It’s scary for me to realize how time flies and that I have been living in America for more than 20 years. Looking back, just like a lot of us who choose to live our lives in a foreign culture, I dare to say that my journey of coming to the US is a journey through continuous challenges in order to find a better self. 

The journey of challenging one’s self is not necessarily a journey of beating yourself to death on something that might never become your cup of tea. Being adaptive to the new environment and knowing how to achieve your goal through different paths is a necessary skill. Although I have always been good at math in school, I came to the States with the dream of becoming a CNN journalist. The nervousness of sitting in a mass communication class with eloquent native English speakers did not deter me. I remember my goal then was to be able to one day chat with my fellow American labmates effortlessly while doing lab work with equal ease. 

Fast forward 20 years, I didn’t become the CNN journalist I initially came to the States for, but I am a happy and fulfilled computer scientist doing the work I love to do. Working with brilliant minds from all over the world on some of the most fascinating endeavors, what I gain every day is not only computing expertise, but also the confidence and collaboration to bring about a positive impact into the mixed culture I live in today.

Most recently, I signed myself up for a swimming condition class at University of California, Santa Cruz, to improve this important life skill that I learned as a kid from my dad. As I am treading water with my cohort, mostly 20 years of my junior, I’ve come to realize that challenging yourself to be a better person never ends.

想想时间过得好快，我在美国生活竟然已经超过20年了。回头看看走过的路，感觉自己和大多数选择到国外生活的同胞一样，在美国的生活是一个不断挑战和争取做更好的自己的旅程。

挑战自己并不是一定把自己逼到墙角，而是不断地适应新的环境，调整目标，最终实现自我。尽管我原先在国内是个数学功课不错的理科学生，我初来美国的梦想却是成为一名CNN的记者。坐在旁边都是美国土生土长的大众传媒博士生的教室里，我每次被教授点名发言时都笨嘴拙舌，心情紧张，但这丝毫没有击退我想成为CNN记者的热情。我记得当时我急切地渴望有一天我能够毫不费力地一边工作一边游刃有余地跟美国同学聊天。

时间推进20年，我最终没有能成为我起初希望成为的记者，但我现在做着我热爱的计算机编程工作，感觉很充实。跟来自世界各地的聪明人一起做一些非常有意义的项目，我感觉自己不仅专业水平不断提高，在人文精神的世界里也常常感受到启发，思考如何通过自己的贡献为我今天生活的文化熔炉带来积极的正面的影响。

最近，我在加大三塔克鲁兹分校注册上游泳课。虽然我小时候就跟爸爸学会了蛙泳，但我真心想继续提高游泳这项终身的技能，让自己在水里能随意自如。虽然游泳课里的同学大多比我年轻20来岁，但我想，追求成为更好的自己的旅途没有年龄限制，没有终点。