direction

When I picked up my pen and wrote the words "network engineer" on the paper, it felt like a lifetime had passed.

When I first entered university, my passion for the internet was indescribable. I taught myself all sorts of network knowledge and took various network certification exams. After my sophomore year, I abandoned all of that, and even felt somewhat lost. My junior year was filled with GRE and TOEFL preparation, and my senior year involved various practical activities, events, and awards, almost making me dizzy. The transition from MIS to CS was very difficult. After declaring my dream, I came to the United States. For almost a year, I felt stifled, as if something was weighing me down, limiting my potential. On weekends, I saw many people with strong CS backgrounds, and I felt a huge gap between us. The path seemed increasingly steep, the pressure mounting, and I increasingly didn't want to move forward.

A few days ago, through my mother's introduction, I met Aunt Yang and Uncle Chen. They have many years of experience working in the computer industry in the United States. They became my mentors. After analyzing and communicating with them, I realized that all of this stemmed from only two reasons: 1. My unfamiliarity with the entire American market and not knowing what the market needed. Because of this fear, I chose to follow the crowd. The mainstream in computer science is, of course, programmer, which is not my forte, leading to the aforementioned troubles. 2. Loss of self and inability to calm down and think. I don't know when I developed the habit of staying up late, or when I wouldn't go to sleep until I was too tired to stand up. I almost never lie down to think quietly and slowly fall asleep. The fast-paced, impatient, and efficiency-driven life has greatly diminished my self-awareness, leaving me mostly busy with pointless worries.

It was incredibly fortunate to have such a mentor appear at this crucial moment to analyze the situation and point me in the right direction. After more than an hour of conversation, I felt much clearer, able to see the path ahead and around me more clearly, and my energy finally had a foothold. Network engineering is my passion, something I've neglected for three years. Now I'm returning to this path and continuing forward.

Thank you so much to everyone who is following me now and has been helping me or has helped me in the past. It's so heartwarming and motivating to have you all around me. Even though you don't see me often, I can still feel it.