The Stress and Uplift

"Good Luck," my mother texted me before my Economics final early morning. Even though I was busy with academics in my high school, the intensity of the UChicago Economics program is definitely not the same as Middle College. I studied until 1:30 AM, last night, and woke up at 6 AM but I don't think the test went really well. I guess a good worth ethic does not imply good test scores. 

Majority of my blogs, for the past three weeks, has been about difficulty of the course. I study in the lounge for many hours and show myself in a good mood, even if it feels bad knowing that I don't have the same resources and economic knowledge as some of these guys (30 students in the class). Truly, I am blessed to have received so many resources through the Ivy League Connection, and see how competitive the real world is so that once I am back to California I can catch up to these students. 

Computer Lab Hours. 

Today, I think I received a good amount of participation points, though, because we discussed how Artificial Intelligence impacts our economy. I love Computer Science and I discussed this similar topic with my teacher during office hours all while adding a lot on our class discussion.

Even though the exam is over, the class is not. I have a big project that is due tomorrow (worth 15% of our grade). My group has been working in the Computer Lab for the past 2 hours, writing a 3 paged paper and practicing the PowerPoint Slides. While writing our own Evidence Based Economics on the optimal size of schools with the group, I have learned a lot about the real value of team-work.

Even with all the stress, I found the architecture boat tour through Chicago very refreshing. I had been dealing with a lot anxiety over the past couple of days but hanging out with John, Kayla, and Max refreshed me. The only time I went to Downtown Chicago was the first week but since then it has been an overload of work with most of time being spent at the West Commons studying. 

I was expecting the boat tour to be rather boring but it was quite the opposite. I have limited myself to the Bay Area for about my whole life but being to explore out of the Bay Area feels good. I love how there are so many skyscrapers, businesses, and touristy destinations that are all visible from the Chicago River. 

Chicago is a beauty.

Furthermore, I took a night walk through UChicago with my friend, Alex Tchang, where we talked about our personal lives. Because we come from a very different background, we were interested in our diverse perceptions. His father went to Stanford University for a Masters in Engineering and his family owns a Real Estate business, right now. We talked for an hour and we went really deep in our conversations, as I was feeling really disappointed the whole day. He respected many of my personal values and listened to my comments. 

It is the second last day here at Chicago and I, continually, build relationships with people I barely know. It feels sad knowing that I probably won't meet these guys ever again. As John said, yesterday, "Once you are an adult, you get to used to this part of life."