Talk · Passion | 什么專業，這么上頭？

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同時“啃”3個硬核專業；

GPA滿分畢業，

基本沒有懸念；

為了把喜歡的課程都讀一遍，

延期畢業也在所不惜；

珍愛健康，

天天鍛煉，餐餐下廚！

——這就是我們正在多倫多大學讀書的校友莊文祥的大學生活！

嘉賓：莊文祥（Wen Zhuang）

1年級加入啟明星

啟明星2023屆高中畢業生

多倫多大學本科3年級在讀

主修神經科學和營養科學雙專業

輔修生理學

3個專業，

怎么確定的？

文祥：我選神經科學和營養科學作為主修，原因很多——

首先，在神經科學領域，人類目前真正理解的內容非常有限。神經退行性疾病，比如阿茲海默癥、失智，是現代醫學中少數幾個沒有很好治療方案的一類疾病。人類迫切需要在這個領域取得進展。

另外，神經系統的生理機制，相比于其他身體系統和器官，我們了解得實在太少了。這是一個非常前沿、有潛力、也極具吸引力的領域。

至于我選的另一個專業——營養科學的原因——首先，我喜歡吃。我對飲食文化和烹飪科學都有很大的興趣。上大學之后，大概 95% 的飯我都是自己做的。

另外，營養科學在學術前沿上和神經科學一樣復雜，更強調“health-care”（健康管理），而不是 “sick-care”（疾病治療）。我學習營養科學，也能把我喜歡美食和關注人類健康結合起來。

“文祥對自己和未來都有想法，又沒有被年輕人慣有的天馬行空而困擾。他想要為身邊的世界帶來積極的影響，想要成為創變者。”

——來自12年級班主任兼經濟學老師Darcy Au-Yeung的觀察

文祥在啟明星的舊照

文祥：其實剛讀大學的時候，我還考慮過藥理學和藥物動力學專業。可是上了一段課，我發現大概有1/4的課程內容都在講產業資金，以及怎樣讓大型制藥公司為你的實驗買單，而不是真正去學習疾病機制，如何改善人們的健康。

我更感興趣的是如何讓人們變得更健康，通過營養、健康的生活方式來預防疾病，而不是僅僅是在亞健康狀態下吃藥保持壽命的長度。所以我選擇營養科學，放棄了藥理學。

怎樣越學

越"享受"？

文祥：我喜歡把文獻和實驗室里的知識真的應用到生活中。

比如，我會給自己吃的大部分食物精確稱重，因為我本來就自己做飯，這么做很方便。

我還會把某些微量營養素的攝入，和我定期做的血液檢測做相關性分析。

我會做統計分析，發現一些只在我個人身上成立、但符合生物學邏輯的有趣的相關性和趨勢。

根據實驗調整飲食和生活方式之后，我的生物指標得到了明顯優化。

有一個比賽叫“長壽世界杯”，這是一個基于研究的生物年齡計算競賽，我實際上獲得了全球第三名。我的個人 PhenoAge 大約相當于5個月大的小孩，哈哈。

我還在一個世界領先的微生物組實驗室，研究腸道菌群與癌癥和衰老相關的分子機制。

我的7X24：

學習、閱讀、

考飛行執照......

文祥：大學里時間真的很有限，社交生活都不得不往后排一排。

如果是上課日，我一般早上會鍛煉，基本上是每周6到7天。

之后去上上午的課，然后回家吃午飯，或者在學校吃早上從家里帶來的飯。我的飯幾乎都是自己做。

如果晚上有課，我會去上晚課；如果沒有，我就去實驗室做研究。

學習之外，我會把時間分配給興趣愛好、閱讀和參加學生社團。

我是心血管疾病學生協會研究委員會成員，也擔任過多大通勤學生網絡的負責人之一。

另外，我還是生理學系 EDI 社區委員會成員。

我也做短跑訓練，是競技田徑運動員。

每年我也會背包旅行幾次。

另外，我還在考私人飛行員執照。

所有這些事情對我來說，本質上都和科學一樣，都是我真正熱愛的事情。

大學里

最有意思的是？

我發現自己更享受學習本身了。

對其他人來說，可能是獨立生活，或者社交，但對我來說，是可以學“科學”。

我要在科學上做出成績，同樣需要掌握很多其他能力——我更喜歡在科學的語境中培養這些綜合能力。

說實話，科學就是我的方向。我是真的享受做科學研究這件事。

多倫多大學

讓我喜歡的是——

能夠充分利用學校提供的所有資源，

同時在學業、興趣和未來規劃之間，

找到自己的節奏，我覺得我已經找到了。

我很喜歡多倫多大學的一點是，

我的學位可以非常定制化，有很大自主空間，

專業、輔修和證書都有很多組合方式。

對我來說，我想學的科學內容，4年本科根本學不完，所以我可能會讀第5年。

本科畢業后我計劃繼續攻讀研究型博士（PhD）或醫學博士（MD）。

長期來看，我希望成為臨床科學家，一名研究者，或者探索私人健康/生物技術創業。

關于尋找“熱愛”，

給個建議？

文祥：對大學學習來說，最重要的是，

你必須真正熱愛你所學的內容。

如果你還不知道自己真正熱愛什么，

那就選擇靈活的課程項目，

有更多探索空間的學校，

確保你有足夠的自由去嘗試不同領域。

Talk · Passion | 準留美必看：美國大一新生的7x24小時

律師篇 | 做律師，門檻有多高？

If you truly love both your studies and your life,
you can really do this—

Studying even the most demanding majors without fear of exhaustion;
treating experimental data not just as numbers stored on a computer,
but also as something applied to yourself;
taking action to join your ideal research team without hesitation or fear of rejection;
consider delaying graduation as an option because you want to take all the courses you love;
valuing your health as much as your education—
exercising daily, cooking every meal,
and not missing out on meaningful extracurricular activities.

This is exactly what university life looks like for Wen Zhuang,
a graduate of Daystar Academy’s Class of 2023.

Guest Speaker: Wen Zhuang

Joined Daystar Academy in First Grade

Daystar Academy High School Class of 2023 graduate
Currently a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, Canada
Double major in Neuroscience and Nutritional Sciences, minor in Physiology

Choosing Three Fields at Once

Wen:I chose Neuroscience and Nutritional Sciences as my majors for several reasons.

First, in the field of neuroscience, humanity’s current understanding is still extremely limited.Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia remain among the few major categories of illness in modern medicine that still lack effective treatments.From a public health perspective, progress in this area is urgently needed.

Moreover, compared with other body systems and organs, we know far too little about the physiological mechanisms of the nervous system.That is precisely what makes neuroscience such a frontier discipline—highly challenging, full of potential, and deeply compelling.

As for my other major, Nutritional Sciences, the reason is simple: I love food. I’m deeply interested in food culture and the science of cooking. Since starting university, I’ve cooked about 95% of my meals myself.

More importantly, at the academic frontier, nutritional science is just as complex as neuroscience, but it places more emphasis on health-care rather than sick-care.Studying nutritional science allows me to combine my passion for food with my long-standing concern for human health.

“Wen’s a very motivated young man. He has his own plans for the future. He is not filled with ungrounded ideals but has a very grounded sense of that which he is capable. He wants to be an innovator, to make a positive difference to the world around him.”

—Darcy Au-Yeung, Wen’s G12 homeroom and Economics teacher

Wen’s old photos at Daystar

Wen:When I first started university, I also considered pharmacology and pharmacokinetics. However, after taking some courses, I realized that drug development and pharmacology cannot fully address the systemic problems faced by modern medicine.

You might be surprised to learn that nearly one-quarter of the coursework focused on industry funding—how to persuade large pharmaceutical companies to pay for your experiments—rather than on understanding disease mechanisms or how to improve people’s health.

What truly interests me is how people can become healthier through nutrition and lifestyle, preventing disease rather than simply taking medication to extend lifespan while remaining in a sub-healthy state.That is why I ultimately chose nutritional science and stepped away from pharmacology.

Are You Doing Any Interesting Research?

Wen: I’m someone who really enjoys hands-on practice.I like applying what I learn from the literature and the lab directly to real life.

For example, I precisely weigh most of the food I eat. Since I cook almost all my meals myself, this is quite convenient. I also correlate my intake of specific micronutrients with data from regular blood tests.

Through statistical analysis, I’ve identified some interesting correlations and trends that apply specifically to me as an individual, yet still make biological sense.

After adjusting my diet and lifestyle based on experimental results, my biological markers improved significantly.

There is a research-based competition called the “Longevity World Cup,” which calculates biological age. I placed third globally. My personal PhenoAge is equivalent to that of a five-month-old infant.

In addition, I am also conducting research in a world-leading microbiome lab, studying the molecular mechanisms linking gut microbiota with cancer and aging.

What Does Your 24/7 Look Like?

Wen:Time is really limited, so social life often has to come second.

On class days, I usually work out in the morning—six to seven days a week. After that, I attend morning classes, then either return home for lunch or eat the food I brought from home at school. Almost all my meals are cooked by myself.

If I have evening classes, I attend those; if not, I go to the lab to do research. I also conduct metabolic experiments, both to improve my health and to apply the latest research to myself in a real way.

Beyond academics, I allocate time to hobbies, reading, and student organizations.

I am a member of the Cardiovascular Diseases Student Associations Research Committee, and I have served as the one of the directors of the UFT Committee Student Network. In addition, I am a member of the Physiology Department's EDI Community .

I also train as a sprinter and compete in track and field. Every year, I go on several backpacking trips. I’m also currently working toward earning a private pilot’s license.

All of these pursuits, at their core, are just like science to me—they are all things I truly love.

What’s the Most Interesting Part of University Life?

Wen: I’ve found that I genuinely enjoy learning itself.

For some people, it might be independent living or the social life. For me, it’s about being able to study science.

To achieve anything meaningful in science, you also need to master many other skills—and I prefer developing these comprehensive abilities within a scientific context.

To be honest, science is my direction. I truly enjoy doing scientific research.

What Is Your Ideal University Experience?

Wen:I believe the ideal university experience is one where you fully utilize all the resources a school provides—truly making use of everything available.

At the same time, it’s about finding your own rhythm between academics, personal interests, and future planning.I feel that I’ve found that balance.

One thing I especially appreciate about the University of Toronto is how customizable the degree programs are. There is a great deal of autonomy, with many possible combinations of majors, minors, and certificates.

For me, four years of undergraduate study is simply not enough to learn all the science I want to learn, so I may pursue a fifth year.

After completing my undergraduate degree, I plan to continue my education by pursuing either a research-focused PhD or a Doctor of Medicine (MD).

In the long term, I hope to become a physician-scientist, a researcher, or potentially explore opportunities in private health or biotechnology entrepreneurship.

How Can Students Find Their Passion?

Wen:I believe the most important thing for university studies is you must truly love what you study.

If you’re not yet sure what your true passion is,choose a school and academic program that are flexible and allow for exploration—so you have enough freedom to try different fields before committing.

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