It was two of the most difficult years of my life so far. There were countless of hurdles and obstacles that I had encountered and overcome. After two long years, I’ve completed my Master’s degree in Computer Science at UCI.

Earlier today, I have unofficially received my comprehensive exam’s result from my wonderful and very helpful graduate advisor Milena. And guess what? I passed! Woohoo! Time to start the party!

Let me tell you something, it was such a relief. You have no idea! I feel as if I can finally get on with my life doing other things (web projects…yes…I know…I work on my free time) that interest me instead of always feeling like I’m being held back even though I have completed my required coursework a quarter early. It feels like as if I have finally paid my off all of my loans! (well…it would be nice if only this metaphorical statement applies in real life).

If you’re happened to be one of my close friends, you would have already known this. About a year ago, I was horribly struggling and relentlessly trying to figure out if I should stay at UCI or transfer somewhere else…and really…the idea of dropping out of grad school altogether crossed my mind on multiple occasions. I knew then that I would have had no problems getting a fulltime job and on top of that, I had the option to transfer to USC to finish my Master’s there. Fortunately, thanks to Warren (and his extremely frugal mentality), who persuaded me to stay and essentially save myself the extra 20k that I would have had to spend at USC.

Money was not the only variable in this equation. Part of the reason for my wanting to transfer out was that at the time, I felt that UCI wasn’t providing me enough practical knowledge that I was looking for and had expected. UCI, being a part of the University of California education system, is focused primarily on theory instead of application. Nonetheless, I managed to stay at UCI and with the right choice of classes, I ended up developing a number of cool and intriguing projects.

Looking back, even though, the past two years were no doubt insanely hectic, I must admit that it was definitely exciting…there was never a dull moment, never a boring day. I can’t even recall myself being bored once…”bored” was just not in my vocabulary. Each day brought me new surprises, good and bad. Oh, and let’s not forget that one night I had to spend 5 hours in the ER due to a sharp chest pain that the doctors later could not explain.

Would I do it over again? ...probably not…welllll…five years from now…maybe. =)

Anyways, thanks to everyone that I have mentioned above. And especially Allison, thanks for always being there through all of the tough times and my many stressful late nights. And of course, I would not be able to stick it through and made it this far if it were not for all yours efforts in pushing me toward my goal.

This Sunday, the 18th (Happy Father’s Day!), I will be walking in the ICS Commencement Ceremony, so if you know me and I have forgotten to invite you, then please let me know! (in other words, feel fortunate and grateful for my sparing you the hours of being bored to tears sitting there watching people walk up and down the stage) If you can’t make it, then come back here and check out the graduation pictures I will post next week.

So there it is, another chapter in my book of life has ended, I have learned a lot…And without a doubt, I have yet a lot more to learn.

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