One More Year... The Beginning of the Last Year

Time is a mysterious concept, it is a profound concept, it is an immutable concept. Before I left for Los Angeles today, I glanced at some of my brother's baby picture on the wall, he was a couple of months old, so cute and lovable, I still remember taking some of those pictures... simultanously I heard his laughter from downstairs as he beat my dad in a game of chess; suddenly, it struck me how much he has grown, how much I have grown, and how fleeting time has passed by... mercilessly and surreptitiously... slowly taking seconds away from my life, one at a time... I felt powerless in a struggle against time, the only soothing thought is that no one can escape from this permanent strife against the uncontrollable.

Ok, I got that out of my system now, all of the above can be summed up in one sentence, I can't believe how in the hell I am already a senior in college!!! Seriously, it is pretty scary and I do not want to think about it anymore.

After nearly four months without an update, I find it necessary to reflect upon what has been going on in my life.

1. My family no longer resides in CA, we moved to Gilbert (15 miles from Phoenix, a town smaller than freakin' Union City), AZ. This decision came as shocking to me as anyone who subsequently heard it from me, but I cannot control what my family does.. I can only complain about the average temperature of 110 degree FOR THE ENTIRE SUMMER.

2. I spent most of my summer in my hometown Beijing, China. This is the first time I went back since attending college; and the first time I spent summer in China as an adult, rightfully I felt a lot more mature and felt that I am observing things around me in a vastly different manner than before. Maybe this trip made me truly realize how close I am to be forced into the real world.. because this will probably be my last vacation in China in quite a while.

3. I have been studying for GRE (Graduate Record Examination). It is my goal to be admitted to a top graduate school, majoring in Operations Research. While my plan is to apply to only the top schools, I also realize that there is a chance that I might be rejected by all of them, but somehow I feel that is fine with me because I would rather work than going to Graduate school unless I can get into a top one.

4. I also grew a stomach while in China, my goal is to work those fat off in fall quarter.

5. I am alone in LA right now and will be till school starts, Lian is still in China and I hope these freetime will transform into a high GRE score!

6. I picked up poker again after coming back from China, my new plan (learned from Bo) is cashing out 50 dollars a day no matter if I lose or win that day, I have been doing that successfully for the past 7 days while still making my BR go up by 550.. Solid Poker for some extra income. I also realized at some point in summer that I will never become anywhere near a professional poker player (or make anywhere near the money some college students are making off poker) because I am just not cut out for it.

7. I got straight A or A- last quarter, my first quarter without sighting of B in UCLA, the best quarter in UCLA, but I think I figured it out too late... Sometimes I wish I could have tried harder...

That's it for now!