2023 Review

Today is December 31st, the last day of 2023. The past 2023 is special to me, and marks a huge change in my whole life. Right now, I am sitting at my table, spending the last several precious hours of 2023, a year that will never come back again.

January – DDLs

The year 2023 started with the busy preparations for essays and interviews. I wrote my essays in a hurry because I only decided to go to study in US in late November. January is full of deadlines in my memory.

February – Interviews

One big thing took place in February is BTA interview! My work in January seemed to pay off, and I think I had a good conversation with Mrs. Oloko. I still remembered that she asked about my opinion on Chinese education system as well as the COVID-19 policies. That is also the longest interview I had among all the schools I applied for.

March – School life

March is a back-to-school month, and my focus changed back to the schoolwork in Chengdu No.7 High School. But in normal school life, I still accumulated math, physics, and chemistry knowledge which later greatly enrich my study in BTA.

April – Friends

More and more friends were knowing that I will study in America. With lighter study burden, we walked on the large playground and talk about olympiad contests, and our future (w Star, Lucy, etc.)

May – Adapting

Well, because of the change of university entrance exam, we had a huge migration of students to different classes, and I was one of them. I was in Class 14, which means I need to bid farewell to all my teachers and classmates (almost), and meet new friends, which is actually helpful.

June – Waiting

Well, June is a weird month. Regular study, but it was so close to summer vacation that the whole month passed in the hope of my American school, American students, American lifestyle. But meanwhile, there were also monthly exams and it got closer to the finals, so there were still academic burden. And I also waited for my F1 Visa!

July – Ending

2023.7.6

The last day of exams. The last day of Grade 10. The l ast day in Chengdu No.7 High School. The last day of studying in Chinese school.

It is the arrival of a period, but it is also a departure of new voyage. As Mrs. Hu said, it is from perfect to imperfect, from complete to incomplete. But everything is worth it. The new voyage brings me new friends, new experience, and new mindset.

August – New start

Our family came to Boston, and it was a new start for all of us, renting apartment, purchasing car, buying daily necessities, and preparing for an American school. We have never been on American territory for such a long time, and I haven’t met so many Americans as well. BTA also started in August, and I made a lot of friends in August as well, such as Eric, Ben, and Anna. I also succeeded in memorizing teachers’ names: Mrs. OsmanTallman, Mrs. Fulco, Mr. Loper, coach Franklin, and TONS of people (maybe not friend by then): Nina, Hauk, Emma, Richard, Sammuel, Elsa, Hugh, Sonia, Grace, Maggie, Casey……

September – Adapting

Yes, adapting again. But I think I quickly adapted into the new environment. Much more quickly than I expected. And a lot of my first times!

Today we went to Plimoth Patuxet, where the first Europeans lived during their first winter on the continent of America. It is beautiful, though, and there are some staff and historians role play, which is fun.

We learnt how Indians made canoe in a week and a half by burning(amazing), how they made food, and their houses. Massachusetts is just an Indian word. And I see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.Diary on September 2nd

Today I played tennis in the United States for the first time.Diary on September 3rd

Today I did my first chemistry experiment in America — Reactions of copper.

We turn Copper to Copper nitrate, and then to carbon hydroxide, and finally to carbon hydroxide.

We run 3*(0.5 mi+ 0.25 mi) during the Cross Country. And I’m trying to get a cooler bath.Diary on September 5th

We ran in the reservation for the first time, and it’s great!Diary on September 6th

The first party in AmericaDiary on September 8th

October – XC

For me, October is almost XC month! I made lot of good friends there. I liked the coach very much as well. His stories about counting Qs and his strict requirements really made every teammate improve a lot by the end of the fall season. We also raced against CSW, BUA, Brimmer and May, Gann Academy, BISB, and so on.

November – Drama

November is the month for drama! As a half-professional light operator, I really enjoyed giving lights to the stage and instructed people about the characters and settings. Because of doing lights in drama, BTA almost became my second home during the production week, but all the efforts paid off when the show was presented in front of public.

December – White

December is a white month. Not only because there were several snows in December, thought they were still very surprising for people like me who lived in south, but also because I reviewed on how to ski in white snow in Killington. But most importantly, several hours later, we are all going to step out to a white 2024, a new year waiting for us to create our everyday life. We only have one 2023, but we need to cherish 2024 as well because there is also only one 2024. Let’s continue our legends in 2024!

Special Thanks

 *The ranking has no particular order

• Thanks to Sophia Zhang, my mom, who accompanies me and helps me a lot in terms of academy and life.
• Thanks to Kevin Wang, my dad, who suffers from frequent missing of my mom and me, but offers fundings for my study and interests.
• Thanks to Eva Chen, who guides me to make all the decisions on studying in America, recommends me to BTA, and introduces about Christianity.
• Thanks to Kevin, my agent, for giving me great help in applying American high schools and colleges.
• Thanks to all BTA teachers, for their instructions on all the knowledge, skills, and mindset that not only help me get a good score, but also be prepared for future life and career.
• Thanks to Han Li, Xiaobai, who help me improve my English and get a good score in TOEFL exam.
• Thanks to all BTA students, who help me adapt the new environment quickly and give me support and encouragements whenever I need them.
• Thanks to all the teachers in Chengdu No.7 High School, who dedicated themselves to education and tries to cultivate all-round developed students under Chinese education system.
• Thanks to all my friends, who support me to study in America and our strong and long-lasting friendship constantly motivate me to move forward.
• Thanks to all the people who helped me in 2023, without any one of you, I can’t be who I am right now, sitting in front of table in Boston, writing the last post in 2023. Happy new year to all of you! Let’s create our 2024 together!