it was the last sunday before i fly back to the US. an auntie and uncle from my old church wanted to take a photo with me, and said they wanted to inspire their son to study for a PhD too. even though he's still in high school. i never felt like i'm someone that people can look up to. i feel like i haven't done anything to deserve that. i'm also just a privileged kid who had a dad that can pay for his education to the US, and got lucky a few times just by writing online and diving into rabbit holes. where i am is just the result of a list of sacrifices from my parents.