First of all, I would like to say thank you to 2021 for giving me so many life lessons that I, myself, did not expect that those things could happen in my life. Second, I would like to say thank you to my family and close friends for being next to me every time I faced a problem. That endless advice, encouraging messages, support, daily questions such as โdo you have your lunch yet?โ, โwant to go to Family Mart to buy some snacks?โ, or โwhat should we order for todayโs lunch?โ are the things that help me stay alive (and sane) until now. Lastly, I would like to thank myself for not giving up, keeping the flame within this body to keep burning, so that I would not stop running towards my dream although sometimes I need to slow my pace down a little bit.
There are so many things that I did not realize to be such blessings. Since it is the new year, letโs just write down all the good things which happened. Invest in good things only!
Here is a recap of how my 2021 went.
In January, I received an award from my previous university acknowledging my excellent performance in academics. *shy cough*
In February, I went to Chiayi (ๅ็พฉ) with my close friends and had the best fish head soup ever in my life.
In March, my advisor gave me a little surprise which brings me to where I am now.
In April, I had my master thesis proposal defense.
In May, I received an acceptance email for a Ph.D. program.
In June, I received an acceptance email for a Ph.D. program (again) at another university, received a certificate (which I believe is from a scholar society), received an award from my previous university (again), and had my online graduation.
In July, both of my parents got vaccinated (dad had completed two doses of vaccine, and mom was getting her first vaccine shot), andโฆ *insert drum rolls* I had my final defense! Now I felt like graduating.
In August, I had my birthday (welcome 23!), cut my hair (it was the shortest hair I ever had in my life), prepared to move to another city, ate a lot of good food, and received my diploma.
In September, I moved to another city, bought myself some books, and got injured for the first time since I came to Taiwan (I fell while was walking because the road was too slippery).
In October, I got vaccinated.
In November, we celebrated our parents 25th wedding anniversary, witnessed for the first time how the monkeys at my school casually ran inside Family Mart and stole bread, helped my advisor present her paper at a conference (all eyes were on me since I spoke the first word, guess I caught their attention?), and had dinner with my current lab members.
In December, I won a lottery (though it was not big), braved myself to go out and eat at a restaurant by myself, had a decent Korean dinner with my seniors, and discovered a hiking trail that is just right behind my dormitory.
Wow. Thatโs a long one.
They are all simple, small things that I used to see as something normal, โother people can also achieve or have theseโ. But as I grow older, I appreciate all these โnormalโ things better. Guess I am more mature now ๐
Yesterday (or two days ago? I could not recall) I saw one of my IG friends posted a story in which she said that she would only say good things in 2022. Because now she has realized how strong the power of what she says or wishes.
When I started my first semester of my Ph.D., I wrote down all the things I want to achieve for this semester. I made sure they were all reachable and measurable. And what more important is, I wrote down all the details of how I could achieve them. I was confident. I kept saying to myself throughout this semester that โYou can pass through thisโ. And it works. It works to the extent that sometimes the help I am receiving comes from the people that I least/never expect.
Learning from this experience, I (again) wrote down all the things I want to achieve in 2022, with details on how I can achieve them. They are not many (but this is not important). What matters is these goals will help me to keep myself sane and be a reminder that my life has always been blessed.
Now, the question is, where should I go for the Chinese New Year? How does Taitung (ๅฐๆฑ) sound?