Graduates | 陈卓南：广以是挑战自我的历练场

毕业生专访

流年似水，岁月如歌。今年六月，广东以色列理工学院即将迎来首届毕业生。广以2017级本科毕业生系列采访将带大家一同聆听这四年来学生们与广以的故事，共同见证广以学子们的成长。今天分享的是化学工程专业毕业生陈卓南的故事。

姓名：陈卓南

毕业高中：汕头一中

本科专业：化学工程

从不敢提问到成为专业代表帮助同学们向老师反馈意见，从害怕课程演讲到斩获GPA90+的优异成绩······陈卓南，一个乐观爱笑的女孩，她身上仿佛有一股韧劲，促使她不断挑战自我，攻破成长路上一个个的难关。

幸福感满满的求学之路

高中的时候，陈卓南的母亲向她介绍过以色列理工学院这所享誉全球的理工科院校。从那时候起，这座知识圣殿便让她心生憧憬。“当我得知它的中国校区就在‘家门口’时，更是惊喜望外。广以作为一所全英文教学的纯理工科院校，可以让我在学习工科的同时提高英语水平。不仅如此，广以还有很多‘大牛教授’，他们有着丰富的教学和科研经验。我毫不犹豫地选择成为‘广以一期学生’，很期待陪同广以一起成长。”

来广以之前，陈卓南认为化工专业就像高中化学一样，离不开化学方程式和计算应用题。经过四年的学习，她发现广以的化工专业比自己想象中的要有意思得多。“化工主要是研究工业生产中的化学过程和物理过程，比较重视实际的应用，会使用很多表格和通过经验归纳的公式，将实验室的成果转化到工业生产中。”

实用性和趣味性并存的专业课程让陈卓南收获颇丰，遇到循循善诱的老师更是让她的求学之路幸福感满满。“学校的教授和助教们都很好，他们喜欢看到我们提问题，看到有学生提问会很开心，会非常耐心地讲到你明白为止。他们还会和学生分享生活中的趣事，我们相处起来很自在，就像朋友一样。”

大二的时候，陈卓南觉得担任专业代表既可以与很多教授交流，增强沟通能力和提升口语水平，又可以帮助同学们提意见，增进和同学们的感情，是一件非常好的事情，所以参加竞选了2017级的化工专业代表。这三年来，陈卓南每个学期都要和院长开会，经常需要收集同学们的意见，向老师反馈课堂建议。“最开始我还是很紧张的，担心自己的英语不好和老师有沟通障碍，也担心老师会觉得我们挑战了他的权威。后来，我发现我的担心完全是多余的。老师们非常乐意倾听我们的意见，也愿意尽他们最大的努力帮助我们更好地学习。”

广以学霸是怎样炼成的

连续三年获得院长奖学金，大学四年保持GPA90+的优异成绩······陈卓南一路“打怪升级”，在日复一日的锻炼下克服不敢提问、害怕当众演讲的难关，蜕变成一名妥妥的“学霸”。

“我一开始担心自己的英语不好，提的问题教授听不懂，也害怕自己提的问题会被其他同学觉得很愚蠢，所以每次提问前都需要做一番心理建设。但慢慢地，我发现在广以上课本来就是‘充满问题’的课堂氛围，不提问反而奇怪。所以经过四年的锻炼，我现在觉得提出问题已经变成一件非常平常的事了。”

刚来广以的时候，当众演讲也是陈卓南的“一道坎”。“预备学期期间，我好几次脱稿演讲都磕磕巴巴，一看到同学们就紧张得说不出话来，甚至当场忘词。这四年来，我在学校有很多演讲的机会。经过‘千锤百炼’，现在的我对演讲小有心得，知道要调整音量、注意手势和站姿，敢大胆地与观众们眼神互动。”

临近期末的时候，接踵而来的学业任务对陈卓南来说是一个不小的挑战，但这个乐观阳光的女生总能有办法调节好自己的心态。“作业、演讲、课程项目和考试都是扎堆来的，所以需要对事情的优先级排序，提前安排好时间。我也会给自己打气，告诉自己不用担心，事情总会一件一件解决的。”

听课坐前排、有选择性地做笔记——陈卓南将自己的“学习秘籍”提炼为这关键的两点。“上课一定要跟着教授的思路走，如果注意力不集中的话，老师讲的内容很容易变成一个个没有意义的英语词汇，左耳进右耳出。所以，坐在前排和老师多一些课堂互动，可以确保自己不会走神。”在陈卓南看来，做笔记也是有策略的。“老师多次强调的知识点要标记出来， 日后复习的时候会方便很多。课后我会在头脑中大概归纳一下上课的内容，做一个比较粗糙的知识网络。到了在期末复习的时候，我会正式做每节课的总结和各个知识点的比较，并罗列出易错点，在开考前一个小时内看多几遍。”

陈卓南建议想读研的学弟学妹们在大二就开始做好规划，根据未来的方向安排自己的课余和假期生活。“大二可以实习、学习GRE，大三上学期考雅思、进实验室学习，大三下学期初就要开始准备申请学校了。”

做科研和志愿者，皆乐在其中

大三的时候，陈卓南加入了Moris Eisen 教授的实验室，参与由聚砜合成新的纳米膜的项目。“在这个过程中，我发现化学实验的不确定因素太多了，比如一种物质的合成方法有很多种，往往需要表征后才可以比较它们的效果；如果表征结果不好，还要再找其他文献看看有没有办法解决。”

在一次又一次的尝试中，陈卓南积攒着耐心和不断试错的勇气，慢慢地领悟到探索未知、和不确定性“斗智斗勇”的乐趣。因乐在其中便不觉光阴似箭，转眼间，陈卓南已在Moris Eisen 教授的实验室学习了两年。毕业后她将赴以色列理工学院继续攻读化学专业研究生学位，在不设限的求知路上挑战更多可能。

“我的大学是在快乐中不断成长的。”在忙碌的学业生活之余，陈卓南积极参与到各种课外活动中，还曾获得学校课外活动奖学金。“学校的活动很丰富，大一大二的时候我经常作为志愿者参与其中，比如破冰活动、中秋晚会，还担任了2018级学弟学妹的朋辈导生。这些活动锻炼了我的组织统筹和待人接物的能力，锻炼了我的胆量，还让我认识了很多朋友。”

回想起自己在亚洲科学夏令营担任志愿者的经历，陈卓南依旧回味无穷。“我与很多年纪相仿的来宾们建立了虽然短暂但真诚的友谊，感受到了多元文化的魅力，开阔了眼界。在中国传统文化的展览中，我负责为一位传承了瓶内画技术的师傅做翻译，向外国友人介绍我们潮汕的传统瓶内画。师傅精湛的技艺和精美的图案另外国友人赞不绝口，瓶内画工艺品很快就一售而空。师傅非常高兴，把最后一个瓶内画鼻烟壶送给我。我自己也学了很多年工笔画，所以非常有纪念意义。”

更多广以毕业生的故事

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Graduates | 黄欣怡：在广以成为更好的自己

Graduates | 岑致诺：逐梦广以，上限无限

Graduates | 唐绍凯：青春无限好，奋发正当时

Graduates | 林慧梓：广以学霸初长成

Graduates | 陈嘉杭：结缘广以，爱我所爱

GRADUATES INTERVIEW

This June, the first cohort students will graduate from Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. The series of interviews with the graduates from Class 2021 will show their stories with GTIIT in the past four years. Here is the story about Chen Zhuonan, a student of Class 2021 from Chemical Engineering Program.

Name: Chen Zhuonan

High school:Shantou No.1 High School

Program: Chemical Engineering

From being afraid of asking questions to being a program representative to help classmates give suggestions to the teachers, from being afraid of doing presentations in public to getting an excellent GPA score over 90... Chen Zhuonan is an optimistic and sunny girl who has a strong spirit to challenge herself constantly and break through difficulties on her way of growing up.

A happy journey at GTIIT

When she was in high school, Chen Zhuonan's mother introduced a world-renowned science and technology institution - Israel Institute of Technology to her. “I was surprised when I learned that its China campus was in my hometown Shantou. I believe I can improve my English greatly under GTIIT’s English teaching environment while studying science and technology program. What attract me most are the international faculty at GTIIT, who have rich experience both in teaching and research. Without hesitation, I choose to become one of the first cohort of GTIIT students and look forward to growing up with it."

Before studying at GTIIT, Chen Zhuonan thought that Chemical Engineering Program was just like chemistry class in high school, inseparable from chemical equations and calculation problems. After studying, she found that the Chemical Engineering Program at GTIIT was much more interesting than she had imagined. "We mainly study the chemical process and physical process in industrial production. It pays more attention to practical application and use many tables and formulas concluded through experience to transform the research results in laboratory into industrial production."

The practical and interesting courses benefit Chen Zhuonan a lot, and the professional and patient teachers helped her greatly in her study. "The professors and teaching assistants at GTIIT are wonderful. They are happy to see students ask questions, and are willing to solving our problems very patiently until we totally understand. They also like to share interesting things in their lives with us. We feel comfortable getting along with them like friends."

In her sophomore year, Chen Zhuonan thought it would be a great opportunity to serve as a program representative. It can help enhance her communication skills and English ability when talking with different professors, and also help classmates give suggestions to teachers at the same time. After being the program representative, Chen Zhuonan had a meeting with the dean every semester and often needed to collect classmates' opinions. "At first I was nervous, worried that my English was not good enough to communicate with the teachers, and they would think that we challenged their authority. Later, I found that my fears were completely unnecessary. Our teachers are very willing to listen to us and do their best to help us learn better."

How to become an excellent student?

Chen Zhuonan won the Dean's Scholarship for threeconsecutive years and maintained the excellent GPA score of over 90 for four years in the university. However, she had difficulties in asking questions in class and speaking in public at the very beginning.

"At first, I was worried that my English was not good enough and my professor would not understand my questions. I also feared that my questions would be thought stupid by other classmates. But gradually, I found that ‘asking questions in class’ is exactly the GTIIT style. So after four years’ training, I now think it is very common to ask questions."

Four years ago, Chen Zhuonan also found it hard speaking in public. "In the preparatory semester, I was so nervous that I couldn't do the presentation and even forgot my words when I saw my classmates. While in the four years at GTIIT, I had many opportunities to do presentations in public. Now I’ve already know how to adjust my voice and gesture, and how to make eye contact with the audience."

There are always a lot of homework and exams at the end of every semester, but Chen Zhuonan always has a way to adjust herself. "Assignments, presentations, projects and exams all come together, so I need to make a plan in advance. I also encourage myself not to worry and things will work out finally."

Sitting in the front row and taking notes selectively -- these are the two key points of Chen Zhuonan’s study method. "Listen to the teacher carefully, otherwise what the teacher says can easily turn into meaningless English words. So sitting in the front row and interacting with the teacher in class can help you concentrate in class." Chen Zhuonan also added that it was important to take notes selectively. "The points that teachers have emphasized many times should be marked out so that it will be much more convenient to review. After class, I will summarize the content of the class in my mind and make a rough knowledge network. When it comes to the review at the end of the semester, I will make a formal summary of each lesson, compare each knowledge point, list the error-prone points, and read them several times within an hour before the exam."

Chen Zhuonan advises junior students to start making plans in their sophomore year and arrange their extracurricular life and holidays according to their future direction. "In sophomore year, you can do internship and study GRE. In junior year, you can take IELTS exams and participate in the research project. It is time to prepare for your application for postgraduate university at the beginning of the second semester of junior year."

Enjoy doing research and volunteering

In the junior year, Chen Zhuonanjoined Prof. Moris Eisen's lab and participatedin the project of synthesizing new nano filtration membranes from polysulfone. "In this process, I find that there are too many uncertain factors in chemical experiments. For example, there are many ways to synthesize a substance, and their effects can only be compared after characterization. If the characterization doesn't work well, we have to look for other literature to see if there is any solution."

Chen Zhuonan has been studying in Prof. Moris Eisen's lab for two years. After graduation, she will go to the Technion to pursue a master's degree in Chemistry Program, to challenge more possibilities on her way of study.

In addition to her busy study life, Chen Zhuonan also participates in various extracurricular activities and has won GTIIT’s Extracurricular Activities Scholarship. "There are many interesting activities at GTIIT. In my freshman and sophomore year, I often participated in them as a volunteer, such as ice-breaking activities and Mid-Autumn Festival party. I also served as a peer mentor for Cohort 2018 juniors. These activities developed my interpersonal skills, organization and planning capabilities, and let me meet a lot of friends."

Chen Zhuonan still recalls her experience as a volunteer at the Asian Science Camp. "I formed sincere friendships with many of the guests of the same age, and experienced the charm of multiculture and broadened my horizon from this activity. In the exhibition of Chinese traditional culture, I was responsible for translating for a master who inherited the bottle painting technique, and introducing our traditional bottle painting of Chaoshan to guests from other countries and areas. The master's exquisite skills and beautiful patterns were praised by the guests, and the bottle painting handicrafts were soon sold out. The master was very happy and gave me the last snuff bottle with a picture inside. I have learned claborate-style painting for many years, soit is very memorable."

More stories about GTIIT graduates

Graduates | 林煜：研究型学习的践行者

Graduates | 杨逸凡：“全能少年”修炼记

Graduates | 黄欣怡：在广以成为更好的自己

Graduates | 岑致诺：逐梦广以，上限无限

Graduates | 唐绍凯：青春无限好，奋发正当时

Graduates | 林慧梓：广以学霸初长成

Graduates | 陈嘉杭：结缘广以，爱我所爱

文/图：GTIIT传媒与公共事务部

Text/Photos: GTIIT News & Public Affairs