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  • SME Students Interview on Its 10th Anniversary with Ye Zi | Mastering My Own Destiny and Making Unwearied Efforts

SME Students Interview on Its 10th Anniversary with Ye Zi | Mastering My Own Destiny and Making Unwearied Efforts

March 10, 2025 Student News

Ye Zi

School of Management and Economics (SME), The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen)

Major in Finance (minor in Statistics), Admitted Class of 2017

Master’s degree in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago

PhD candidate in Finance, London School of Economics and Political Science

Ye Zi said that the days at CUHK-Shenzhen were her “academic childhood” where she met a good mentor who guided her academic direction, ignited her passion for scientific research, and helped her find her original intention on the long academic road ahead.

She felt very lucky because there are too many people in this world who may be able to do many things well but are still unable to find what they like. There are also many people who step into a certain field by chance, but only to make a living, lost with no clear path forward. However, through extensive attempts in her undergraduate years, she quickly found the career she loved and forged ahead with optimism and perseverance. Despite some ups and downs, she makes unwearied efforts.

When Ye was admitted, CUHK-Shenzhen was still a young university. At that time, it had only been three years since its establishment and the total number of teachers and students was only two or three thousand. Perhaps it is the reason why the relationship between professors and students here appeared so equal and cordial, which has also been passed down as a treasured spiritual tradition of CUHK-Shenzhen: Ye once was surprised to hear the school teacher name her only a few days after the semester started; she was shocked to learn that from the principal to the professor, every graduate was named, and she felt the warmth from the SME faculty members who spontaneously picked her up on typhoon days.

The cordial teacher-student friendship also watered the initial buds of her scientific research. During the summer vacation of her freshman year, Ye got the opportunity to serve as a research assistant to Professor Liu Hongqi and began to engage in behavioral finance research. Although she could only help with some relatively basic work at that time, Professor Liu never hesitated to explain the ins and outs of the research to her in detail and guided her to clarify the specific content and expected results of the work so that she could basically understand the framework and significance of financial research. She learned a lot from the professor and the satisfaction and positive energy in the research gradually formed her initial vision of scientific research in pursuit of a PhD degree. In addition to Professor Liu, other professors at CUHK-Shenzhen also generously provided guidance and help to her.

Then, her yearning for scientific research began to grow and yield fruits. At the same time, when she was an undergraduate at CUHK-Shenzhen, Ye attended many academic seminars as a reporter at the SME Media Center. Nurtured by the strong academic atmosphere, she seeded her academic dream.

Before finally deciding whether to embark on the path of scientific research, Ye participated in the summer courses of econometrics and R language programming at the University of Chicago during her sophomore summer vacation. After the summer course, Ye resolutely applied for a postgraduate program at the University of Chicago and was successfully admitted by the University of Chicago for further studies after undergraduate graduation.

If it is a happy academic childhood at CUHK-Shenzhen, the three years of master studying and predoc (predoctoral research project) at the University of Chicago are like her academic adolescence of constant self-exploration. In the face of scientific research, even after repeated overthrows and reconstructions, Ye still loves it deep down and hopes that her research will one day inspire policymakers and create a better life for more people.

Today, Ye is making steady progress on the path of scientific research and is currently pursuing a doctorate at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

When asked what advice she would like to give to her juniors, Ye quoted what Professor Li Ming said in a college interview.

“People are anxious because sometimes they want to achieve a goal quickly or sometimes, they have not yet found their goals. But if you already have a very firm and detailed goal, you might as well take your time.”

As Su Dongpo, one of China’s greatest poets and essayists, once said, “Whether to serve or to retire depends entirely now upon ourselves.” Ye used the quote as her WeChat signature to encourage herself. At the same time, she hopes that her juniors will get rid of anxiety, be active and self-consistent in the uncertain journey, follow their hearts, and enjoy the path.

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