ECCV 2016 Daily - Friday

physics in high school. Some say that I’m lucky, but I’m not in the national team competing for the Olympics. It’s a little bit an overstatement to say, “I’m gifted”. I was not really encouraged to go into a technical field. For me, everything was the same. I didn’t have particular interest in finance or human resources at that time. I also didn’t have pressure from family or friends. I think they knew that I liked technology. ECCV Daily: So you were not encouraged, but you didn’t have obstacles? Cheng: Exactly, that was my situation. So I did it my way. I tried different programs, but then I realized I wanted to go into the technical field. Then I got the chance to go to Sweden to study technology for my Master’s degree. ECCV Daily: Why in Sweden? Why leave China? Cheng: There are different perspectives in life, right? In my studies, I wanted to try different things, and so it’s the same in life. I wanted to try different cultures. I read magazines about Sweden saying it was a quiet, beautiful country with a lot of forests. I also listen to a lot of music from Sweden. ECCV Daily: Who do you listen to? Cheng: I really like Swedish death metal like Arch enemy, Grave, Entombed, and Amon Amarth. I think most people don’t know these bands [she laughs]. Anyway, there are many reasons why I chose to go abroad to KTH University. Sweden is a country I wanted to check out, and KTH is a fine university. ECCV Daily: Did you have chances to go to other places? Cheng: I didn’t actually apply. In China, we have a special program for recommended Master’s students. The university recommends the top 10% or 15% of the students to a Master’s program without going through the examinations. We had the opportunity to choose without even applying. There were a few options, but I always liked Sweden. ECCV Daily: How did you feel when you were accepted? Cheng: I was really happy to start a new life! ECCV Daily: Did you feel like you had a high chance of being accepted? Cheng: I was pretty confident with myself. ECCV Daily: What gave you that confidence? Cheng: There were always some requirements from the university such as English skills. My English is Women in Computer Vision 13 ECCV Daily: Fr iday