Graduates | 李依璘：会学会玩的 “元气少女”
毕业生专访
流年似水，岁月如歌。今年，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。今天分享的是生物技术与食品工程专业毕业生李依璘的故事。
++姓名：李依璘
毕业高中：汕头市金山中学
本科专业：生物技术与食品工程
录取院校：瓦赫宁根大学、利兹大学
李依璘对生物学有着浓厚的兴趣，“从微观上和分子生物学的角度看，自然界的很多设计都十分优雅、精巧，仿佛有神秘力量精心设计了这一切机理。我为此着迷，想深入探索它背后的奥秘。”
经过四年的学习，李依璘越发觉得生物技术与食品工程专业与人们的生活息息相关。“疫苗、快速检测疫情的技术、抗生素生产都与生物技术有关。食品领域发展的可能性之大更是超乎我的想象，一块小小的巧克力就大有门道；各种新食品的研发也让我感觉‘未来食物’是可以由我们定义的。”
尽管有兴趣加持，但李依璘也曾对自己的选择有过动摇。“大一的课程重视夯实基础，大多是物化生数的理论知识，让我有一种回到高三的感觉，当时的我甚至有点怀疑生物学是否并非像自己想象的那么有意思。”
身为专业代表的李依璘在收集同学们意见的时候，发现不少人也有同样的问题。在每个月和院长的座谈会上，她向院长提出了大家在学业上的困惑。“院长让我们放轻松，告诉我们在打基础的阶段，我们可能暂时无法感受到这个专业真正的魅力，到了大二我们就会开始专业领域的学习，到时候的课程会有趣许多。事实证明确实如此。当《微生物实验课》、《食品微生物》这样的课逐渐来到之后，这个专业的魅力便开始显现出来了！”
李依璘回想起这些妙趣横生的课堂，依旧回味无穷。“我们能在课上品尝到老师亲自制作的奶酪和面包，一边品红酒一边学习酿酒技术，还会在实验室里自己腌制酸黄瓜、酿葡萄酒，这样的学习印象深刻又轻松愉快。有门课需要我们用所学知识自己设计一个食品或生物药品的生产线，这太有成就感了！这时候我才明白，前期打下的基础是为了让我们在学习更多专业知识的时候不那么费力，能够游刃有余地掌握。这大概就是真正的学以致用吧！”
在广以四年的学习，更加坚定了李依璘对这个生物与食品领域的热爱。她在收到瓦赫宁根大学食品与生物相关专业的研究生录取通知书后，依旧决定先 gap一年，留在广以做研究助理，探索新的科研领域，更好地打磨自己的专业能力之后再出国深造。
“主动争取机会，勇于探索了解新事物”是李依璘在广以学到最重要的一课。”
李依璘清晰地记得刚入学时，诺贝尔奖得主阿龙·切哈诺沃教授分享他从医学转到生物科学领域的故事；聊天中得知自己很崇拜的Silvia教授从科研转向教学，变卖她的财产，飞越半个地球来到广以教书的经历；材料系的Fabian教授从榄榄球教练成为材料系教授的传奇故事······“老师们的故事让我知道一个人的可能性是无穷大的，他们的经历激励我大胆地探索自己想尝试的事物，不留下任何遗憾。”
李依璘表示，自己不仅受到广以老师们励志经历的深刻影响，以色列优秀学生的求学态度也在潜移默化中感染着她。“在和院长的一次聊天中，她告诉我以色列的学生很会为自己争取机会和权利。有疑问的时候，他们会马上主动地提出问题，争取自己得到解答的权利；当他们看到适合自己的机会时，也会迅速出击。
在这种环境的鼓励下，李依璘逐渐学会勇敢主动地探索自己感兴趣的事物。在这个过程中，她也感受到广以对学生的包容和支持。“我觉得每次上课都能打开我新世界的大门，让我看见一个又一个新的可能。如果发现了自己感兴趣的领域，我会去查资料，或者是和教授面谈了解，看看具体是做什么的，适不适合我未来发展。”
李依璘目前跟着Yigal Achmon教授在食品可持续发展微生物实验室研究鱼废料在生物土壤日晒这项技术中的应用。加入这个实验组，正是她主动争取的收获。“在大三上学期的一场学术会议上，我了解到土壤日晒技术是用绿色无害的方式让大自然自己去消灭害虫杂草。当时我觉得这个领域很有意思，经了解我还发现学校的Yigal教授将要成立实验室研究这类课题。于是，我主动给他发邮件，希望可以在他的组里面学习。教授和我面谈后欣然接受，就这样我成为了最早加入他实验组的学生之一。”这个项目让李依璘所在的实验组获得广东省科研项目资助‘攀登计划’15000元，她们目前正准备共同发表论文。“加入实验组不仅丰富了我的科研经历，对我申研有很大帮助，还让我提前感受真正的科研工作，能让我应用我所学的知识，去做一些对环境有益的研究，带给我很大的成就感。”
李依璘很庆幸自己能在广以培养出积极思考的能力和独特的思维方式，更对这四年来给过她启迪和帮助的老师们心存感激。“Yigal教授一直跟我强调，他的宗旨就是为学生找到适合他们自己的发展道路，所以只要是我认为对自己有帮助的事情，他都愿意支持我。当我跟他说我想要读研、做研究助理、去另一个国家学习食品技术的时候，他不仅帮我物色导师、给我写推荐信，还与我分享了许多宝贵的经验和建议。”李依璘表示，能在广以遇到这么为学生着想的老师，将是她永远铭记在心的“小幸运”。
四年的时光匆匆而过，李依璘不禁感叹“广以带给我的收获也太多了吧！”
李依璘坦言，自己的卷面成绩并不是顶尖的，但广以考核学生能力的标准和方式，让她惊喜地发现自己也是一个优秀的学生。“在广以，成绩不是全部，综合能力更有说服力。理工科的学习不是纸上谈兵，我们需要清晰地向别人讲演一个新的概念，需要能够设计、动手完成一个实验，还需要具备与人合作、共同完成项目的能力。”
李依璘是一个学习能力很强的学生，在实验动手能力、讲演能力、英语交流能力方面更是表现出众。才学兼优的她得到了很多教授和助教的肯定，“我记得我的助教曾斩钉截铁地跟我说，从我做实验的表现和讲演的从容，他就确信我一定能去到一个很好的学校。”
作为一个会学会玩的学生，李依璘不仅在学业上出类拔萃，在课外活动方面也表现出不凡的组织领导能力。“我很喜欢电影，也喜欢跟不同的人打交道，倾听别人的看法，所以在大一刚入学的时候，我就和小伙伴们组建了广以的‘8mm电影社’。”谈及这段经历，李依璘十分感激学校给了“一腔孤勇”的她充足的机会去发挥自己的能力。“学校的老师和一流的硬件条件设施给了我们很大的支持。我们定期组织观影会，不断变换形式，鼓励大家交流观影感受。我们还与英语社合办了第一届影视作品配音大赛，现在成为了广以的一大传统节目，还挺自豪的。”
毕业在即，李依璘希望学弟学妹们能珍惜广以自由包容的环境，主动为自己争取机会，保持质疑精神。“我也希望自己在未来的学习或工作中，都能保持积极探索的热情和力量，不断进步。”
更多广以毕业生的故事
INTERVIEW
The first cohort students will graduate from Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology this year. The series of interviews with the graduates from Class of 2021 will show their stories with GTIIT in the past four years. Here is the story about Li Yilin, a student of Class of 2021 from Biotechnology and Food Engineering Program.
++Name: Li YilinHigh school: Jinshan High School, ShantouProgram: Biotechnology and Food EngineeringReceived offers from: Wageningen University, the University of Leeds
Li Yilin is an energetic girl who seems to have mastered the secret to make study happy. Driving by her curiosity and initiative, what she has seen and learned at GTIIT in the four years is the solid foundation for her to explore the unknown fields.
Be firm in your love
Li Yilin shows great interests in biology. "From the micro and molecular biology point of view, many designs in nature are very elegant and delicate, as if something mysterious has carefully designed all these mechanisms. I was fascinated and wanted to explore the mystery behind it."
After four years' study, Li Yilin feels that Biotechnology and Food Engineering Program are closely related to people's lives. "Vaccines, technology for rapid detection of epidemic and antibiotic production are all related to biotechnology. The possibilities in the food field are even greater than I imagined. The development of various new foods makes me feel that the food can be defined by us in the future."
Despite her interest in biology, Li Yilin has been wavering in her choice. "In my freshman year, the courses were focused on laying a solid foundation, mostly on the theoretical knowledge of physics and chemistry, which made me feel as if I had gone back to my senior year of high school. At that time, I even wondered if biology was not as interesting as I imagined."
As a program representative, Li Yilin needed to collected her classmates' suggestions on teaching. She found that many classmates had the same confusion, so she raised the problem to the Dean in the monthly meeting. "The Dean told us that we might not be able to feel the real charm of this program for the time being when we were laying the foundation. In our sophomore year, the courses would be much more interesting. And so it turned out. The charm of this program began to show when we were having 'General Microbiology Lab', 'Food Microbiology' and other courses gradually.”
Li Yilin recalls these interesting courses. "We were able to taste cheese and bread made by our teacher in class, learn wine-making techniques while tasting red wine, and make sauerkraut and wine in the lab. It was an impressive and relaxing experience. One of the courses required us to design a food or biological production line. It was so fulfilling! At that time, I realized that the foundation laid in the early stage was to make it easier for us to learn more professional knowledge and master it with ease."
The four years' study at GTIIT has strengthened Li Yilin's love for the biology and food field. After receiving offers of food and biology-related programs from Wageningen University and the University of Leeds, she still decided to take a gap year and stay at GTIIT as a research assistant to explore new scientific research fields and improve her professional ability before going abroad for further study.
Take the initiative to seek opportunities
"Take the initiative to seek opportunities and have the courage to explore new things" is the most important lesson Li Yilin has learned at GTIIT.
Li Yilin still remembers that when she was a freshman at GTIIT, Prof. Aaron Chehanover, the Special Envoy of the Technion President to GTIIT and the Laureate of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared his story about his choice from medicine field to biological science field. She also learned that Dr. Silvia Behar Harpaz turned from research to teaching, sold her fortune and came to GTIIT to start her teaching experience, and the story of Dr. Fabian Rios from a rugby coach to a teacher of Materials Science and Engineering Program... "The stories of the teachers taught me that one's possibilities are infinite and their experiences inspire me to explore what I want to try." Said Li Yilin.
Li Yilin said that she was not only deeply influenced by the inspirational experiences of the teachers, but also influenced by the excellent Israeli students. "Our Dean told me that Israeli students are very good at fighting for opportunities and rights. They will immediately take the initiative to ask questions when in doubt. They also take actions actively when they see any good opportunity for themselves.”
Encouraged by this kind of culture, Li Yilin gradually learns how to explore the things she is interested in. In this process, she also receives many supports from GTIIT. "I feel that I can see new possibilities to me in each class. If I find a field I am interested in, I will look it up or have a face-to-face talk with professors to see what it is and whether it suits me in my further study."
Li Yilin is currently working with Prof. Yigal Achmon in the Food Sustainability Microbiology Laboratory on the application of fish waste with the bio-solarization technology. "At an academic conference in the first semester of my junior year, I learned that bio-solarization technology is a green and harmless way for nature to kill pests and weeds by itself. At that time, I thought this field was very interesting. After learning, I also found out that Prof. Yigal was going to set up a laboratory to study this kind of topic. So I sent him an email to express my interest to study in his group. Finally, I became one of the first students in his research group."
This project has enabled Li Yilin and her teammates to win 15,000 yuan from the Guangdong Provincial Scientific Research Project "Climbing Program", and they are now preparing to publish a paper together. "Joining in Prof. Yigal's group not only enriches my scientific research experience, which is of great help to my application for postgraduate study, but also allows me to feel the real scientific research work in advance. It also makes me apply what I have learned to do something beneficial to the environment, which brings me a great sense of achievement."
Li Yilin is glad that she has developed a good thinking habit at GTIIT. Moreover, she is grateful to the teachers who have given her inspiration and help in the past four years. "Prof. Yigal always telling me that his mission is to help students find their own path, so he is willing to support me in anything that I think will benefit me. When I told him that I wanted to pursue my postgraduate study, become a research assistant, and study food technology in another country, he not only helped me find an advisor, wrote recommendation letters, but also shared a lot of valuable experience and advice with me."
Comprehensive ability is important
Li Yilin admits that her test scores are not top, but the standards and methods of assessing students' performance at GTIIT inspires her greatly. "At GTIIT, grades are not everything. Comprehensive ability is more convincing. We need to be able to articulate a new concept to others, be able to design and execute an experiment, and be able to collaborate with others on a project."
Li Yilin is a student with strong learning ability. She has outstanding performance in experiment, presentation and English communication skills. She has been praised by many professors and teaching assistants. "I remember that one of my teaching assistant once told me firmly that from my performance in doing experiments and having presentations, he was sure that I would go to an excellent university."
Li Yilin not only stands out academically, but also shows great organizational and leadership skills in extra-curricular activities. "I like movies very much, and I also like to meet different people and listen to other people's opinions, so I set up GTIIT's '8mm Movie Club' with my friends at the beginning of freshman year." Speaking of this experience, Li Yilin is very grateful to the university for giving her sufficient opportunity to show her abilities. "We are supported by the teachers and first-class facilities at GTIIT. We regularly organize film viewing activities and encourage people to share their feelings. We also held the first dubbing competition with GTIIT’s English Club, which is now a traditional activity at campus. We are very proud of it."
Li Yilin hopes the junior students can cherish the free and inclusive environment at GTIIT and take the initiative to fight for opportunities for themselves. "I also hope that I can maintain the enthusiasm to make continuous progress in my future study and work."
More stories about GTIIT graduates
文：GTIIT传媒与公共事务部
图：李依璘、GTIIT传媒与公共事务部
Text: GTIIT News & Public Affairs
Photos: Li Yilin, GTIIT News & Public Affairs