To Mr. Wong

Dear Mr. Wong,

It's very great to hear from you. I hope everything is fine there with you and your family.

Although i've been here for only 6.5 months, it seems like forever. I thank the Lord for such opportunities to experience a new life, and to learn so many new things.

Study is tough. I am working as a research assistant to two professors, in addition to my own research and courseworks. The intellectual challenge probably is not the toughest, but the need to jiggle a lot of tasks and be wise in handling relationships. I feel that the US is a very competitive environment, everybody talks about tenure and achievement. Professors always talk about placement of PhD students--whether they can get a job in a top-tier university. This is not very compatible to my belief. My belief is doing good research is what a researcher means for. Those extrinsic rewards would mean nothing but distraction if a researcher does not put research quality before them.

Although study is tough and stressful, i think it is not comparable to the stress that you and my former teachers at SCC are now experiencing. I feel very disappointed when the society misunderstood our teachers. I think that you should be proud of what you've been doing. Hope that every teacher has the recognition that he/she definitely deserves.

Life is full of mercy though. I made genuine friends with classmates and from church. I joined a Chinese church, which is probably the only Chinese church in the Champaign area. I am singing in the church choir! My small group is composed of PhD students of various disciplines, all come from Hong Kong. I learn a lot from them. And probably because we are away from home, everyone of us has deep reflections of our lives. Our sharing is deep and supportive.

My plan to come back is around the end of July. I might have 3-4 weeks of rest. But it is not confirmed yet since i will have some Summer research assignment.

Talk to you later. Take care!

Shirley