Breaking Barriers in STEM Science and Sports: Bowen Is a Rising Star at Knovva

As a 9th-grade student, Bowen packed up his belongings and moved all the way from China. That was almost one year ago, and the transition hasn’t always been easy.

Bowen had to jump head-first into the English language, join sports teams, push himself to keep his grades high in a new school, get familiarized with his new home, and get accustomed to a new culture and food.

However, if he were able to go back into the past, he wouldn’t change a thing about the process, for it has made him a stronger student and person. As he’s demonstrated time and time again, Bowen is not afraid to push himself.

Here’s the story of Bowen, how he’s managed to overcome the challenges of the past year, and how this positive mindset will serve him in the future.

Academic Background and Excellence in Two Countries

Bowen is no stranger to the advanced courses in school. As a middle schooler in China, Bowen received award recognition for his high grades almost every semester. While Bowen had been studying English since he was a young boy, his move to the US required an immediate proficiency in the language, quickly pushing him from his academic knowledge to real-world application.

While Bowen got situated in his new school, he already knew the importance of keeping his grades high. Since arriving in 2022, Bowen has received several accolades in school, including consistent straight A’s, and near-perfect grades in math and science.

A Musician and a Dancer: Performative Arts and Beyond

Though not all schoolwork fills his day; Bowen is also a prolific performance artist. While he’s had the opportunity to delve into a number of artistic endeavors, here are the ones most significant to him.

• 1. Dance

  Beginning his dance career in China, Bowen was part of a multistudent dance troupe that choreographed dances for national competitions. His favorite genre of dance was (and still is) hip hop, which earned him the Chao Dance National Children’s Pop Dance Competition award.

• 2. Singing

  Bowen had enjoyed singing as a way to pass the time. Often, he found himself humming along to a tune on the radio, or recalling lyrics to a song he heard days before. As he began to project his voice through regular singing practice at home, he realized it was a potential activity to try within a group.

  Always one to find his place within a team, Bowen tried out for his school’s choir and landed a spot as a bass vocalist. His confidence and ability to hit the right notes all improved with consistent recitals. He also went on to perform on a recorded album with the chorus group.

• 3. Violin

  Within the last year, Bowen has sought other opportunities to flex this creative and musical muscle. He landed on the violin.

With weekly lessons and daily practice, Bowen has become a proficient violinist with the ability to execute challenging notes. While Bowen loves to challenge himself, it isn’t always for self-competition; Bowen also loves to play the violin to relax.

An Energetic Student Turned Talented Sportsman

Bowen describes himself as the ‘outdoorsy’ type. On free weekends, he loves to go out and adventure with his family, sometimes going off on kayaking and hiking excursions. Back in the winter of 2022, Bowen taught himself how to ski, and then proceeded to bring his family up to New Hampshire where he gave his dad a multiday lesson on skiing.

When the weather is warm, Bowen enjoys getting out into the water. This past summer he was on a kayaking adventure to fish for crabs and other saltwater fish.

All these water sports come as new opportunities for Bowen because he recently overcame one of his most significant challenges: he taught himself to swim.

• 1. Rowing and Swimming

  Seeing the rowers on Boston’s Charles River each morning, Bowen took on a keen interest in the sport. However, when he showed up for practice on the first day at the rowing camp in Boston, the instructor told him he needed a swim certification before getting into the boat.

  

  Because Bowen wasn’t yet comfortable as a swimmer, he took a membership at a local pool and began his daily swim practice. There were only a few weeks left before rowing registration for the season closed, which meant Bowen had to focus himself on this major goal.

  It took a high level of commitment, concentration, and time management to fit in daily swim practice within such a short period, but he managed to do it.

  In the end, Bowen was able to earn his certification and personally deliver it to the rowing instructor before the season cut-off. He is currently a team member of Community Rowing in Boston.

  

• 2. Tennis

  Bowen had the opportunity to join the Rafa Nadal tennis camp over the summer. The camp offered a highly concentrated approach to tennis, where students could learn from some of the best coaches in the area and develop their skills at a quicker pace. It was at this camp that Bowen honed his defensive and offensive abilities.

  Bowen was able to join his high school tennis team and play competitively against schools in the area.

• 3. Cross-country

  Last academic year, Bowen became involved with the cross-country track team in hopes of building his stamina for long-distance running. He hoped that an improved lung capacity would assist him in other areas, such as rowing and swimming. Now he’s able to run several miles at a time and has consistently worked towards improving his personal best run times.

  

His Passion for Constructive Hobbies and Inventive Activities

We might consider foresight the ability to see the big picture beyond our present state. Bowen takes this a step further with his ability to invent and construct objects, which all started with Legos.

Bowen had taken a lot of enjoyment from building Lego models and added a competitive edge to it. He began to time himself, set milestones for how quickly he could build an intricate model from start to finish, and then began to break his own personal records.

At a certain point, Bowen was making so many models that his family decided to keep them on display throughout the house.

“My family keeps them on display in the house like a museum gallery.”

This all led to the pursuit of taking things a step further. Bowen takes an inventive approach to his endeavors in the sciences. He’s done everything from developing his own compass drawing tool to make a perfect spiraling circle, to designing an outline for new building materials.

Bowen’s Pursuit for Scientific Development

In the summer of 2023, Bowen joined a team of like-minded high school students from the Massachusetts area at the Boston Leadership Institute. Because many of the greatest minds in innovation work and live near Boston, Bowen connected face-to-face with other innovators in his field of interest. Having the chance to meet with industry leaders and CEOs at the camp taught him how to further pursue the business of science. The STEM Entrepreneurship Business Program was his gateway into collaborative projects, engaging content on developing scientific advancements, and understanding how science and business are symbiotic in today’s world.

Bowen and his team addressed the need for more cost-effective and sustainable containers for international trade. The team worked together to learn about the composition of the current material being used, a type of steel that’s heavy and contributes to an increased use of fuel. They then began to work out the design for a special carbon fiber container that would maintain durability during sea travel while requiring fewer resources to produce and transport.

Bowen’s Ultimate Goals in the Science Field

While Bowen takes a keen interest in the STEM sciences, he’s endlessly inquisitive about biology engineering. As a new resident of the greater Boston area, Bowen is well-versed in the booming local bio-pharma market. He takes great inspiration from local thought leaders and innovators who are changing the world of medicine.

His dream is to major in biology and develop life-saving medicines for people in need. If he continues on his path with the same amount of passion and curiosity as he has now, Bowen is sure to surpass his goals.