I was lucky to discover my passion early on. I like science, in particular physics, and computer technology. With passion, I know what I like, and I know what to do other than playing video games.

Passion is a powerful tool to drive me beyond my limits. Since I was in Grade 4, I read a lot of scientific books and magazines. One day, I asked my father a question regarding the super massive black hole in the center of our galaxy from one of the articles I read, and my father couldn’t answer it. He was quite surprised, and had to search the Internet to answer my question. My passion enabled me to learn far beyond what I was supposed to know at my age then.

Passion also motivates me to share and contribute. Take a very recent example, in which I started to have a strong curiosity about the Rubik’s Cube a few weeks ago. My curiosity led me to search the Internet and find a set of algorithms known as the Beginner’s Method, and started practicing it days and nights. Within a few days, I managed to solve all six sides in 4’:32’’. I felt so accomplished that I couldn’t help but to share it with my friends. That sparked their interest, and the next day, we were all playing with our Rubik’s Cubes.

I felt the responsibility to give my interest group more advanced techniques, so I turned to another friend who can solve the Rubik’s Cube very quickly. I practised a method used by Speedcubers (professional Rubik’s Cube people) whenever I had a chance. With my insane fervor, in 3 weeks, I was able to improve my performance from 4.5 minutes to around 1 minute! My friends were shocked by my improvement, and they started to propagate the news. As a result, the little group grew to 10 people quickly. I recently proposed to form a formal Rubik’s Cube Club in my school so that I can share my passion with the entire school community. My goal is to improve my performance to 30 seconds in the next 1 to 2 months.

My passion drives me to learn and receive, and to contribute and give. My passion also enables me to go beyond my limits, and to thrive in what I loves.

Want to see my passion in action? Below is a video of myself solving a Rubik’s Cube:

Science / Physics

I have a strong passion in physics, and I am fortunate to be capable of understanding advanced concepts. I remember doing research on black holes after reading an article about the event horizon in a magazine called Discover. I became interested in the quantum theory after noticing how odd it seemed when compared to our ordinary lives.

I enjoy reading books about very advanced topics such as string theory. Some of the books I read include The Grand Design written by the renowned scientist Stephen Hawking. After reading the books, I would always try to convince my friends to study physics by showing them how interesting it can be. I finished the Ontario Grade 12 Physics Curriculum during the summer in a tutoring class with grade 11 and grade 12 students. While many of the older students seemed confused, I constantly raised my hand to answer questions.

I went to an enriched science program called Jr. DEEP program hosted by University of Toronto. It didn’t satisfy my curiosity, so I decided to apply for the more advanced DEEP program designed for students in grade 9 and above. I received special admission and performed well.

I also led a science project with 4 members for Exploravision, in which I picked a technology called Optogenetics, researched it, envisioned what it might look like in 20 years, and designed a product using a combination of several technologies with development steps, pros & cons, and obstacles. The delivery is a 11 page long research paper with over 3300 words and a mock website design to market the product. If you are interested in, take a look at my paper here, or click the diagram below.

Below are some examples of books related to physics and science in general that I read:

Computer Technology

I adored computers since I was a child. I was able to type properly with a small keyboard without looking at it by the age of 5. I started making animations with computers in an after school program in Grade 2.Then I learned programing with a special program called Scratch in a summer camp at Seneca. In Grade 5, I started to learn web design, with a wide coverage of HTML, JavaScript, Adobe Flash, Adobe Dreamweaver, and Adobe Photoshop. I also learned how the internet functions, from the server side to the client side. When I was in Grade 6, I learned about WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP).

In the Jr Deep program hosted by University of Toronto, I learned how to use Python to make a game. Later, in the DEEP program, I learned how to use Python to calculate the forces among the 8 planets in the Solar System (Pluto is a dwarf planet according to the IAU as of 2006) . For any given planet, the complex calculations needed to consider how the interactions between the Sun and the planets apply gravitational force to each other, and how the combined forces lead to the net force. After calculating the combined forces on each of the 8 planets, I used vPython to graph how the 8 planets orbits the sun with 3D graphics. Another program I created using Python was a bridge that had certain restrictions, yet must be able to support a certain mass.

I learned Java programming on my own with my father’s assistance, solving past problems in the CCC (Canadian Computing Competition). It was fun to combine math and programming to solve complicated problems. I registered for a summer class that taught about computer algorithms. I started to understand data structure such as vector, queue, stack, set, map, tree and graph. I learned the difference between Breadth First Search and Depth First Search, and I practiced recursive calls and how it can be used to simplify an algorithm that requires loops. I understood the concept of complexity of algorithms and how to compare algorithm complexities. I also learned techniques on how to use stack to evaluate a postfix expression.

While there is nothing much to demonstrate for the complex algorithms I wrote, I have a few things with visual effects that I can show here, including an animation, and two websites. Below is the first movie that I made while I was in Grade 5:

Here is a hand coded website I made for Virtual Science Fair 2014

Below is another hand coded website I made for Virtual Science Fair 2013: