Ruiqi's Page 2

My Three Role Models

 Pixar Animation Studios 

Pixar Animation Studios, based in Emeryville, California, is one of the world’s best computer animation film studios. The studio started its story in 1979 when George Lucas recruited Ed Catmull from the New York Institute of Technology to head Lucasfilm’s Computer Division. Lucas’s initial goals were to further explore computer graphics and to create a digital (nonlinear) film editing system, a digital (nonlinear) sound editing system and a laser film printer. The studio was transformed into an independent company “Pixar” in 1986, when Steve Jobs purchased the Computer Division from George Lucas. In the same year, the short film “Luxo Jr.” was completed, which is the mascot of this studio. Pixar celebrated its 20th anniversary and embraced the turning point of its development in 2006. It was purchased by the Walt Disney Company and Ed Catmull assumed leadership of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Up to 2017, Pixar have created 19 feature films, including ''Toy Story, Monster Inc., Finding Nemo and Cars.''

I am impressed by Pixar not only for the unforgettable childhood experience of watching its films, which have the heart-warming themes of friendship and growth, but also for its management system of collective creativity. The innovation of each animator is taken into consideration and may contribute to the improvement of storylines. Meanwhile, all parts of a new film are created simultaneously, which increases the flexibility of redesigning. The company also creates an atmosphere of equality by allowing all team members, from the leader to each animator, to involve in decision making. I admire Ed Catmull, as well as the other leaders of Pixar, because they built up a stage for each young creator instead of themselves and developed an efficient way to unleash and harness everyone’s slices of genius.

 Yuan Longping 

Known as “the father of hybrid rice” in China, Yuan Longping is an important figure in agricultural sciences. Born in a war time (1930), Yuan moved with his family and attended schools across five provinces. In 1949, he started studying at the Southwestern Agricultural College in Chongqing, which marked the beginning of his lifelong work in agriculture. After graduation in 1953, he was assigned to teach at Anjiang Agricultural School in Hunan Province. He started his experiments on hybrid rice in 1964. After nine years of research, he succeeded in breeding unique genetic tools and his varieties were put into commercial production in 1976. He then led a project to develop “super hybrid rice,” which has an additional yield increase of approximately 20%. His achievements have successfully solved the issue of food-shortage in China and benefit other countries.

Despite his great contributions to countries suffering from famine, I admire him for his perseverance and innovation. He has spent over 60 years doing scientific researches and, at an age of 87, he still keeps studying hybrid rice which can be grown in salted water. I want to have an interview with him and learn about how he came up with the ground-breaking idea of hybrid rice at a time when it was widely accepted that hybrid vigor could not be bred in a self pollinated crop like rice. I am also curious about his experience during his high school time, since he is my alumnus.

 Nick Vujicic 

Nick Vujicic, an international motivational speaker, was born in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia. He came into the world without arms and legs. Throughout his childhood, Nick was not only faced with the physical challenges and bullies at school, but he also struggled with depression and loneliness. However, as Nick grew up, he learned to deal with his disability and strive for success. By the age of 19, Nick found his life mission and started to encourage other people by giving speeches about his life story. At the age of 21, Nick graduated from Griffith University in Australia and obtained a double Bachelor's degree in Accounting and Financial Planning. In 2005, Nick founded an international nonprofit organization, Life Without Limbs. Two years later, he set up the motivational speaking company, Attitude Is Altitude. He has traveled to over 57 countries, sharing his story with over 400 million of people.

I am impressed by Nick’s eloquent speeches. Though the notions in his speeches are common, such as never giving up to failures and always keeping the hope, Nick acted out his failures on the stage and showed how easy to keep trying. He also asked questions about the common feelings in daily life and inspired the audience to think of their own experience. I admire Nick for his courage and resilience, which make him through the ups-and-downs in his life. He is a role model for me when I am faced with failures or when I want to change what I look like only to satisfy others.

References

Pixar. (n.d.). Our story. Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://www.pixar.com/our-story-1#our-story

Linda Hill. (September, 2014). How to manage for collective creativity at TEDxCambridge. Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://www.ted.com/talks/linda_hill_how_to_manage_for_collective_creativity/transcript#t-345556

The World Food Prize. (n.d.). 2004: Jones and Yuan. Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/20002009_laureates/2004_jones_and_yuan/

CCTV (China Central Television). (n.d.). Yuan Longping’s Profile. Retrieved November 25, 2017, from http://news.cctv.com/20070517/105257.shtml

Nickvujicic website. (n.d.). Nick Vujicic. Retrieved November 25, 2017, from http://www.nickvujicic.com/

TSP Staff. (May 16, 2016). Never Give Up by Nick Vujicic (Full Transcript). Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://singjupost.com/never-give-up-by-nick-vujicic-full-transcript/

TSP Staff. (October 2, 2014). Overcoming Hopelessness(TED Talk Transcript). Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://singjupost.com/nick-vujicic-overcoming-hopelessness-ted-talk-transcript/2/