Where My Curiosity Began

        My childhood was filled with curiosity about science and mathematics. I enjoyed observing how things worked, solving problems, and turning my ideas into real objects.

My interest in logical thinking began in kindergarten, when my parents gave me a set of Logic Dog puzzles. These games were designed to develop children’s reasoning skills. In one activity, I had to match different colors and shapes. I carefully compared each pattern and removed the choices that did not fit until I found the correct answer. I enjoyed the process, especially the sense of achievement I felt after solving a difficult puzzle.

As I grew older, I became interested in LEGO. To me, LEGO was more than a set of building blocks. It allowed me to learn simple ideas from physics and engineering by building things with my own hands. Once, I spent several weeks making a small wind turbine model. During the process, I learned the basic idea of how wind can be used to generate electricity. The model did not work at first, so I kept changing its structure and testing it again. When it finally worked, I was very excited. That experience showed me how an idea could become something real through repeated testing.

Electronic building blocks gave me my first understanding of electronics. By putting circuits together, I learned basic ideas about current, voltage, and resistance. I also completed simple projects, including a circuit that used a switch to control a light. Unlike knowledge that I only read about in books, these activities gave me direct results that I could see. They made me more interested in electronics and experiments.

Robot programming became another hobby of mine in primary school. I joined a robotics club and worked with other students to design a robot that could detect and avoid obstacles. We had to write code, test the robot, and correct problems whenever it failed to move as planned. Through this project, I learned how mathematical logic could be used to improve an algorithm and help the robot complete its tasks more efficiently. I also learned to listen to my teammates, share ideas, and solve problems together.

Mathematical games were also an important part of my childhood. One of my favorites was the 24 Game. The goal was to use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to make four given numbers equal 24. I often played it with my friends. It improved my calculation speed, but more importantly, it taught me that a problem could have more than one solution. I began to try different methods instead of stopping after my first attempt.

While studying at Taizhou No. 1 Foreign Language School, I had a mathematics teacher whom I especially liked. He often used simple examples and stories to explain difficult ideas. Once, when teaching fractions, he used apples and oranges to show how a whole could be divided into smaller parts. He then used these parts to explain how to add and subtract fractions. By seeing and comparing the pieces, I quickly understood the idea.

These childhood experiences helped build my interest in science and mathematics. Logical puzzles taught me to think step by step. LEGO and electronic building blocks allowed me to test ideas with my hands. Robotics showed me how mathematics and programming could work together, while mathematical games taught me to look for different solutions. Through these activities, science and mathematics became more than school subjects. They became ways for me to understand the world and satisfy my curiosity.