Opportunity of a lifetime for rural Chinese student
When Xin Yang, a student from rural China, joined the robotics team at his school, he never expected that his life would change forever, and is now embarking on an overseas educational experience at Macquarie University
"I now have bigger goals for my life."
When Xin Yang, a student from rural China put up his hand to join a new robotics club at his school, he never imagined that it would change his life trajectory and secure him a place at Macquarie University.
But thanks to a generous donor, he was awarded a scholarship and is on his way to a degree in the faculty of Science and Engineering – an opportunity that has changed his life.
Through the Robotics program, Xin excelled and shone, learning more than just robotics, but how to think creatively and independently.
“I turned into a completely different person,” said Xin of his experience of the Robotics program. “We would arrive very early at evening self-study class on every Tuesday and Thursday. I was never late, and I found myself actively learning what we usually thought as boring science. I have changed from passive learning to active learning, and I have enjoyed and become more interested in study. When we were doing programming, we thought hard and never got tired of finding new problems and solutions. At one self-study class, our teacher had to wait for us to finish after 11 at night.”
Endowments from generous donors work towards inspiring the next generation of visionaries, enabling children to build competition-standard robots, with participating schools duelling in a robotics competition that sees the winners competing at national and international contests.
The scholarship awarded to Xin is designed to recognise a promising regional Chinese student who would not normally have access to an international educational experience due to financial barriers.
“Thanks to Macquarie University and FIRST Robotics we have the opportunity to gather here in Changle. Growing up in a rural area, I never expected that we could get the second highest score today. This competition brought me confidence and hope. I now have bigger goals for my life.”