毕业生| 钱宇汀：马背上的女孩儿

“马感”，和钱宇汀聊起她和马的故事之前，我们从来没听过这个词。

如今，骑马颇有“马感”的宇汀手握英国皇家兽医学院和加利福尼亚大学戴维斯分校两所世界顶尖高校的录取通知书。

加入启明星的第一天，宇汀就非常笃定自己的理想。第一次和大学升学顾问主管Melissa Meltzer Warehall讨论大学专业方向，她就说要去英国皇家兽医学院。

经过在启明星的岁月，她即将踏入自己的梦校，距离做兽医和职业马术赛手的梦想又近了一步。

关于马的梦想

从2岁在草原上第一次跨上马背算起，钱宇汀骑马的时间已经有15年。

“缘分！”说到喜欢马，她说。

小时候，她每周至少去一次马场，后来加入俱乐部，跟着教练训练骑乘。5年前，她有了自己的第一匹马，后来又添了一匹。现在，一匹马15岁，一匹马16岁，都是运动马。

马和人可以划等号——在宇汀心里。

“马像人一样，比赛前会紧张，身体僵硬，心脏跳的咚咚响。平时它们还是挺温顺的，心情不好的时候也会闹脾。有时候它们也会偷偷懒，但是只要一上赛场，它们就会认真起来，它们知道自己要干什么。”宇汀说，“它们就像我的朋友加战友。”

宇汀数十次在赛场上获奖，包括2017国际马联场地障碍青少年比赛意大利Vinovo站CHD120-125cm亚军、2017北京国际马术大师赛120-125cm团体赛冠军、2018北京马协盛装舞步巡回赛第一站中二级季军、2018国际马联青少年场地障碍赛暨城市菁英赛天津站少年组大奖赛110级别冠军、2019年8月17日2019未来之星马术大赛总决赛（天津）120cm国际邀请赛冠军110cm亚军、2020年7月25日国际马联场地障碍赛比利时Lier站130cm第七名等。

在障碍赛和舞步赛场上，马儿们载着宇汀穿梭。出了赛场，轮到宇汀负担着它们。

马的肌肉紧张了，她会用筋膜枪帮它放松；马的牙齿坏了，她亲手拔掉。“马的身体很重但腿相对又细，所以一旦摔倒就容易摔坏骨头，摔成粉碎性骨折。而马是需要运动的，特别是赛马，断腿静养，肠子容易打结，所以马一旦骨折就会要被拉去安乐死。”这是钱宇汀决定学兽医的原因之一，“我想研究有没有什么方法能救摔伤的马。”

近几年，中国爱马养马的人群不断扩大，马术教育甚至进入了一些校园，而马的医疗条件和有关马的产业发展却有非常大的提升空间——这些也是宇汀打算努力的方向。

“养马的理念有待提升，场地条件都还不够发达，比如在北京给马找个能做开腹手术的地方都很难。”她说，“方方面面都需要推进。”

做兽医研究也和宇汀的赛马梦有关：“中国和国际接轨的马术运动正式起步也就20多年，我喜欢障碍赛，我还想参加奥运会！”

为了梦想全力以赴

宇汀从未动摇的，除了那些关于马的梦想，还有一直以来为实现梦想而付出的努力。这样的特质，她的IBDP生物学老师周晓婷有着非常直观的感受。

生物是决定钱宇汀能否进入心仪的兽医专业的重要学科，她对生物的学习特别认真。

“她有种百折不回的劲头，这点特别难得，一旦打定主意就会全力以赴，不用你操心。”周老师说。

钱宇汀的EE（拓展论文）实验研究的是温度升高对猕猴桃VE和VC含量的影响。这样的分子实验很容易失败，有太多变量会影响实验的结果。

“这个实验很花时间，她一共用了4个周末和三、四十天的上课日时间。结果时间进行到一半的时候，数据并不符合预期，一般这个时候，学生会想要改实验题目，但钱宇汀不。她不但坚持继续这个实验，还能耐住性子，一点点排查出问题是试剂瓶的原因。也就是说，这么大的实验她做了两轮。她这样的素养非常适合做科研。”周老师说。

为了无限接近自己的兴趣，钱宇汀也在11年级暑期的实习项目中选择宠物医院实习。她观察了兽医给宠物狗的髋关节错位做手术的全过程。

“在选择大学专业时，我们的学生不会人云亦云，他们很有自己的想法，有自己的坚持，哪怕是小众的专业，比如钱宇汀。”启明星大学升学指导和IB课程协调员主管梁珊说。

因为自己的想法，钱宇汀不怕重做耗时几个月时间的实验；因为有所坚持，她在赛场上即便摔到昏迷，醒过来之后也要再次爬上马背。

我们祝福这个有勇气、有想法的姑娘，也期待更多启明星学生像她一样，从容而坚定地书写自己的人生答卷。

“Horse sense.” We had never heard this term before we talked to Qian Nancy about her story involving horses.

Now, Nancy, who possesses a strong "horse sense" in terms of horseback riding, holds admission letters from two of the world's top schools, the Royal Veterinary College in the UK and the University of California, Davis in the US.

From the first day she joined Daystar, Nancy was very determined to achieve her dream. She said she wanted to go to Royal Veterinary College during her first family interview with Melissa Meltzer Warehall, the head of college counseling  at Daystar. 

After her growth at Daystar, Nancy is now one step closer to her dreams of becoming a veterinarian and a professional equestrian.

Horse Dreams

She has been riding horses for 15 years, starting from age 2 when she mounted a horse for the first time.

"It's fate!" she says when it comes to her love for horses.

During her childhood, she went to the equestrian center at least once a week. Later, she joined a club and trained with coaches. Five years ago, she acquired her first horse, and got another one later. Both of them are sport horses. Now, one is 15 years old, and the other is 16.

In her heart, Nancy feels that horses are on par with humans.

"Horses are like humans. They get nervous before races, their bodies tense up, and their hearts beat loudly. Most of the time, they are quite gentle, but they can have a temper when they are in a bad mood. Sometimes they may get lazy, but as soon as they enter the arena, they become serious. They know what they need to do," Nancy says. "They are like my friends and comrades."

Nancy won dozens of prizes in equestrian competitions, including second place in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Youth 2017 (CHD1.20-1.25m) held in Vinovo, Italy, first place in the Team Championships (1.20 - 1.25m) of Longines Equestrian Beijing Masters, and third place in the first stop (Intermediate II) of the 2018 BTEA Dressage Tour. In 2018, she also participated in the FEI CSIO Y&J Nations Cup in Tianjin, China, and won the 1.10m youth group competition championship. On August 17, 2019, Nancy won first place again in the 1.2m class and was a runner-up in the 1.1m class at the Future Star Equestrian Final in Tianjin. The following year, she ranked seventh in the FEI Jumping Competition 130 hosted in Lier, Belgium, on July 25.

In the show jumping and dressage arenas, the horses carry Nancy as they speed through the courses. After leaving the arena, it's her turn to take care of them.

When the horses' muscles become tense, she helps them relax with a massage fascia gun; when their teeth go bad, she personally extracts them. "Horses have heavy bodies but relatively slender legs, so if they fall, it's easy for them to break a bone or suffer multiple fractures. So, they need exercise, especially racehorses. If they are put on rest due to a broken leg, their intestines may get twisted. That's why if a horse fractures its leg, it has to be euthanized." This is one of the reasons why Nancy decided to study veterinary medicine. "I want to research whether there are any methods to save horses that have fallen."

In recent years, the population of horse enthusiasts and horse owners in China has expanded. Equestrian education has even made its way into some schools. However, there is still significant room for improvement in the medical conditions of horses and the development of the horse-related industry – these are the fields in which Nancy intends to work.

"The philosophy of horse care needs improvement, and the facilities are still not well-developed. For example, it's challenging to find a place in Beijing where a horse can have abdominal surgery," she says. "There is a need for progress in all aspects."

Nancy's research in veterinary medicine is also related to her equestrian dreams: "China's equestrian sport officially began to take off and align with international standards a little bit over two decades ago. I enjoy show jumping, and I also want to participate in the Olympic Games!"

Unwavering Determination and Efforts

What impressed people most about Nancy is not only her unwavering determination for the future but also her huge efforts to study throughout her days at Daystar.   

Biology is a crucial subject that determines whether Nancy can enter the veterinary program of her choice, and she takes biology seriously. 

"She has an unwavering determination, which is especially rare. Once she sets her mind on something, she will devote herself to it, so you don't need to worry," says Ms. Free Zhou, Nancy's IBDP biology teacher.

For her Extended Essay (EE) research project, Nancy conducted an experimental study on the effects of temperature increase on the levels of vitamin E and vitamin C in kiwi fruit. Such molecular experiments may easily fail as many variables can influence the results.

"It took a lot of time. She spent four weekends and thirty to forty class days on it. When the data didn't match the expected results halfway through, most students would change the experiment subject. But not Nancy. She not only kept going but also had the patience to figure out the problem – a problem with the reagent bottles. In other words, she conducted the entire experiment twice. She is quite suitable for scientific research." says Ms. Zhou.

In order to get closer to her interests, Nancy also chose to intern at a veterinary hospital during the summer before Grade 12. She observed veterinarians working on dogs, including a patellar dislocation surgery on her own dog.

"When choosing a university major, our students don't just follow the crowd. They have their own ideas and convictions, even if it's a niche field. Nancy is one such student," says Michelle Liang, Daystar’s college counselor and IB program associate coordinator.

Because of her own ideas, Nancy was not afraid to redo the experiments that took months to complete. Because of her persistence, even if she were to fall and to lose unconsciousness during a competition, she would just get back on the horse once she wakes up.

We wish this courageous and deep-thinking young woman with excellent horse sense all the best, and we look forward to more Daystar students who, like Nancy, calmly and resolutely write their own life stories.

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