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XUE Xiaoying 薛笑影Physics
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Xiaoying submitted the most meticulously written and formatted application in her batch and her interview was even more impressive. She is well very-spoken and exudes the type of mature optimism that is won out of having learned from and let go of difficult life experiences. She is the youngest of three children, raised by a single-mother. Her older brother dropped out of school to work and support the family. Her older sister fell ill as a child and has disabilities that don't allow her to work and live independently. Xiaoying’s mom came from a family of farmers and had good grades but not the resources to go to university, so frequently says that Xiaoying is going to university for the both of them. Xiaoying discovered her love for physics in high school. She likes quantum physics the best, as it examines the mysteries of interference and diffraction of electrons. She is still unsure about her career goals, but would like to find an internship at a foreign company to explore possibilities. She says of the Scholarship Program: “On the one hand, the mentors give us advice in many aspects, which broaden our horizons; on the other hand, we use English to communicate with each other, which improves my English skills.”
Her mom has instilled the spirit of giving back so she is involved in a lot of volunteer activities. Even though they didn't have much themselves, her mother would always try to help beggars who came by. Xiaoying is on the Yanxing Exec Committee member representing her university. In addition, she reports: “I am the head of Yanxing China Summer Vacation Talk, which has 17 groups, and every group has 8 members at least. I have exercised my leadership skills and learned it provides me a chance to get along with the older students who have very different experience and have done something successful in their life, so I can learn some experiences which other fellows can't get.” Her hobbies include hiking, reading novels that have nothing to do with her major and jogging -- in fact, she was the fastest female runner in the 800 m sprint at her school. |
