More Than Just a Robotics Engineer 我不仅研究机器人，我还会..

A series featuring remarkable SAS students who work to embrace their many layers of talent and passion.

这是我们推出的系列文章，讲述我们特色鲜明的上海美国学校学生在各个领域不断接纳自己的各种天赋与爱好.

Bradley Xu, Class of ’21, Shanghai American School, Pudong Campus

上海美国学校浦东校区十年级学生Bradley Xu

We hear you have some varied interests that people wouldn’t normally think go together. Can you tell us about these?

My varied interests lay in robotics and Poi dance, which is this aboriginal dance from the Maori people, a tribe from New Zealand. Regarding robotics, I have participated in the FIRST Robotics Program since 7thgrade, and I am currently in the First Robotics Challenge (FRC) club. I also entered Intel ISEF with an engineering project, which I will be going to Finals with.My interest in Poi has led to performing at school events, and also at events outside of school.

我们听说你拥有一些大家通常认为不属于同一类的兴趣爱好。你能跟我们讲讲吗？

我的兴趣爱好是研究机器人以及跳Poi舞。Poi舞是新西兰毛利人跳的一种土著舞蹈。在机器人研究方面，我是从七年级开始一直参加FIRST Robotics项目，目前是First Robotics Challenge（FRC）社团的成员。我还参加了英特尔国际科学与工程大奖赛，并凭借一个工程项目进入决赛。出于对Poi舞的热爱，我会在校内外的各种活动中进行表演。

What do these different interests each add to your life?

Robotics and Poi add to my life two opportunities to explore different styles of activities. Robotics is more academic, and hence requires more ‘brain power’ to problem solve issues and learn new skills. It needs a lot of thinking and understanding before certain knowledges can be used and applied. For Poi, however, it is slightly different as it is more akin to dance. Hence, the activity is more practice intensive, and requires you to just give it a few tries (or perhaps a few more) to succeed.

这些不同的兴趣爱好为你的生活带来了什么？

研究机器人和跳Poi舞为我提供了两种机会，让我能够探索不同风格的活动。机器人研究更具学术性，因此需要消耗更多的“脑力”来解决问题，学习新技能。这需要进行很多思考和理解，才能对特定知识进行运用。Poi舞稍有不同，更像是跳舞。因此，poi舞更加注重实践，只需尝试几次（或者是多尝试几次）便能取得成功

Does one, in any way, impact the other, or are they very separate uses of your energy?

In my opinion, robotics and an aboriginal art form from New Zealand are quite distant. Hence, they are different uses of my energy. Robotics is more sedentary, and Poi is a more active activity. As previously explained, these two different uses of energy add to my life precious opportunities to harness these two differing energies.

一个兴趣爱好会不会对另一个兴趣爱好产生影响？还是说它们之间互不影响？

在我看来，机器人研究和来自新西兰的土著艺术之间差别很大。因此，这两个兴趣爱好消耗的是我不同的精力。机器人研究是相对静态的活动，Poi舞则更加动态一些。正如我之前说的，通过两种不同的方式消耗我的精力，为我提供了宝贵的机会，让我能够驾驭这两种不同的精力。

Do you ever feel pressure to choose between them and just haveonething you love? If so, where does that pressure come from?

I definitely feel pressure to follow my academic STEM paths simply because they are paths that many people have followed.

你有没有因为多选一的压力而只选择一个兴趣爱好？如果有的话，这种压力来自哪里？

我在学习方面会感到一些压力，因为这是大多数人的选择。

What do you think might be some benefits to being a multi-faceted person?

Strangely, being multi-faceted allows me to meet and makes friends with many different people. The friendships and connections I make through robotics, which is more STEM-orientated, are quite different to the friendships and connections I make through poi dance, which is more artistic. This makes me more open-minded and allows me sometimes to view problems through a different perspective.

你认为成为一位“多面手”的好处有哪些？

奇妙的是，成为一位“多面手”让我能够结交各种各样的朋友。我在机器人研究方面建立的友谊和联系更具学术性，我在Poi舞方面建立的友谊和联系则更具艺术性，两者迥然不同。这让我思想更加开放，让我有时候能够从不同的角度看待问题。

If you were limited, and could only do one, how do you think this would change you as a person?

Feeling restricted is the first thing that pops into mind. There are so many things I wish to explore and being only able to do one would begin to make me wonder about the other interesting things about this world. My desire to explore and learn more would definitely distract me.

如果你只能选择一个兴趣爱好的话，你认为这会对你产生什么影响？

对于这个问题，我的第一感觉就是受到了限制。很多事情都是我想去探索的。只选择一个兴趣爱好会让我对这个世界上其他有趣的事情感到好奇。我渴望探索和学习更多的东西，这肯定会分散我的注意力。

TALENT.EVERY DAY AT SAS.

才能。就在上海美国学校的每一天。

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Founded in 1912, Shanghai American School (SAS) is the largest and most established international school in China. In short, it's the kind of school you wish you would've attended when you were a kid.

创建于1912年，上海美国学校是中国最大的也是历史最悠久的国际学校。简而言之，如果你能回到小的时候，这会是一所你想要去的学校。

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