship, the meaning of going abroad and 

so on. We think about it in order to find the 

driving force behind our choices. Anyway, 

please try harder and go further. I hope that 

you can have the choice to choose the life

 you want.

Follow your heart to find yourself

Year 3 Communication Studies   

University Academic Achievement Award Winner/Traveler/Ukulele Lover

She’s not willing to get to know the world only through social media. In this case, she went to orphanages in Romania by herself in the summer of 2018. She did an internship in a small city in Greece by herself in the summer of 2019. She has lived in foreign countries by herself, experienced the collision of cultural differences, learned new languages, and rebuilt social networks from scratch... Two summers, two experiences that made her grow fast and gave her the chance not only to know the world, but also to understand herself. Most importantly, she learned to connect with the world without prejudices.