First of all, I have to say — this was a pretty interesting experience.
I don’t know what my score will be, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was interesting. Everything happened so fast — it felt like it was over before it even started. That’s honestly how it felt. The exam itself wasn’t hard. The speaking exercises were simple oral conversations, and we were all talking with fellow Chinese students anyway, so no worries about being misunderstood. It’s all Chinglish at the end of the day.
Before heading out today, I was saying how Jenny always manages to meet all sorts of different people, and I think that’s really cool. I blame myself for being too much of a homebody — I feel like I never get the chance to make new friends. Looking back at my year in Hangzhou, aside from the people I’ve met at school, I’ve only gotten to know a few colleagues from my previous job.
But today, I feel pretty lucky. I met two different people. They have one thing in common though: both studying math. The first one I met before my exam — a junior at the Pingfeng campus, majoring in applied mathematics. The second was a freshman at Zhejiang University (a post-2000 kid — suddenly I feel old). And not just any freshman — she’s in the Chu Kochen Honors College, which is seriously impressive. I looked it up: over 90% of graduates go on to further studies, with 40% heading to the world’s top 50 universities. You really can tell the difference when someone’s on a higher platform.
Time to buckle down and work hard. Whether it’s my horizons or my abilities, there’s always infinite room for improvement.