From Shenzhou 6
to the Edge of Space
The journey of Caesar Qiu — from a five-year-old watching a rocket launch to a young engineer bound for UNSW Sydney.
“I Was Five, Watching Shenzhou 6 Launch”
Caesar was a five-year-old in Shenzhen when he watched China’s second crewed spaceflight, Shenzhou 6, rise into orbit on his family’s television. From that moment he was captivated by the vastness of the universe and the thrill of space travel — a fascination that has never left him.
That childhood spark became a compass. It pointed him toward aeronautical engineering, and toward a school on the other side of the world where he could pursue it. Studying at John Paul College, he says, is what allowed him to chase that dream.
“Ever since, I have been fascinated with space and space travel.”
从此，我就被浩瀚无垠的宇宙和激动人心的航空事业深深地吸引。
John Paul International College · the preparation pathway
A Preparation Pathway Built for Him
Caesar arrived in Brisbane at fifteen and completed the high-school preparation course at John Paul International College. Brisbane, he says, is a beautiful and safe city with no shortage of places to explore — but it was the classroom that changed him.
The prep course laid a solid foundation for study in Australia: it built his English quickly and gave him the academic footing to move into mainstream classes alongside local students. Australian classrooms were nothing like what he had known in China. Here, learning prized understanding and application over rote memorisation — flexible, engaging, and centred on the individual.
“Learning here strengthened my understanding of concepts and how to apply them — not just what was written on the board.”
Caesar Qiu · on the JPIC classroom
From a Homestay Family to the Boarding Village
During his years at John Paul College, Caesar lived in both a homestay family and the boarding village — and each one shaped the independent young man he became.
His homestay family was unfailingly kind. Living far from home taught him to make his own decisions and own the outcomes, growing into someone decisive and responsible. In the boarding village, students and staff were one big family; there he learned how to study, work and live co-operatively with others.
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A first home
A Kind Homestay
“Living away from home helped me learn to make my own decisions — and take responsibility for the results.”
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A second family
One Big Family
In boarding, students and staff were a family — where he learned to work and live co-operatively.
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A lasting bond
Year 12 Retreat
His fondest JPC memory: a chance to open up to staff and peers, and to build friendships that made him stronger in the face of difficulty.
His Launch Trajectory
John Paul College gave Caesar chance after chance to extend his learning far beyond the classroom. Follow the arc — from a boy watching a rocket, to a young engineer bound for university.
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Age 5
Shenzhou 6
A televised launch lights a lifelong fascination with space.
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Final Year
QUT STEM Internship
One of only 46 students in Queensland selected for the prestigious QUT STEM program.
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USA
NASA Space School
A three-week NASA Space School program in the United States — “a great experience.”
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Japan
Exchange Student
Forty days of high school in Japan — a more global outlook, and sharper Japanese.
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National
Titration Competition
With his JPC team: 2nd in Queensland and 8th in Australia.
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Next
UNSW Sydney
Accepted into engineering at one of Australia’s Group of Eight universities.
A Prefect With Almost Straight A’s
Guided by his teachers, Caesar excelled. He was proud to hand his parents a final report of almost straight A’s — and prouder still to be called to the stage at Speech Night.
Speech Night Honours
- Academic Honours Almost straight A’s in his final year
- Chemistry Prize Top student in Chemistry
- Japanese Prize Top student in Japanese
How He Grew
- JPC Young Designers
- Engineering mindset & skills
- A permanent mark on College history
- Reliable friendships
“I did not begin as a top student. With the help of so many responsible and skilful teachers, I could soar in the fields I loved.”
Watch Caesar’s Story
Caesar shares his journey from a rocket launch on a Shenzhen television to a place at UNSW Sydney — available in both English and 中文.
Choose your language
A Place at One of the Group of Eight
After graduating from John Paul College, Caesar was accepted into UNSW Sydney — one of Australia’s Group of Eight universities — to study engineering, and to keep chasing the dream that began with a rocket launch.
UNSW Sydney
A Group of Eight university, and a home for Australia’s leading aerospace and mechatronics engineering — exactly where Caesar wanted to be.
Aerospace Ambition
The childhood fascination with flight and space is now a professional pathway — the studies that turn a dream of the stars into an engineering career.
A Global Outlook
China, Australia, Japan and the USA — Caesar leaves JPC fluent across cultures and languages, ready to work anywhere in the world.
John Paul College is the school of opportunities. It allowed me to follow my dreams — and I strongly recommend it to future Chinese students.
Caesar Qiu · 邱根源 · Shenzhen, China
Every JPC Story Starts With a Dream
Caesar arrived from Shenzhen with a childhood fascination and left for university an aerospace engineer in the making. Explore more graduate journeys — or begin your own.