The numbering system is kinda weird, I actually don’t know if there were No. 5-10 elementary schools in town… But it is a really great elementary school where I had lots of fun! I still remember chasing around the hundred-year-old Poinciana tree with friends outside the classroom. Those days were absolutely glorious. By the time I graduated, the school was exactly 100 years old!

The campus is in the heart of the West Lake (not the one in Hangzhou, but also very famous as one of the greatest Chinese poet Su Shi lived there for several years). There is a four-hundred-year-old Banyan tree located in the central campus, symbolizing the school spirit, which means (in English) “Grow with the inspiration and endeavor to make the world a better place”. I made so many talented friends here. We usually talked about debate, music, literature, philosophy… (apparently, anything but homework). I did play games or watch NBA live (text broadcast) in class (I witnessed Kobe’s last champ!) but fortunately almost never got caught…

Going to a high school abroad was a kinda impetuous decision of mine… but fortunately it went fairly well. ELHS is a very small high school. My class was about 30 students. The entire school only had 3 Chinese students (including myself)… I worked really hard (both inside class and outside class) as I was so afraid that I wouldn’t get accepted to any college… I was so lucky to have great classmates, caring teachers and host family to help me with my transition to life in US. The only pity was that I had almost no chance to play badminton for 3 years, because there wasn’t really an atomsphere. I DIY my college applications with absolutely no guidance, but it turned out to be okay.

Ironically, my decision to apply for BU was nothing but impromptu, and I literally spent only an hour on the application and submitted an hour before the deadline… But among all the great colleges I was admitted to, I would still pick BU in hindsight! Probably beacuse I worked too hard in high school, I really seized the day at BU (well, not in the sense of studying but having too much fun…). I do regret about not spending enough time studying given the infamous GPA deflation at BU, but luckily I made it through anyway. I was able to pick up badminton again and led BU Badminton to collegiate team champion on the east coast (got my name engraved on a plaque on the wall of BU FitRec)! Go Terriers!

SQL is the best language!