by Ally Wong (Gr 12)

This summer, a Biomedical Camp was held at the University of Macao, and Grade 12 student Andrew Zhang signed up for it. Many students from various schools in Macao had gathered for the camp. They stayed for three days and two nights in the guest dorms of the university. Andrew learned about the camp through the school division announcements on WeChat , and he had asked Mr. Brown if he could take part. He was hesitant to join at first due to language differences. He was worried he wouldn’t be able to understand the lectures in Cantonese, but it turned out all the communication was in English.

The students were taught to use various instruments in the university medical laboratories. They learned to measure the volume of a liquid and be extremely exact with their numbers. They were also provided with genes to insert into certain cells to change the genes. “We got to work with many, very expensive equipment.” Andrew said. “They gave us a tour of the animal labs as well. They had a room full of fish, they had pigs and rabbits.” He says that the most memorable moment was the university professor’s lecture. They couldn’t understand Cantonese, and only spoke English. None of the local students understood anything the professor said, due to only knowing Cantonese, until a university student offered to translate the lecture for them. It was a very fascinating experience and more students should definitely take this rare opportunity next summer.

Andrew found the experience fascinating and said he would definitely recommend the other students to take part in this a rare opportunity next summer.