Living Library: 27th

Where is the road?

Alumni, Master of Robotics, New York University, Working at Aurora Innovation company, USA   Dream Catcher of autonomous driving

Meet with autonomous driving

The first time I heard about autonomous driving in my EAP class, I was shocked and attracted by this magic technology. I have repeatedly discussed with professors, eagerly looking through the books and websites that introduce autonomous driving. I am excited for every technological breakthrough and regret every failure. There are pains and struggles, breakthroughs and gains in the exploration of this path. Autonomous driving is my dream, starting in XJTLU and continuing till now.

Silicon Valley

After graduating from New York University, I faced another choice: Stay in New York or go to Silicon Valley?  There were familiar streets and chatty friends in New York, the most famous metropolis in the world. But I deeply knew in my heart that Silicon Valley was a real paradise for engineering students and a base camp for autonomous driving. I resolutely embarked on the flight to San Francisco and continued my journey of self-driving dreams after graduation. Do what you want to do most and resolve the most important contradictions.

XJTLU to me

I am always thinking, what has XJTLU brought me? There is an independent thinking of "I think, therefore I am"; there is a critical spirit of "I love truth more"; there is optimism and self-confidence of "go up high in the sky to take the moon". If you want to know how I met with autonomous driving, what was my experience studying in the US, and how I got through the darkest moments at work? You are welcome to review the choices I have made with me. where is the road? It's under our feet.

From Ziyu Wang:

XJTLU gave me a vast expanse of space to travel around, and I wish I could have explored more boldly at that time. I believe that XJTLU has become more mature now, and I hope that you will find yourselves, understand yourselves, and create yourselves in XJTLU.

Competing with others is no better than competing with yourself

Year 4  English and Communication Studies

Cambridge offer holder/No. 1 in English and Communication Studies/National Scholarship winner/a PhD to-be/Fall out Boy fan/RM fan

Fangyuan Liu (Shirley) is a Final Year student in English and Communication Studies. She was the number one student of her programme in both 2017/18 and 2018/19 academic year, during which she was awarded University academic excellence award. In the summer of 2018, she became one of the research fellows in the SURF project supervised by Dr Tabe Bergman. She presented the project with her team member at the Third Annual Jiangnan Conference on China Studies. She has received postgraduate offers from Cambridge, UvA, LSE, HKU, and UW-Madison.

Until now, the only information you can remember might be: a Cambridge offer holder, National Scholarship winner, No. 1, a good student and nerdy… All kinds of labels have been attached to her. But who is she exactly?

She chose HSS to get rid of someone else’s plan; she studies English because of the sexy English sounds; she made up her mind to research journalism to get close to her role model; she had tried her best to study to buy a pair of fancy sandals; she watches Running Man and listens to Fall Out Boy; she researches into Edward Snowden because he’s good-looking; she hates to be compared with others…

She used to care too much about what other people thought. She has thought of giving up, and has come through depression. She has kept doubting her capabilities. But she also believes that another name for ‘pressure’ is ‘motivation’. She hopes to make the choice that no regrets would come along. She wishes to try her best to do just one thing, and to be a better self. Welcome to the story of a real Fangyuan.

Step Out of My Comfort Zone

Alumni / Master of Science, Harvard University / to be working at the Broad institute as associate computational biologist, Cancer Genome Analysis Group  

From molecular to computational biology 

Being a biological science major, I should have spent more time in wet lab, however soon I realized that this was not what I wanted. I gradually picked up programming and some math and was lucky enough to join Meng lab to improve my skill. The world of biological science is far more fascinating than I could ever imagine – many scientific problems these days need to be addressed by high-throughput experiments. The ability to process, understand and retrieve valuable insights out of them has become vital. 

Working with genius  

I chose not to apply directly to PhD program in my second year of the program, which was not quite supported by my families and teachers. I liked my research in the lab I did my thesis very much, so I chose to work there full-time for two more years. Life is never a 100-meter race, I just follow my heart and choose a challenging place to polish my skill, near the most brilliant minds in the field. 

From Qing Zhang: 

I have learned to be brave and think independently. XJTLU gave us freedom to explore new realm, to meet new friends, to find your interest. Thanks to XJTLU! 

Making decisions freely.

Year 4  Applied Mathematics

China National Scholarship Winner/ Top Student in Applied Mathematics/Meritorious Winner in MCM

To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.

Jiaao Wang is currently studying applied mathematics in XJTLU. She participated COMAP's Mathematical Contest in Modeling in 2018 and 2019 and won Meritorious Awards twice. She participated in the SURF project directed by Dr. Min Wen in the summer in year two. Jiaao Wang also attended the commutative algebra seminar organized by Dr. Xu Jinsong in year three. She has attended many lectures organized by student associations in XJTLU, such as Mathematical Club and Student Union, to share her experiences to other students. After graduation, she will go to the Imperial College London to continue her study in applied mathematics.

Through the life in university, we have to face various choices. Spending time on socializing or learning? What major should we choose? What certificate do we have to take? When should we start preparing language exams? Which postgraduate program should we apply for? There is never a standard answer to these questions, and every choice is about our future. Too many students in XJTLU are troubled by making decisions. Too many students’ choices are being interfered by their parents and influenced by different voices in society. In fact, for everyone, there is no so-called correct choice but the most suitable choice.

Jiaao Wang hopes that by introducing her own experience of making choices in the past, she can help you guys who are facing the choices in life. Because choice itself is as important as making effort. Only by walking on the path that suits you can you step forward to your best future.