On October 2019, I had been awarded a scholarship under the State Scholarship Fund provided by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) to pursue doctoral degree in Montreal, Canada under a joint project. With gratitude to the First Hospital of Lanzhou University and my domestic supervisor Tang Xulei, I started studying as a PhD student at McGill University. I worked in Endocrine Genetics Laboratory with Dr. Constantin Polychronakos.

    McGill University is a public research university in Canada. In all major rankings, McGill consistently ranks in the top 50 universities in the world and among the top 3 universities in Canada. I worked at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), which is affiliated with McGill University and is one of the largest medical institutions in Canada.

    I had never heard of Montreal before I arrived. This was a city soaks in a strong ambience of literature and art, with French as their official language. Fortunately, if you could speak English, you can also live easily here. Canada is famous for its winter lifestyle, for the season lasts half the year there and the minimum temperature is -40℃. However, the cold climate could not stop the love and enthusiasm of Canadians for life.

    I came to Montreal and it took me a while to adjust to the life here.The first was to overcome the language barrier. It was a very practical problem after entering a non-native language speaking country. Therefore i re-learned the language, mainly focusing on the usage of words and phrases this time. Natalija Popovic, my lab administrator, often discussed various topics with me and chatted with me, which indeed helped me to exercise my listening and speaking skills.

    The second was to accept cultural differences, especially differences in diet and thinking. There is no need to consider the issue of entertaining guests when dining in Canada. Usually, the restaurant will prepare the bill separately. Even for my Chinese friends’ gatherings, each one would brought a dish that they made to share. In terms of the differences in thinking, Canadians emphasized individualism, advocating independence and freedom. While I had been educated since childhood to remain introverted and prudent, to express personal views in a modest and subtle way, and to care about the feelings of others. So I needed to learn to communicate in a direct and frank way as possible as i can on the premise of respecting privacy.

    To finish the scientific research was the main purpose of my study. Firstly i had a thorough communication on the project with my supervisor, Dr. Constantin Polychronackos to know more about the related research fields and get assistance directly.

Before the experiment started, I had received a series of training, mainly involving laboratory safety, the basics and practice of flow cytometry and etc. In the following days, if i encountered new problems, each one at the lab would patiently explain to me, and even discuss with me about the experimental design and scheme. But the final decision was up to the supervisor. In the process of learning, I also made good friends who could often discuss experimental methodology and encourage me in those difficult times.

    The biggest reward during this process was that I have learned to think independently, ask questions and solve problems on my own via reading lots of publications and other methods. For example, due to COVID-19 pandemic, it was difficult to recruit clinical samples. Therefore my supervisor found samples that had been frozen for more than 10 years. While trying to improve the viability of cell, I looked up tremendous literature to improve cell proliferation, which was also a challenge for the supervisor. We have conducted numerous discussions together, and I presented the update information at the lab meeting. A half year later, we finally found a solution. As Stephen William Hawking said, “science is not only a disciple of reason but also one of romance and passion.” It was my supervisor who taught me to solve scientific problems with passion at the same time.

    We had a weekly lab meeting that was chaired by all the members at the lab in rotation. The topics involved could be simple scientific research ideas, recent work progress, or publications you were interested in, etc. Besides, MUHC also held a noon seminar every Monday, where people from different labs would present their latest research progress, or articles published by their labs. Online meetings were also held when the epidemic is severe.

    The learning experience were very important for self-improvement, and I absorbed new professional vocabulary and knowledge like a sponge every time. At the same time, keeping participating in these seminar would also brings me new perspectives on scientific research, which would be of great help to my doctoral project. Furthermore, It also pointed out the direction for my future research.

Because of COVID-19 pandemic, I have spent nearly three years studying in Montreal. These years had witnessed coldness of the city and warmth of the people here. I am grateful for such a rare opportunity and for the support from my university, hospital and department. I also want to thank myself for never giving up on my dreams and hard work.

By Liu Ying / Lin Juanzhen

Edited by Office of International Cooperation and Communication