It’s been over a month since I started a new chapter as a PhD student. I have imagined this for a long time, but it turned out different, in a good way, generally. Let’s get started with bad ones. One thing is that I overestimated the quality of a doc student’s life. That means I thought my life would be easier, in terms of budget. Well, the good news is I’m basically independent, and my stipend is relatively high even across the campus....
Learning how to drive is absolutely a torture for me, I’m not kidding. Even in this relatively empty country, and I have the best driving instructor – my roommate, I still feel horrible. Knowledge test is ok, I prepared for weeks and took hundreds of mock tests, so I passed at once. A small episode is that, I was no sure if it was because I have not changed my glasses for a while, I could not see clearly with my left eye when I was doing the vision test....
I moved to Knoxville on 27th, and have been stuck in moving stuff until now. Before moving, I always believed that I am a minimalism. This thought disappeared when I started to pack. Even though I don’t have tens of boxes of things compared to others, still I was shocked about how much bits and bobs I own. Eventually I used two suitcases and one extra large box to pack all my stuff....
This Wednesday I presented my graduation portfolio, which was a replacement as the graduation thesis. It means that I finished my master’s program. I just can’t believe it. This year I have grown so much, even my personality has been changed. Last August I left my home country, China, and landed in the United States starting my new life. I used to be upset about almost everything, my family, my life, my major, my peers, my teachers, and myself....
It’s been 11 month since I landed the United States, time flies. If you ask me what is the biggest challange during this year, writing and speaking in my second language is definitely No.1, especially academic writing. I couldn’t even remember how many times I didn’t know how to express myself accurately and formally, and felt like I was just a loser. It happens, and it happens a lot. I can always find the best word to express myself in my native language because I read a lot, but in English, it depends on my vocabulary....
I shot my graduation photos with couple of friends yesterday, and it was so much fun! There were 6 of us and only one set of used cap and gown because we graduate in summer and graduation usually happens in spring. However, it only made us happy instead of sad about ourselves LOL. Shooting graduation photos gives me a real feeling that I’ll graduate from Johns Hopkins really soon. Before that, I didn’t really realize that I’ll graduate next Thursday....
I’m learning to build this website for weeks, and finally it’s public. Building a website is a little bit difficult for people who have a weak computer science background, but I did it!
Recently I’m wrapping up my master’s program. I was totally swamped these weeks. Assignments, getting started my PhD program, current projects, and other stuff. Ah, I’m like a working machine jumping between things! But fortunatley, I survived, and I’m much more relaxed right now. Two weeks from now, I will graduate from Johns Hopkins University, and start my new journey as a doctorate student. I can’t even imagine!