jiefo Blog

October 2019 – August 2021

I make the very brave but important decision to step away from school and take a medical leave of absence for the sake of my health. I delay my graduation by a full year. I spend the next two years bedridden, only leaving the house for clinical trials, medical experiments, meetings with five doctors/specialists, and one very expensive trip to Mayo Clinic, to try and figure out what is wrong with my body. Also, Covid. The days are a blur, and I feel like these two years are lost years. Life is grim for many of us.

August 2021 – December 2021

I’ve been stuck at home for nearly two years. My Cambridge University study abroad program was previously cancelled four times. This is my last chance to go, as I have to graduate this year. Canada-U.K. quarantine restrictions are lifted the week before my flight, and I also switch to a new drug that month. The new drug began to improve my health quite drastically, and although I fear my health is still unstable, I decide to go. The stars aligned for me to return to “real” life and I manage to complete the program safely. I have massive imposter syndrome studying where academic legends studied. Still, I receive “A” grades on my 35-page philosophy thesis and econometrics exam.

January 2022 – May 2022

I graduate a year late, without my best friends. I take graduation photos alone. I finish my 30-page senior philosophy thesis, dedicating it to the two friends I lost in the past few years. I return home to prepare for my dream to pursue law school.

June 2022 – May 2023

I study 6-8 hours a day over four months, recording 350 hours. I get an LSAT score in the 99th percentile and get into Berkeley Law, one of the top law schools in the US. All I needed was one school to take a chance on me.

June 2023

I spend a month in Taipei, hanging out with a childhood friend and his family/friends. I fall in love with the language and culture. I am reminded of my desire to devote dedicated time learning Mandarin and traveling more of Asia to be better in tune with my heritage and family, plans of which I had and were cancelled in 2020-2021.

August 2023

I’m supposed to leave to start law school this week. I make the very difficult but important decision to defer my seat till Fall 2024 so that I can take a mental breath and spend time with family in China. I gain the support of my family and friends. I enroll at NTNU Taipei to study Mandarin and book a one way ticket. I leave tomorrow not for California but instead for Taiwan.

Lessons I’ve learned throughout this journey so far:

Family and friends make everything better.

Never be afraid to love yourself.

Never be afraid to love others.

Don’t forsake who you are because it doesn’t fit other people’s perception of what you should be doing. Do not feel obligated to explain yourself, or do things to make other people comfortable.

No one knows you better than yourself.

Your happiness, of which you must define yourself, should always be put above societal comparisons.

Health is wealth.

Money makes everything easier, but never let it distract you from the true goal which is happiness.