Try to grow an independent personality as early as possible since nobody is going to hold your hand throughout your life. Overcome emotions and learn to balance between rationality and perception.
Stop overthinking and gain practical experience from different projects. Don’t wait for a degree or a job to describe a path for you. Instead, be ready to tailor yourself to a specific discipline.
STEM is a rapidly evolving field, and you should get prepared to commit yourself to lifelong learning. It’s vital to keep a good attitude.
Be confident in communication and try to create a network of peers and mentors in your field. Try to join professional STEM organizations, attend various STEM workshops, network with others, and expose yourself to new research opportunities.
I was born in an engineering family. When I was little, my father often took me to the science museum, where I was deeply attracted to the mysteries of science. In my teens, my physics teacher completely changed the way I looked at and thought about the world. My curiosity has always motivated my passion for science.
As a graduate student, I have been working on computational microscopy and translational biomedical imaging techniques that can aid intraoperative diagnosis of positive surgical margins during cancer surgeries. We aim to reduce patients’ suffering from second surgeries and improve the current standard of care in surgical pathology.
The biggest challenge I have faced in my career has been a lack of self-confidence. In my first 20 years, I was taught to behave like a perfect girl who has to obtain greater achievements than her peers. However, this changed at the beginning of my graduate studies. I couldn’t get an ‘A’ grade in my coursework, and I often failed in experiments those days. As a consequence, I got stuck in self-accusation and self-doubt for a long time, which significantly affected my mood and motivation.
After seeking help from my supervisor and senior labmates, I accepted that uncertainty and failure are normal states in research life, even for experienced researchers. Since then, I have re-recognized myself and accepted my imperfectness. I’ve established goals and plans, learned from others, and gained experiences from each failure.
Yan Zhang
Graduate Student, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department
Born in China / Resides in Hong Kong
Educational Background: MS from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, PhD from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
