When I first came to SCIE as an A1 student, I had never seriously thought about “majors.” Everyone else had been planning for universities since G1, but I only had two years to do so. I had no time to overthink it . I just knew that, I had to pick four AS subjects by […]
Giving up is Growing up Read More »
“ I stopped the tape and pressed rewind.” Two years ago, on Christmas Eve, I typed that line as the opening of a short story. It was about someone, accomplished and fulfilled, looking back on their twenties. At the end, I wrote of a poem by Adrienne Rich—the protagonist, carrying a trace of melancholy, welcoming
Saying Goodbye While Moving Forward｜SCIE Class of 2026 Senior Week Read More »
As time moves forward, every effort eventually bears fruit. As winter gives way to spring, every challenge and achievement has led to this moment. For the Class of 2026, the journey shaped by laughter, perseverance, and growth has finally arrived at a moment worth celebrating. The critical thinking fostered in classrooms, the inspiration sparked through
SCIE Class of 2026｜Global University Admissions Results Read More »
Another bright spring has arrived. As promised, the annual TEDxSCIE Conference returned once again. Before the last glow of sunset faded, the Halo Theater was already filled with lively anticipation. As the spotlight came on, host Sam announced this year’s theme: Reimagined. If life has no standard answers, who would you become? If success has more than one form,
TEDx SCIE Youth | Reimagined: Eight Lives, One Illuminating Night Read More »
On the morning of March 20th, the rustling of packing bags echoed in front of the teaching building as we repeatedly checked our gear lists against the route map. When the backpack settled on my shoulders, my heart was filled with a mix of anticipation and nervousness—I was eager for this special journey, yet the
Hill Walking Expedition: A Journey of Pain and Joy in Our Youth Read More »
Laboratory of materials science always sounds distant and highly academic, a space where students hardly have access to. However, a corner of Cavendish Laboratory just landed at SCIE on March 24, 2026, unravelling the infinite beauty of physics by delicately building a bridge between us and the top university at the other side of the
Antuo Hill Lecture | Dr. Guan: My Lecture, Your Way to Cambridge Read More »
Intro: There are many ways to visit Paris. Some come for the art, drifting through the Louvre for hours in quiet admiration. Others come for the food, the fashion, the cafés, the romance of the Seine at sunset. All of that exists, of course, and we saw our fair share of it. However, I came
Paris: French Revolution Beginner’s Set Read More »
As of April 2, the offers from US universities and colleges obtained by SCIE graduates 2026, are as follows: 21 from the Top 10 universities & Ivy League, 151 from the Top 30 universities, 462 from the Top 50 universities, and 16 from the TOP US arts institutions.
21 Ivy League & Top 10 Offers｜SCIE Class of 2026 U.S. College Admissions Read More »
When the final buzzer sounded and the SISAC championship was truly ours, the cheers from the sidelines and the sight of teammates embracing one another became one of the most unforgettable moments of our youth. This hard-earned victory was never the achievement of just one person, but the result of the entire team fighting together.
Playing for Passion, Winning the Crown Read More »
As a theoretical subject, a common question students ask in math class is: “When will I use this knowledge in real life?” Although the math we learn in high school can rarely be used directly in our daily lives, it serves as a solid foundation for many scientific disciplines. New ideas in science and engineering often depend on existing math theories,
Antuo Hill Lecture | Prof. John Stillwell: From Fractions to Non-Euclidean Geometry Read More »
My essay is on the recent development of China’s mental health care system and how it can help address this question. Though, I actually parried the question raised by the prompt, and I did not in the end emphasise too much that more care should be devoted to the socially vulnerable. Rather, I intended to underscore the complexity and ambiguity in any employment of these two notions — “socially vulnerable” and “responsibility” — in the concrete working of society. Through my study I discovered that the train of legislative efforts made in the 1980s to 2000s to legally recognise, to enhance public knowledge of, and to erect new asylums for, “the mentally ill,” in fact coincided spatiotemporally with government efforts in putting new agendas of foreign policies and city development to work. Thus, the recent development of China’s mental health care, from scratch to full maturity, is not solely the consequence of “humanitarian effort,” but also of some other ulterior motives. In my conclusion, I hinted that any answer to this question would entail empirical investigation into the concrete working of social institutions, and depending on the nature of this “socially vulnerable” group, claims of “responsibility” may be leveraged as veils for other purposes.
Before starting my research I did not by then have a well-formed hypothesis, but I did have Michel Foucault’s intriguing study on madness in mind. Due to the rather peculiar nature of the object of my study, I was not able to apply the sociological theories (Marxism, Functionalism, e.g.) I learnt in class to my own research. I must thank my sociology teacher for his encouragement and provision of many textbook resources and classical studies done in the field of mental health care. In addition to that, he prepared a statement of the school for my application to conduct short interviews at a local mental health hospital — this application, however, though quite expectedly, sank into oblivion — without his help this project would be very difficult.
I made a documentary “The Definition” about the situation of elderly in Shenzhen to enter this competition. As I have some previous knowledge in filmmaking, learning from TBU studio, I though it would be meaningful if I combined my filmmaking skills with sociology knowledge. In the meanwhile, after learning the very first chapter of sociology, The Family, I found out that the situation of elderly in the UK is different from that of elderly in Shenzhen. For instance, elderly have the responsibility taking care of their grandchildren and dance in the park for entertainment is distinctive in China. Therefore, I decided to make a documentary to record the interesting culture.
I learnt a lot during the preparation for the competition. I learned a lot about how to carry out an individual primary research when I was filming “The Definition”, which helps a lot in my current sociology study. Also, I understood sociology theories better. For instance, postmodernism used to be only a vague theoretical perspective for me, yet it amazed me knowing that elderly people participate actively in public activities can be considered as view of postmodernism.
Most importantly, I realized filmmaking can make some impacts on people, portraying problems of society. Experience of BSA opened my eyes and led me rethink about my future major in college. I want use my skills and knowledge to help more people, so I will probably try a major with humanity and filmmaking combined instead of pursuing the dream of being an artist alone.
Learning sociology gives me a new perspective in seeing how the world works, and it also lets me care more about the vulnerability in the society. Thank you to my sociology teacher, Richard Driscoll, who gave me lots of inspiration such as filming the dancing in the park, which is interesting to British people, and recommenced lots of sociological books about the elderly.
By listening to his advice, “The Definition” eventually divides into two parts: one is about the elderly in nursing home and the other is about people dancing in the park. Also, there is many interviews in the documentary to give a more well-rounded perspective.
I would like to thank my Math teacher Michael Jin and my friend Franchaska, who helped me with the voice over. Also, thanks to my family members, especially my dear grandmother, who gave me lots of insights related to the issue of elderly.
I made this documentary just before the deadline, thus it’s not so perfect. I’ll probably elaborate some shots and reedit it in the future.
If you are interested, you can click the link below and watch it.
Teng Xun Video：https://v.qq.com/x/page/u0862usad2v.html
Bilibili：https://www.bilibili.com/video/av38188271?from=search&seid=10452775157822232568
