征途漫漫，唯有奋进。在圣比斯（东莞）有这么一位“挑战者”，在高中阶段，他在突破自我的道路上追梦不止，烙印下一串串灿烂的足迹。从对动漫的兴趣，打开求知好奇的本心，再到沉浸于“剥洋葱”般魅力无限的学术探索中，找到了坚定无畏的信念，到达理想的彼端，并获得了帝国理工学院、南安普顿大学及布里斯托大学的录取信。他就是，Young，卢祖扬。

Life is about constantly rising to the challenge. At St Bees Dongguan, there is one student who has worked hard to break through in high school, leaving behind many outstanding achievements. Because of his interest in an anime of physics, he became curious about it. After working hard in high school, he gained acceptance letters from Imperial College London, the University of Southampton, and the University of Bristol. He is Young, Lu Zuyang.

帝国理工学院是一所主攻理学、工学、医学和商学的研究型大学，全称帝国科学、技术与医学学院，以工程专业而著名。帝国理工学院也被誉为英国“G5超级精英大学”，在2023年QS大学排名中世界第6，英国第3。在申学季获得如此优异的成绩，他只想说，这只是一趟推导公式般的学术成长之旅。

Imperial College London is a research university specialising in science, engineering, medicine, and business, and is renowned for its engineering programmes. Imperial College London is also known as one of the UK's "G5 Super Elite Universities" and is ranked 6th in the world and 3rd in the UK in the 2023 QS University Rankings. With such excellent results in the application season, he siad that it has been a journey of academic growth in a formulaic way.

Solid theoretical foundation and

broadened academic horizons

如果说，遇到流体力学理论对我来说是场不期而遇，那物理学的深入学习则是坚定的选择。我的高中学习初期，是从牛顿第二定律开始的。就像从基础数学、物理学起一样，我的学习也是从最基本的公式推导开始的。

If encountering the theory of fluid mechanics was a matter of chance, my studies in physics were a firm choice. My physics studies began with Newton's second law. Just as I started with basic mathematics and physics, my theoretical studies needed to begin with the derivation of the most basic formulas.

- 牛顿第二定律的广义形式 -

与别人相似的是，我在高中学习初期，对于专业学习方向并不明确。在A Level多学科的接触学习模式下，我慢慢意识到了自身的兴趣与天赋所在——物理学。对每一位国际高中学生来说，我认为尽早找到自身兴趣，发挥个人优势，提升学术、实践水平，是一件非常重要的事情。

Similar to other student, I was not clear about the direction of my major studies at the beginning of my high school. With the multi-disciplinary exposure study pattern at A Level, I slowly realised where my interests and talents lie – in the field of Physics. For every international high school student, I think it is important to find out your interests early, use your personal strengths and enhance your academic and practical skills.

比起按部就班地从A Level教科书学习，我选择找到大学阶段的教材，提前学习数学和物理的内容。借助大学知识体系的构建以及大量的课外阅读，回头学习高中知识时，便会觉得轻松很多。在这里，我建议学弟学妹们在低年级的时候尽早尝试，并找到自己的兴趣所在。在确定方向之后，便继续提升自己的知识储备，再多学一点课外知识。

I chose to study maths and physics in advance from university-level textbooks rather than following a step-by-step approach from an A level textbook. With the help of the university body of knowledge and a lot of reading outside of class, it was much easier to study high school knowledge. I would advise younger students to try early in their lower years and find out what they are interested in. Once you have decided on a direction, then continue to improve your knowledge and learn a little more outside of the classroom.

Conduct theoretical derivation and 

apply to your desired university

竞赛和科研经历，这两样东西能为文书提供丰富的履历支撑，所以许多国际学生趋之若鹜。有许多人因为看见别人都参加了同一个竞赛，害怕自己被落下，于是报上了各种培训班，参加五花八门，也许自己根本就不感兴趣的竞赛。

Competitions and research experience, both of which provide a rich resume to support the paperwork, are what many international students gravitate towards. There are many who enter similar competitions because they see that everyone else has entered the same competition, without considering whether it suits their interests.

这些活动尽管有他们自身的价值，但这些价值绝非体现在让申请履历变得与他人同质化上。我们在参加的过程中收获的知识、经验以及感悟，才是真正应该追求的。我参加的竞赛不多，但是在相关领域的学习上花的时间更多，钻研深度更深，反而为我的申请起到积极作用。在我看来，只有脚踏实地学到的知识才是真正值得骄傲的。

These events have their own value, but they are not about making the application CV homogeneous. It is the knowledge, experience, and insight that we gain from participating that we should really pursue. I did not participate in many competitions, but I spent more time and studied more deeply in the relevant fields, which in return had a positive effect on my application. In my opinion, it is only the knowledge that you learn on the ground that you can be truly proud of.

中学时期，在一部名为《新世纪福音战士》的动漫中，主角驾驶机甲高速行动中产生的物理现象让我迷上了流体力学，从而对航天航空领域的学习产生兴趣。从基础物理到流体力学的自学过程中，我接触到了伯努利定理、欧拉方程、纳维尔斯托克斯方程等流体力学基础知识，其深邃的数理思想与充满逻辑魅力的推导过程，让我决心在未来不断深耕这一领域。

During my secondary school years, the physical phenomena generated by the protagonist in an anime called Neon Genesis Evangelion，driving a mecha at high speed, got me into fluid mechanics and thus interested in studying the field of aerospace. During my self-learning process from basic physics to fluid mechanics，I was exposed to the fundamentals of fluid mechanics such as Bernoulli's theorem, Euler's equations and Navier-Stokes equations, which profound mathematical ideas and logically fascinating derivation process made me determine to work in this field.

最初，我对于流体力学的认识只限于解决一些应用问题。而现在，我已经找到自己感兴趣并且愿意继续研究下去的细分领域。正是我对于流体力学乃至于物理学学习的程度，在申请学校时，才能收到来自帝国理工学院的录取信。

Initially, my knowledge of fluid mechanics was limited to solving a few application problems. Now, I have found a niche area that I am interested in and would like to continue to study. It was the extent of my studies in fluid mechanics that enabled me to receive a letter of acceptance from Imperial College London when applying to university.

- 伯努利定理以及同种适用条件的欧拉方程 -

Maintaining interest and

exploring academic areas

人是天生的群居动物，我们都会有想要与别人交流，建立关系的渴望。在圣比斯（东莞），我很幸运地结识了许多优秀的同学。更让我惊喜的是，从小众的爱好到广受欢迎的学科，都能在这里找到相关的社团。印象最深刻的是我和几个同学一起研究制作斯特林热机模型以及研究基础热力学原理的过程。

People are naturally herd animals, and we all have a desire to interact and build relationships with others. At St Bees Dongguan, I have been fortunate to have met many friends. What surprised me even more was that there were societies for everything from niche hobbies to widely popular subjects. The most impressive part was when I worked with a few students on making a model of a Stirling heat engine and studying the principles of basic thermodynamics.

- 斯特林热机展示模型 -

与大多数人一样，我的高中生活大概算不上非常精彩，但也绝对不遗憾。我认清了自己的目标，拥有在自己的路上走下去的勇气和一群坚定支持与帮助我的老师同学。这些是我高中生活，乃至未来成长道路上的宝贵财富。

My high school life was probably not very exciting, but I don’t regret it either. I have a clear vision of what I want to achieve, the courage to continue my own path and a group of teachers and classmates who have stood by me and helped me. These are valuable assets for my high school life, and indeed for my future growth.

如果要我给申学建议的话，我希望分享一下我个人的文书结构。我认为它很好的代表了我申请阶段的学习过程，也是整个申请阶段中我最自豪的产出。

If I were to give advice on applying to school, I would like to share the personal structure of my essay. I think it represents the learning process of my application phase very well.

最后，有一句话想送给学弟学妹们：从兴趣出发，确定学习方向，一直保持谦逊的态度，不要迷失在短暂的成绩里，不断的努力和学习，才能实现最终的目标。

Finally, I have a message for the undergraduates: start with your interests, set your study direction, always stay humble, don't get lost in your transient achievements, and keep working and studying to achieve your goals.

无论是申请物理还是工程，最重要的事情都是提升自己的数理基础，而最直接的方式就是通过读书来学习。在这里我要推荐这些书目给师弟师妹：

I think the most important thing to do, whether you are applying for physics or engineering, is to improve your foundation in mathematics and science, and the most direct way is to learn by reading. I would recommend the following books:

对于普通物理中除力学外的知识，我并没有那么大的兴趣，所以在自学阶段我就只需要简单的看一下就好了。接下来要聊到的内容，基本就脱离普通物理的范畴了。

I'm not that interested in general physics beyond mechanics, so I'll just have a brief look at it during the self-study stage. What I'm going to talk about next is basically out of the realm of general physics.

Editor 编辑 | Lucas Xin

Translator 翻译 | Wave Yin

Auditor 初审 | Joanna Chen

Approver 终审 | Lee Knight