On the evening of December 16, an academic afternoon tea themed “Cultural Sharing and Communication” was held in the coffee and tea area of Block A, Third Comprehensive Building. Chinese Americans Lydia and Michael were invited to share their experiences with students. Professor You Liangzhi, Director of the Macro Agricultural Research Institute (MARI), along with Associate Professors Hao Jinghui and Zhang Zeyu, participated in the event.
Guest Lydia, who majored in Computer Science and minored in Journalism at Princeton University, is currently applying for graduate school. Guest Michael, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Computer Science, interned at Apple and is now employed at Facebook. The academic afternoon tea focused on sharing, exchanging, and discussing three main topics: study, work, and life.
When it came to choices, Lydia, who scored a perfect mark on the ACT exam, opted for Princeton University over Harvard, believing it was a better fit for her development. “Life is all about continuous challenges, and for me, interest is paramount,” Lydia said. During her time at Princeton, she discovered a stronger passion for writing than for computers. “ChatGPT can write code, sometimes better than I can,” she joked, adding that she aspires to be a journalist rather than a programmer in the future. Similarly, Michael emphasized the importance of following one’s interests. Despite his role in hardware development at Apple, he chose to switch to Facebook, where his current boss and projects aligned more closely with his interests.
In his closing remarks, Professor You Liangzhi highlighted that with the rapid advancement of the information age, the interdisciplinary integration of various fields will become increasingly common, and international communication will be more crucial than ever. This aligns with the founding vision of MARI, which aims to be rooted in China while maintaining an international perspective. MARI encourages everyone to embrace the times, enhance international exchanges, and take bold steps toward a brighter future.
