Study

Classes officially began today! With my roommate enthusiastically leading the way, I reached all three on time. (Applause.) The material was fairly basic—it was the first class of the semester, after all—but I did meet quite a few new people. Their names, however, still refuse to remain in my brain. Come to think of it, I do not believe I have even mentioned my roommate’s name. He is Joel, a local American majoring in mechanical engineering. At today’s residence-hall meeting, he displayed extraordinary extrovert powers. Bantering back and forth with the returning students was one thing; the man spent an entire afternoon seeking out new students to talk to! Please mentor me next time, sob. ...

Spent today writing my Art History paper. One-day hiatus.

Hello, everyone. I’m back! If you compare the entry numbers with the dates—does anyone truly have that much free time?—you will discover that I never actually stopped writing over these last two weeks. So why did none of it get posted? Because none of it was really a diary. The Sunday before last, I talked with a friend about time management. I always seem terribly busy while accomplishing absolutely nothing. His suggestion: record what you do every hour of every day. Then at least you will know “where did all the time gooo~” (suddenly bursts into song). I thought about it, decided he had a point, and redistributed my daily diary-writing time into filling out a table instead… ...

Somehow, it has already been two full weeks since I started recording how I spend each day. I am thoroughly ashamed of those two weeks—so ashamed that I hardly dare share them—because my time management has been an absolute disaster! Each day contains enormous blocks of “watching videos” and “playing a little MC.” (A little? Even I laugh when I write that.) The rest goes to puzzle hunts, puzzle walks, and every other way of avoiding serious work. The hours genuinely spent on what matters can be counted on one hand. I have not even managed one early-morning run in these two weeks. (Soon to be three!) ...

Living away from home makes spending money every day almost unavoidable, and I am increasingly convinced that I need to keep a budget. On one hand, I am forever buying things on impulse; on the other, I am forever discovering things I lack. I need a daily spending limit, or it will not be long before I have to hold out my hand and ask for money again (laugh). Ah? Didn’t get it? Humorous analysis: the first character of the items you must bring every day when going out: ID card (Shenfenzheng), Phone (Shouji), Keys (Yaoshi), Wallet (Qianbao)—Shou-Ji-Yao-Qian (literally sounds like “actively asking for money”) (who asked you anyway). ...

Drifting stardust has finally settled. Getting out of bed in winter is a challenge. Hardest of all, though, is the stretch between stepping outside for a run and finally warming up. A knife-cold headwind cuts through clothing that is not nearly thick enough. (Nobody runs in a down jacket… right?) You have to force your body not to curl inward and hold the proper form. But once the rhythm takes over, it is all worth it. ...

Today I received an offer from LeTourneau. (At last, no more relatives asking, “Everyone else has an offer—where’s yours?”) Before it was even warm in my hands—can an electronic file get warm?—I followed a classmate to a library farther away for the great battle of… claiming a seat! If you want to study in a library, seat-snagging is an essential experience. In front of the library doors before they open at 9 AM, there will inevitably be a long line of people waiting, followed by the “leading the charge, fearless of blocking blades and spears” rushing phase. For latecomers like us, we could only pray that someone happened to leave their seat due to some business; otherwise, we’d be reduced to NPC characters randomly spawning next to suspicious-looking empty seats (sad). ...

Today is a day filled with grace! Got up early and ran nine kilometers, somehow getting faster as I went. Beijing winters really are cold… Paid a visit to the National Library and got a library card. The place was packed: even in a building that enormous, finding any seat was hard, never mind one beside an outlet. Tomorrow I plan to arrive early and stake one out. In the evening, with the help of a friend, I completed the math competition, and then hurriedly left (so grateful to my friend for helping me call a cab). On the way, we passed a toll station, and looking out the car window, I saw the big characters reading “North China Electric Power University.” Hmm, feels a bit familiar. ...

Yesterday’s post did carry a bit of negative emotion, and I am very sorry if it caused any misunderstandings… However, I will not delete the post. On one hand, I have edited the content, so there is no need to worry about any risk of being monitored; on the other hand, I thought that looking back in the future, I should be able to re-experience this raw feeling of just arriving! Isn’t that the whole point of why I write these diaries? ...

Today, I have finally graduated in the truest sense of the word! No need to lament the rapid passage of time, nor to regret past failures. Here, please allow me to briefly tell the story of a youth who entered high school with impure motives but was ultimately transformed by grace (the following is the draft of the graduation speech, with minor edits). To be perfectly blunt, I left public education mostly because the pressure was too great—not out of some noble desire to pioneer Christian education in China. Countless times I have wondered what my life might look like now if I had stayed in the public system and taken that broad road. At the risk of sounding immodest, I learn quickly; perhaps my grades there would have been better than they are today. Once, while I was entertaining that very thought, Mr. Zhang said beside me, “Modern education can indeed produce a top scorer—but that top scorer may end up taking their own life.” Ah, we human beings are like that. We endlessly romanticize what we could not have, then forget to cherish and give thanks for what we did receive. ...