I have rarely been the sprinter in my life endeavors, outpacing those around me by multiple strides. In fact, it has been nearly the opposite. This isn’t to say that I have never been ahead of the curve — I have. There have been plenty of victories, first-place wins, accolades, acceptances, and the like. I look back at each of those moments and my first thought is that I worked hard. I was naturally adept at some of those endeavors, but for the most part, I sweated, toiled, tripped, and fell through the processes. It is hard for me to relate to those who view their accomplishments as a brisk stroll through the park in which some level of effort was involved, but not their full potential (because it wasn’t necessary). I come to a complete awkward silence, really. It is admirable, nonetheless. I am just not the same.

In many ways I have been a slave to my own aspirations for my entire life, chasing dreams and challenges with no one pushing me to do so except for myself. I grew up in a fairly supportive environment where “just do your best” was a common theme and if I still failed, I’d still be accepted. I could have been a complete failure and still be loved — what a concept! I think I have gone through life to ensure that that would never happen, because of it did, I would be disgusted with myself. Occasionally I would get snippets of side commentary from those around me to either encourage or cast doubts on my actions. Those, of course, may have steered my direction backward or forward, or not at all. I have typically set my own goals since I understood what goals were to begin with.

Does it matter that I will likely have to spend 200 hours on test preparation when the average person spends 100 hours? Does it matter that I took a windy and pothole-filled road to get to where I am today?

Step by step, I will make it to the finish line…or better yet, to each milestone at hand, since a finish line is a bit too finite. Each step will have its own significance, at least in my book. The journey should not be overlooked or forgotten.

One of the two characters of my Chinese name means perseverance. The other character means infinite, or the universe. When combined, it comes out to be infinite perseverance. I guess it was meant to be.

Last week I watched a 9/11 documentary with real footage taken by a guy shadowing one of the major firehouses near the World Trade Center. The cameraman, along with the entire fire squad, were all in the main lobby as the first tower collapsed. It was incredible and emotional.

This week I couldn’t take my eyes off the media coverage of Virginia Tech. Not only was it terribly disturbing and tragic, I just wanted to read and watch whatever/whenever I could. I don’t know why, but I felt like it was the only thing I could do to understand what it was like to be affected.

After a long and pressing week at the office, I just took my weekly dose of escape from the world to yet experience more emotion and drama with my favorite TV series, with this week’s episode being “Time after Time.” Even though it is fictional, there were certainly a lot of real life type of issues that struck me as powerful and heartfelt.

Regardless of culture, I think there are two things (not the only two, but just ones that I thought of at the moment) that bring people together: food and life challenges. Food is a way of life because it is a necessity for survival, it serves as a means of celebration, and it is historical, carrying thousands of years of tradition along with it. With life challenges, humans thrive on social interaction with one another because it provides support and an outlet. Whenever there are difficult times, families and friends gather, thus strengthening the relationships with one another.