Program: Kinesiology
Hometown: Lianjiang in Guangdong, China
KINESIOL 4S03: Exercise as Medicine with Dr. Joshua Nederveen. Physical activity has been a part of my life since I took my first step. Whether it’s a source of social and personal enjoyment or contributing to my physical and mental health, for me, exercise has always been the answer. Being able to learn about the mechanisms that underpin how exercise can aid disease and chronic impairments only further ignited my passion for physical activity and appreciating the role it can play in everyone’s lives.
My experience at Mac is like a mosaic of all the people who have influenced my life, so it’s hard to pick only one person. I’m most thankful to have met my first year roommate, Hazel. Moving in with someone random was a little crazy at first but Hazel is one of those people who you meet and feel like you have been friends with your entire life; our Brandon Hall dorm room quickly became a dorm home! I struggled a lot with self-esteem during my first year but she was always in my corner cheering me on no matter what, and she would motivate me to get up and start my day given she was up since 4am working at the Starbucks on Main (plus bringing me a matcha latte to kickstart my studies). Everyone could use a Hazel in their life!
My best moment at Mac was probably when I spent 17 hours straight in the lab processing muscle biopsy samples. My fourth-year thesis looked at muscle protein synthesis and leucine oxidation in response to single bolus or split feeding in Dr. Stuart Phillips’ lab. The project involved a combination of dry lab data collection where we took participants through an intense dietary and exercise intervention, and wet lab skills, one of which was preparing muscle samples for analysis. With my graduate supervisor, Dominique Greyvenstein, we started at the lab at 7am and spent until 12am getting our muscle samples ready. From drawing doodles on the fumehood, sticking my thumb in a syringe and questioning my entire degree, and driving to Chipotle 10 minutes before close, I couldn’t ask for a better research experience.
I will be most proud to show my degree to my parents. Growing up, my family would ask me at dinner what my favourite subjects in school were and my obvious answer was gym class and lunch break. While this definitely posed concern for the trajectory of my academic endeavours, this early passion has since matured into a refined academic focus as I relished in studying exercise physiology and metabolism. I can’t recall a time when my parents weren’t there for me, as every interview, offer, or academic achievement was followed by calling my parents in excitement. My parents have always been my biggest supporters, even despite my third favourite subject in school being recess.
One piece of advice I would give to students starting at Mac in September is to enjoy yourself. However many years you spend at Mac, they will go by quickly. When I started university, I was convinced that studying 24/7 and locking myself in Mills Library was the best way to go about my time in undergrad. It took being clinically depressed twice in my undergraduate for me to realize that the best work I produce is when I am truly happy while doing it. Don’t forget to leave yourself time in your schedule to breathe and chill out. Create, fail, learn, keep going. There is so much to enjoy in your time at McMaster and I hope you can find your own ways to be excited about another day alive!
Convocation, Students