MY Camper Yi Lin Zheng: Combining economics and science to make a difference
In the very first MY Camper 2011 profile, Yi Lin Zheng from New Zealand tells us about her expectations for MY Camp, and her project plan that combines economics with science. That might be something she would like to do in the future as well.
Yi Lin Zheng lives in Auckland in New Zealand, the land of the long white clouds, as the indigenous people Maoris put it. New Zealand is also known for its sheep and kiwis (“and that is referring to the bird kiwi, not the fruit, which we call ‘kiwifruit’ and everyone else just shortened it to kiwi.”), and the recent earthquake in Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand.
Yi Lin is in Year 11 at private Diocesan School for Girls, and she will turn 16 later this year.
“My birthday on the Julian calendar is the 9th of October, why I say this is because my birthday on the Lunar Calendar [Chinese version] only occurs every 57 years and so its rather unique and that means I’m not yet 1!” she says.
Yi Lin describes her relationship with science as ‘engaged’. She says she really enjoys Darwin’s theories of evolution, biology, and especially genetics. She also likes physics a lot. “I would say it is hard to understand the concepts but once you understand it, the math is actually easy.”
Yi Lin heard about MY Camp from her science teacher, and thought it would be an interesting and unique possibility as most of the camps that Yi Lin gets invites to are in the US. “I wasn’t really expecting to get past and be selected for the camp so swiftly,” Yi Lin says.
She expects Finland to be very technological, and also very cold. From the camp she expects to take home a lot of new experiences and widen her view on many aspects. “I would also like to meet new people from all over the world. That I am definitely looking forward to.”
Yi Lin is in the Renewable Energy and Resources group and did her project plan on economical feasibility of biofuels. For her first project plan, she decided to go by the topic that interested her most and that she had the most access of resources to.
“Science is made to benefit human needs but if the needs of the world are not properly identified, the outcome will not really be useful and cannot benefit people, so that’s basically what motivated me to take the project towards an economical turn,” Yi Lin says.
In addition to science, Yi Lin likes economics and is involved in many business development programmes. “This year I got together with some friends to make our own company and make our own product to sell.”
Combining science and economy might be something Yi Lin would like to do in the future as well. After contemplating about becoming an artist, a cosmetic surgeon, an architect, an engineer, a medical chemist, an economist and so on, she now thinks that it may be that the field she wants to professionalize in does not exist yet.
As for the studies, she is thinking of studying abroad, in the US or Germany, or even in Finland, after she finds out about the possibilities in the Finnish universities.
In her spare time Yi Lin likes to read classics. “I think classics are more philosophical and have more depth into their plots and emotions and you can feel the author spent a great deal of effort choosing the diction and things,” she says. Her other hobbies include swimming, running, tennis and doing arts and crafts and taking photographs.
“I have most of my artwork and photographs posted on Facebook so if anyone wants to see, feel free to add me as a friend,” she says.
Have a look at Yi Lin’s project plan (pdf).
Visit also Millennium Youth Camp’s website.
Elisa Lautala works as web editor for University of Helsinki's Faculty of Science. Elisa likes all kinds of cultural events, good books, warm weather, and aqua-jogging.