Note that the pictures with Queen Elizabeth II & President Joe Biden are jokes and for purely entertainment purposes. The picture that shows myself holding a baby is Ms. Olivia - the daughter of my esteemed colleague from the University of Virginia, Dr. Carol Glover.

A Brief Autobiography About Lun

Growing up, I was always told the stories of how my grandparents fought through the diffcult period of Vietnam war and then the life took-over of the Vietcong. How my mom and her silbings often sneak in a radio and dial in to explore the world around them with the fear of getting caught; how days after days we were fear of our hidden properties being discovered and confiscated. Part of me find these stories fascinating and unbelievable to someone who grew up in the early 2000s.

My mother immigrated to Hong Kong in the early 90s to seek a better life. Growing up, I did not have much but my mom/grandma did work their butt off for my better life. To their slight disappointment, I did not really do well in school. I think by the age of 10, my mom and older sister have already given up on my academic pursuits and just prayed that I did not join a gang.

As a kid, my two main sources of entertainments (before smartphone is a thing) are watching anime on TV and leading my neighbor kids to do dumb things together. Little did I know that both of these hobbies would one day change my life. To this date, one of my favorite anime is Gundam 00 - a series where a private military organization, Celestial Being, uses advanced mobile suits called Gundams to end war and unite humanity through armed interventions. A spectacular technology that makes these mobile suits are called GN drive, a semi-perpectual engine that alledegly utilizes the theory of proton decay to produe instantaneous propulsion that allows human to travel through Earth and space. As a kid, I think it is super cool, and I want to make it one day.

There are two reasons why I got into science. One is making gundum; and the second one is because my high school teacher - Mr. Cho told me that I might travel the world for free. And I want it. I spent 7th through 10th grade in Hong Kong. Someone my high school had two teachers - Mr. Wu and Mr. Cho who are really passionate about making products/inventions and going to science expo. I was introduced to this whole world in the age of 11. Growing up, my mom didn't have much so traveling outside of Hong Kong is a rareity. So, I gave it a shoot. For the next four years, I joined as many contests as I could, might them be robotics, little clever inventions, just in hope that I can be invited to join an international contest. Anywhere, just anywhere as long as it far from Hong Kong. I remembered praying to God that if I could be invited to go to one, I would study hard and be a good kid. Out of mircale, in 2014, I got invited to attend two - one in Eastern Europe and one in Amsterdamn. At 15, my local broke high school has no money and couldn't afford my trip?! I recalled that I was writing emails and mailing letters to airlines hoping to find a free air ticket for such a good cause. Months, I receieved no response. But another mircale happened that made the trip possible! Well, there is a lot more stories happened from 2014 to 2020... culture shock immgrating to the U.S., starting college, COVID lockdown.... maybe I will share more about that next time.

From that time on, I learned that persistance is key. It is such a simple phrase but I've always taken it to my heart. Perhaps it is because I did so poorly in school in the early days with a humble upbringing - then somehow, out of shear luck with selfless mentorship and well-defined goal, that made me realize that what we can achieve as far as we can envision. That is the reason why I really hate statistical analysis. With my background - single parent, low income, first-generation college student, immigrant, the probablility of me attending/completing a Ph.D. is less than 10% or not way less. I am darn proud of my family, but I am even prouder at beating the odds. More for next time.

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