蔡卓苒来自深圳
从小对大自然充满好奇
2019年8月进入哥伦比亚国际学院
今年5月即将毕业
已获英国及加拿大六所世界一流院校
生物及医学类专业录取
成果斐然，令人瞩目！
与生俱来的兴趣爱好，更能激发求知探索的原动力！蔡卓苒就是一个典型例子。她自幼喜欢养宠物，像是乌龟、鹦鹉，还喜欢捕捉蝴蝶、螳螂及各种昆虫，然后查阅百科全书，看属于什么种类，有什么习性特征。
她还有一个许多人没有的优势：爸爸是一名外科医生，拥有丰富的医学及生物学知识，经常成为她讨教的对象。
让兴趣进一步演变为未来专业方向，还需要“催化剂”的提升，拓展知识的广度与深度。进入深圳外国语学校后，她成为生物实验协会主席，与大自然的连接更加紧密；2018年，学校在的组队参加国际基因工程机器大赛（IGEM），蔡卓苒被选中担任小组领导，在通往生物医学的道路上挖到了“第一桶金”。
什么是IGEM？
IGEM是国际基因工程机器大赛（International Genetically Engineering Machine）的缩写。这个世界级的合成生物学大赛由麻省理工学院于2004年首创，旨在培养合成生物学人才，促进各国大学生在该领域的学习、交流与合作。每年，大赛主办方提供给各参赛队伍一份DNA标准样本库，各队自行选题，并通过设计和模型分析，将所需样本导入现有的生物体系，合成全新的生物工程系统（即“基因工程机器”）。
官网：www.igem.org
这一届IGEM的参赛主题是“乳腺癌的早期诊断”，对一群只学了几年生物学的高中生来说，具有相当高的难度。蔡卓苒领导的团队共有12名成员。她不仅要查找大量医学论文与杂志，还负责协调队友之间的合作。
除此之外，蔡卓苒团队还面临一个棘手难题：寻找一家愿意提供实验室的赞助人。幸运的是，在指导老师的协助下，他们终于获得深圳一家高科技公司的支持，能够进入其实验室进行研究。
虽然最后没有获奖，但蔡卓苒表示这是自己在学术上的重要里程碑：“我们体验了枯燥与失败带来的痛苦，看到了自己的缺陷，最重要的是对科学研究的途径有所了解。”
蔡卓苒（右五）与化学课师生合影
在哥伦比亚国际学院学习近一年后，蔡卓苒觉得：与国内的生物课相比，加拿大的生物课学习的范围更加广泛。
“有很多需要记忆的内容，还有大量的实验，我们还去贵湖大学及动物园参观。”
怎样才能在哥伦比亚国际学院获得更加丰富的学习与生活体验？蔡卓苒把自己的经验与大家分享：
• 来CIC以后，要积极了解有学习资源，例如课后辅导
• 努力提高语言能力，尽早适应新环境
• 参加学生发展部（SD）的兴趣社团
• 提高自我管理能力
为什么申请的多数是英国院校？蔡卓苒表示，自己是个英式摇滚乐迷，最喜欢“齐柏林飞艇”与“皇后”乐队。所以，英国是她首选的高校目的地。
至于成功获得世界一流高校录取的实战经验，蔡卓苒觉得：除了12年级的成绩94%，生物比赛的经历及个人陈述（Personal Statement）也很重要。
蔡卓苒毫无保留地把自己申请英国大学时所递交的个人陈述与大家分享：
Personal Statement
By Cai Zhuoran
I have been fond of observing all kinds of creatures in nature since I was a child, from small mantises and butterflies to big dogs and wolves. Also, my favourite TV programs were nature documentaries on the BBC, such as Life and Blue Planet series. And I always pulled my parents to watch with me, gradually I had an elementary understanding of biological knowledge. Also, I still remembered that I bought a trap net and several cages to catch little animals like butterflies in a beautiful summer, then took them home for observation and found out what kinds of species they were through the encyclopedia. Besides that, my interest in biological science comes mostly from my father, who is a neurosurgeon. When I was a little girl, the mannequins and various medical books in his office became my toys. Sometimes he explained them to me, although I could hardly understand anything at that time, just felt his vivid speech was lovely. When I got older, I knew that my father still insisted on studying under tough conditions, and was eventually admitted to the most prestigious medical college in our province. It was he who ignited my enthusiasm for biology and made me believe again that efforts will pay off.
I’m eager to study further professional knowledge of biological science in the UK. Also, I want to choose the relevant programs like Genetic Engineering, Zoology, Molecular Biology or Biomedical Science. Currently, I am studying high school at Columbia International College from 2019 to 2020. Before that, I studied at Shenzhen Foreign Language School in China. I participated in the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (IGEM) in 2018. As the team leader, I took all members to visit almost ten universities and organizations to persuade their managers to support our project. We kept being rejected, but we did it finally and succeeded to complete the finals and the poster displaying in Boston, which has dramatically improved my leadership and understanding of scientific research. Until now, I still remembered the excitement of entering the laboratory for the first time when participating in the competition. Perhaps someone gets bored over time, but I am enjoying doing what I love. Besides that, I was also the president of the biological experiment society of our school. Under the guidance of my teachers, I usually organized to carry out biological experiments, through which, I had a clearer understanding of the biological field.
In 2017, I attended the International Summer Camp in Vancouver, Canada. I spent two weeks with young people from all over the world at the University of British Columbia, which gave me not only a deeper understanding of multiculturalism, but also realized that there were still many deficiencies if I want to be an international talent. I know European countries have more rigorous academic systems, more developed scientific research strengths and more abundant educational resources. Britain, in particular, owns many world-famous universities. Thus I hope to broaden my horizons through my study in the UK. To be added, I like listening to music, especially Rock. Britain is extremely attractive to me as the most glorious territory of Rock music. My favourite bands are Led Zeppelin, Queen, and so on, and I often draw these bands into my paintings. It has always been my dream to watch a live British rock concert.
In summary, I make a clear plan for me. I hope to learn more theoretical about biological science and then participate in the scientific research projects of professors or universities, to improve my scientific literacy and scientific research ability. After graduation, I want to apply for master’s and doctor’s degree to study biological science more deeply, and make preparation for being a university professor or a scientific researcher in the long term.
Thanks for your active consideration.