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Nov 2004
Hi, Anthony,
It was great talking to you yesterday. I listened to
the tape last night and it took me a little while to
absorb all the information. Now the message is clear
to me: naturally, I am an artistic Anthropologist (I
love this term).
I have been wondering about the same
questions for more than 15 years: who I am? what do I
want to do with my life? Now I finally got an answer.
I will mark the calendar the date of November 17,
2004. It is a turning point of my life.
I have been
walking in a the fog for such a long time. I sort of
knew what I am good at and what are my interests. But
I was never so clear. Yesterday's conversation cleared
all the fog. Now the road is clear and the path is
planned out. It is a long, bumpy and difficult road,
but it is highly exciting! Pathfinders and Rockport
institute are truly revolutionary. The test and the
one hour talk revealed more about myself
than years of "test driving", thinking, reading and
asking for external help.
I liked your analysis, that I am interested in
science but can't handle the technical details.
This has been a puzzle for me for a long time. Now I
understand that although I look like a scientist,
I picked the wrong science.
I also like your analysis
of the analytical part of social science. "It is a
science." This was my concern for more than 6 years. I
wanted to enter an Anthropology PhD program but
hesitated. I felt that something might not work for me
but I did not know what it is. Now I know it is the
analytical reasoning.
You also warned me that
marketing is a tribal activity and I have to adjust
myself a little bit. "But it is close." I also liked
your analogy of "competing with ducks". It may
difficult to find food in the pond but I would feel
that I am a competent player. I could pick as much as
fruits as possible from the bioinformatics tree and
store them near the pond. :)
I want to summarize my plans here. My long term goal
is to express the artistic side of me. It could be in
the form of a documentary film, a novel, a non-fiction
book, rapping, performing etc. The short term goal(5
years) would be the following:
1. Survive as a programmer in the bioinformatics field
2. Find a new job (a technical position but leaning
toward marketing and training) and get a green card
3. Build a bioinformatics startup company with friends
If we were lucky, we could make some money and I
could support my art projects
4. Experiment with arts (writing, film making,
photography, music review, song writing, performing
etc).
Anyway, I am so glad that I found my path in old town,
Alexandria. I will keep you updated with my progress.
Here is a hip hop lyric that just came to my mind:
If you were a duck,
come to old town,
Anthony will help,
to find your path.
This is my first rap lyric. :)
Alexander
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Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for, and you will succeed.
~Sydney Smith
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