tag: Essay

I’ve been minimizing my dependence on big platforms like Google, Amazon, and Meta in the last few years, because I want to be mindful of my daily interactions with modern society. It sounds philosophical, but I think even minor decisions and daily interactions can reflect our agency as individuals. If you are interested in my experience, please continue with this article or jump to the platform of your interest. Cancel Amazon Prime A couple of years ago, I realized I only used Amazon Prime for one or two purchases a month, on average. This did not justify the cost of the Prime subscription, and I subsequently cancelled it. After that, I proved that I could survive without Prime with the privilege of living in NYC. ...

The 996/007 problem: from China to Silicon Valley I was born and grew up in China, and have taken the infamous Gaokao(national college entrance exam) to enter college there. Gaokao is known for its competitiveness – in my year, 9.3 million students took part in the exam, and only 2% of the students were admitted to the 39 top tier universities. My peers and I were promised by parents, teachers, and society that if we got to the top tier universities, we wouldn’t have to work hard for the rest of our lives. Therefore, we woke up at 6:45AM and studied at school till 10PM with only one day off during our senior year in high school. ...

Good news September has been a busy month for me, and I have been happily occupied by the changes in life: I got married to my partner 💍🤵🏻 I am starting my own business with a friend 📈🪙 We are resolving uncertainty around my immigration situation 🇺🇸🛂 With what has happened and is happening, I haven’t had a chance to sit down and write a regular blog post for September. But I want to briefly jot them down here so that people who care about me and I can revisit this post in future :) ...

I am not a fan of standardized tests I grew up in an environment that highly emphasized standardized tests, in which the only (almost) way to college is through an annual national standardized college entrance exam(Gaokao). The exam is highly competitive and brutal, and many people in their 40s or 50s have told me they still have flashback dreams about it. I’m personally not a fan of standardized tests after grinding through my high school time for the exam. ...