I'm in Taiwan right now because I had to show up for the opening of an exhibit which involves my mom's family at the national 228 museum. I've only been here for a week, and I've realized that I desperately need to relearn (really, learn) Chinese. If my department will allow it and not frown upon it, I am going to take a class in it at UCLA. Hopefully it's not too late for my brain to learn something linguistic.
In Taiwan, I feel really at ease. It's probably because I am not working here and I don't have to pay rent or cook for myself in the kitchen and take out the trash when the trash trucks come playing Fur Elise or really worry about life stuff while I'm here with my mom's extended family, but I really like it here. Assuming my Chinese is passable by the time I enter the job market, I will consider searching for a job here. A UCLA alum from last year apparently got placed at National Taiwan University, which is pretty cool and indicates that it is possible if I work really hard.
I passed both of my second-year fields so things are looking pretty good on the grad school front. Right now, I'm preparing for my advancement to candidacy (ATC) presentation that I need to give when I go back to UCLA to formally transition to being a Ph.D. candidate. Thankfully, VPN will allow me to access all the journals I need access to so I can hopefully get it done in the next few days.
In July, I moved to a new apartment with a friend in my program, Allen. Moving everything from our apartments using a U-Haul truck to the new one was quite tiring, but it worked out in the end.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
no longer a bachelor....... of economics.
My Master's of Arts in Economics was conferred to me via a very impersonal e-mail. It didn't even say that my degree was in economics; it simply said that my "MASTER OF ART" degree was conferred. I guess whoever programmed the script left an pretty important field out. But at least it read "GO BRUINS!" at the end.
I'm set on studying Industrial Organization and Econometrics as my two fields. I'm already swamped with work, but at least I'm not as disgruntled about it as I was a year ago. I'm almost done with my paper for a class from last quarter (which is already more than 3 weeks late) and I have a bunch of problem sets to do this week for econometrics. Tomorrow I'm giving a short homework presentation estimation with lagged variables with Miao, but the problem is my code doesn't seem to exhibit the results that the professor wanted, and it's already 12:50 a.m.
I'm a teaching assistant for ECON101, which is the last course in the undergrad microeconomics sequence. Formally, it's called Microeconomic Theory, and it serves mostly as an introduction to game theory. I must say that the undergrads here are receiving a much stronger undergraduate education in economics than I did at my alma mater. The stuff my students are learning now was taught mostly in my upper division Game Theory course back at Maryland. I'm optimistic about it though, since I've heard that it has been going the whole nine yards in terms of revamping the undergrad program, making it much more math-intensive. Anyway, I really enjoy being a TA for the class because at this level, the students are mostly econ or business econ majors and want to really learn the stuff.
I'm set on studying Industrial Organization and Econometrics as my two fields. I'm already swamped with work, but at least I'm not as disgruntled about it as I was a year ago. I'm almost done with my paper for a class from last quarter (which is already more than 3 weeks late) and I have a bunch of problem sets to do this week for econometrics. Tomorrow I'm giving a short homework presentation estimation with lagged variables with Miao, but the problem is my code doesn't seem to exhibit the results that the professor wanted, and it's already 12:50 a.m.
I'm a teaching assistant for ECON101, which is the last course in the undergrad microeconomics sequence. Formally, it's called Microeconomic Theory, and it serves mostly as an introduction to game theory. I must say that the undergrads here are receiving a much stronger undergraduate education in economics than I did at my alma mater. The stuff my students are learning now was taught mostly in my upper division Game Theory course back at Maryland. I'm optimistic about it though, since I've heard that it has been going the whole nine yards in terms of revamping the undergrad program, making it much more math-intensive. Anyway, I really enjoy being a TA for the class because at this level, the students are mostly econ or business econ majors and want to really learn the stuff.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
end of fall quarter 2010
The exam week is almost over for the fall quarter. The only exam I had was on Monday and it was in Contract Theory, and needless to say, I was defeated by it. I did in fact study for it, but maybe not with the same fervor (read: desperation) as I had during exam periods last year.
Right now, I have to finish two papers for Economic History and one last Search Theory assignment, and then I'm going back to Maryland on Sunday, Dec 12. Oh, and I have to help proctor the final exam of Principles of Microeconomics, which I have been TAing for this past quarter.
Speaking of TAing, I was assigned to be a teaching assistant for the Microeconomic Theory course under Professor Bill Zame next quarter. Before I came here to UCLA, one day I was reading off the names of faculty to my dad and Zame's name caught his attention. This was because when my dad was a senior at Caltech, he was the grader for the graduate abstract algebra course, which Zame was taking as a junior. My dad recalls an instance where Zame argued with my dad about why these or those points were taken off on one assignment. This story has only remained folklore among my cohort, since I have not had the chance to bring it up with the professor. But yeah that'd be pretty cool if he remembers my dad too.
Plans for the winter? I have to write an econometrics paper on kernel estimators and modality robustness for my metrics class. Oh, and I'm getting at least one wisdom tooth pulled. Other than that, hopefully it'll be relaxing with family and friends. I also need to be thinking about what topics to write my field papers on.
Right now, I have to finish two papers for Economic History and one last Search Theory assignment, and then I'm going back to Maryland on Sunday, Dec 12. Oh, and I have to help proctor the final exam of Principles of Microeconomics, which I have been TAing for this past quarter.
Speaking of TAing, I was assigned to be a teaching assistant for the Microeconomic Theory course under Professor Bill Zame next quarter. Before I came here to UCLA, one day I was reading off the names of faculty to my dad and Zame's name caught his attention. This was because when my dad was a senior at Caltech, he was the grader for the graduate abstract algebra course, which Zame was taking as a junior. My dad recalls an instance where Zame argued with my dad about why these or those points were taken off on one assignment. This story has only remained folklore among my cohort, since I have not had the chance to bring it up with the professor. But yeah that'd be pretty cool if he remembers my dad too.
Plans for the winter? I have to write an econometrics paper on kernel estimators and modality robustness for my metrics class. Oh, and I'm getting at least one wisdom tooth pulled. Other than that, hopefully it'll be relaxing with family and friends. I also need to be thinking about what topics to write my field papers on.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
my cat
My cat is alive and doing reasonably well. One year ago, he was on the verge of succumbing to septic shock and all the bad stuff that is associated with being unable to urinate. This would cause his bladder to overflow and open wide the opportunity for infection to set in. I'm no doctor or veterinarian, but that didn't sound cool. When I was younger, my pets seemed to always die when I was away from home. For instance, every time I went to Johns Hopkins' CTY program in the summer, one of my guinea pigs would die. I didn't want my cat to fall into this category as a mere statistic, so I made sure my parents did what they could to help him.
This started when after ~9 days of being away, my cat stumbled into the house late at night. My dad had been worried by himself (my mom was in Taiwan dealing with family affairs), and he wrote me an e-mail as soon as he discovered my cat and all seemed to be well. It took my mom coming home from Taiwan a couple days later and seeing my cat for my parents to realize that my cat had broken bones and was unable to urinate. We concluded that either he was hit by a menacing bicycle, or he boldly jumped down from a high platform and hurt himself.
My parents ended up taking him to the vet twice a day each time to get his bladder expressed. That must have sucked and been awkward for him, but at least my cat didn't have to pay money for it.. my poor parents did. The vet was kind enough to charge my parents only once per day instead of twice. Anyway, after a few weeks, my cat was finally able to urinate by himself.
Thanks Yichen for reminding me to write this. I'll see you in a few weeks bro(ther).
This started when after ~9 days of being away, my cat stumbled into the house late at night. My dad had been worried by himself (my mom was in Taiwan dealing with family affairs), and he wrote me an e-mail as soon as he discovered my cat and all seemed to be well. It took my mom coming home from Taiwan a couple days later and seeing my cat for my parents to realize that my cat had broken bones and was unable to urinate. We concluded that either he was hit by a menacing bicycle, or he boldly jumped down from a high platform and hurt himself.
My parents ended up taking him to the vet twice a day each time to get his bladder expressed. That must have sucked and been awkward for him, but at least my cat didn't have to pay money for it.. my poor parents did. The vet was kind enough to charge my parents only once per day instead of twice. Anyway, after a few weeks, my cat was finally able to urinate by himself.
Thanks Yichen for reminding me to write this. I'll see you in a few weeks bro(ther).
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Being a good TA
Draft from like 2 weeks ago
So I'm working as a teaching assistant in the Department of Economics this quarter (and barring me getting fired or expelled from UCLA, for the next two quarters). Right now, I'm teaching two sections of ECON 1, which is an introductory microeconomics course for undergrads.
I must say, I have been enjoying teaching. I feel like I'm making a true difference by helping educate undergrads. It's as if as a graduate, I'm part of the "old" generation in an overlapping generations model, and I'm transferring my knowledge to the "young" generation so that when they become old, they'll do the same for the generation after them. Indeed, even though I never went to section at Maryland, some TAs older than me were doing the same for my generation. It's the circle of life.
Anyway, I still become visibly nervous when I start lecturing because I feel like I'm being evaluated by my students. I become so nervous that I make mistakes in my explanations or doing problems on the board. So my sections are one right after the other, so what happens is that I mess up pretty bad in the 1st section, and I feel like I've already lost face so I let loose in the 2nd section, and it ends up going pretty well. I need to practice more so I can teach my first section well.
I think I might be trying a bit hard. I go over the problems that the professor wants the TAs to do, but tonight, I'm writing my 2nd set of TA notes. I feel like if I cannot clarify things well for my students, they will be lost and then they won't do well on the exams and then it'll be all my fault. Somebody told me that when a TA isn't clear, the students will just assume that the material is too difficult for them to understand it fully. But on the other hand, when I'm being unclear, I know it's my fault that they don't understand.
So I'm working as a teaching assistant in the Department of Economics this quarter (and barring me getting fired or expelled from UCLA, for the next two quarters). Right now, I'm teaching two sections of ECON 1, which is an introductory microeconomics course for undergrads.
I must say, I have been enjoying teaching. I feel like I'm making a true difference by helping educate undergrads. It's as if as a graduate, I'm part of the "old" generation in an overlapping generations model, and I'm transferring my knowledge to the "young" generation so that when they become old, they'll do the same for the generation after them. Indeed, even though I never went to section at Maryland, some TAs older than me were doing the same for my generation. It's the circle of life.
Anyway, I still become visibly nervous when I start lecturing because I feel like I'm being evaluated by my students. I become so nervous that I make mistakes in my explanations or doing problems on the board. So my sections are one right after the other, so what happens is that I mess up pretty bad in the 1st section, and I feel like I've already lost face so I let loose in the 2nd section, and it ends up going pretty well. I need to practice more so I can teach my first section well.
I think I might be trying a bit hard. I go over the problems that the professor wants the TAs to do, but tonight, I'm writing my 2nd set of TA notes. I feel like if I cannot clarify things well for my students, they will be lost and then they won't do well on the exams and then it'll be all my fault. Somebody told me that when a TA isn't clear, the students will just assume that the material is too difficult for them to understand it fully. But on the other hand, when I'm being unclear, I know it's my fault that they don't understand.
Monday, September 27, 2010
moving on
So I finally passed all my comprehensive exams and can rest easy for a while. Barring some major meltdown when writing my field papers, it seems like I am safely in the Ph.D. program.
What's next? Many huge sighs of relief. Also, the quarter has already started and it looks like I am concentrating on econometrics and industrial organization. That may change though, as I may change to micro theory or macroeconomics/monetary.
I know it's only the end of the 1st year, but in most economics programs, it is the most stressful since most of the program's attrition occurs at the conclusion of it. I would like to thank my parents, unnamed friends, unnamed professors for their unequivocal support, and thank Patrick for literally helping me start this journey. I'm not sure when I can start naming people (especially professors) in posts because I'm pretty sure this would turn up in a Google search.
What's next? Many huge sighs of relief. Also, the quarter has already started and it looks like I am concentrating on econometrics and industrial organization. That may change though, as I may change to micro theory or macroeconomics/monetary.
I know it's only the end of the 1st year, but in most economics programs, it is the most stressful since most of the program's attrition occurs at the conclusion of it. I would like to thank my parents, unnamed friends, unnamed professors for their unequivocal support, and thank Patrick for literally helping me start this journey. I'm not sure when I can start naming people (especially professors) in posts because I'm pretty sure this would turn up in a Google search.
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