With Trevor’s effort and help, Jean finally got the opportunity to have her first vocational day and visit one of the best universities in the world—University of Sydney.
The first impression about Sydney Uni. was its ancient buildings. Though they are not as tall as the school buildings in Taiwan, it tells the long history and academic glory of Australia. I was very lucky and honored to have an individual interview with Professor Marcela Bilek, whose field was in applied physics. She kindly gave me abundant information about her department and her own research, she also arranged a researcher to give me a brief but detailed lab tour.
Different from Taiwanese higher education system, the bachelor degree of physics in Australia requires only three years of study. What I found interesting was that the Australian students enter universities without majoring in a specific field. The students who like science can take any science course they want in the first two years, and once they find their own interest in chemistry, biology or other subjects, they can start their major and take related courses. In Taiwan, students always apply for a certain department before they enter universities. I was thinking that if Taiwan had similar policies like the one in Australia, maybe we would have less students complaining that they were in the wrong fields.
Before I had interview with Prof. Bilek, I had checked the website of the physics department for information. I was surprised to find that the number of their researcher members is far much more than the teachers, because, in Taiwan, the teachers are usually the main faculty in every department. Then, I learned from Prof. Bilek that the reason why they have many researchers and postdoctorals is because the professors in their department have received many grants from government or other organizations. Thanks to the grants, the department has plenty of researchers who devote themselves to the research and experiment, and their academic results keeps gaining the reputation for their department.
I benefit a lot from my vocation visit in Sydney University, and it was really interesting to see all the differences in physics department between Taiwan and Australia! 
At last, a special thanks to my host mom Sue who took me all the way from the zoo to the university and waited for me patiently during the interview, and to Trevor who made this visit possible!!
By Jean
