Pasadena, 05 Nov ’09

A few people have asked me how I have been doing since I got back to the States. Unfortunately, I have not been getting a chance to get back to them. I am intending to write this post so you can get a glimpse of what has been happening this past five weeks.

In short, I have been busy with schoolwork. Caltech is one of those places that keep putting on constant pressure and expectation on you. For the past weeks, for example, I have only been managing to get an average of 5 hours sleeping time a day. This week in particular is one of the busiest I’ve ever experienced (I count ‘this week’ starting from last Friday until today). Three times this week I slept at 5 a.m. This was partly because I had a problem set (ACM 116) that takes more than a week to complete. The question sheet was five pages long and it involved quite a bunch of simulation. It is also a midterm week. From the moment I wake up, there will either be problem-set-sheets or an open book next to me. I begin the day by working straight even before I could go to the bathroom. Not a good way to start the day, but it was what happened.

Despite all these, I feel that I am obliged to be grateful about so many things. Getting through this week, for example. But really, there are so much more sentimental things to be grateful about: that my housemates show their support towards me by greetings me, asking how I am doing; that almost everyday, I could still step outside for a little while in the afternoon and just to take a long breath while trying to absorb that wonderful Californian weather surrounding me; that I could talk to my mom and ngobrol ngalor ngidul whenever I feel that I need a little distraction; etc, etc.

There are also reasons to be grateful about that are so fundamental. This includes the fact that this opportunity of experiencing one of the most demanding academic program in the world does not come to every body or the fact that all of these only makes me to be more independent and stronger in facing life. What is even more precious is that my relationship with Him and my faith grows even stronger with this trial. These make the whole experience to be very worthwhile. After all, like those GDBG people like to say it: nothing is worthwhile if it’s not difficult.

Au revoir,

Andre