Where does it begin?

After many posts of mindless rambling of the weather and love, I need to return to write about the ending of my employment situation. It has been almost three months and not a day of actual work. Bottled between email communications and paycheck are many pages of forms that have to be signed, verified, faxed, and mailed. I am really not a big fan of paperwork- not only it kills trees, but it costs more money to operate anyways; Think about the postage, the ink, the envelop, and many people hired just to pass the paper around the country.

I am not saying that all should be done electronically because it creates its own headache too. My orientation, benefit enrollment, I-9 check, all are done online. You would assume information traveled electronically should expedite the process, but in reality it takes me longer to think if I have indeed completed what I was supposed to do. I know there is no one behind that web screen, and the "confirmation" email was just sent by a robot, nothing more than a few lines of code. I know it, I used to write those codes. The cold hard... *Do not Reply to This Email*.... email...

I have time to think about all of these because I had a long vacation as I have been semi-idle for nearly over six months. It sucks that I can't even get unemployment check since I wasn't laid off. It's almost an envy to my old coworkers that I am able to sleep in most of the days. What do they know? Should I be glad to be having a job now, or feeling annoyed that I can't start it before the holidays. My autumn and Thanksgiving holidays went past like any other day... I barely feel the joy of holiday cheers.

In retrospect, the road to employment has been of hassles and waiting- in its true nature, it is a testament of my patience. Just when I thought I could start yesterday, I have no badge. Without badge, I will need an escort around the office,...even to the bathroom? So here we are at another level of security check for the badge purpose. Why didn't my paperwork simply flow to the badge office, and why despite passing many tiers of security check, badge office can still manage to say "please wait for another 5 days"?

I just want to be busy daily. I feel I am wasting my brain cells for not using them effectively to serve any purpose. I have yet to prepare any Christmas gifts... I really don't have the mood for it now

再次看見

走吧 又過了一夜
你越走越遠
孤單旋律
這一夜再次徘徊

痛吧 寧願低著頭
你不看我一面
黯然心碎是代替我贖罪
走了多遠 我再尋找從前

餘音 砸了 慌了 也知道
心跳聽了都閒吵
愛情 冷了 過了 也體會
上天賜我一個愛你的機會

選什麼
緣份兩個字眼
酸的比痛過留下眼淚更可悲

哭什麼
閃爍星夜是淚水編織
冷月黯淡 秋雨棉棉

我什麼都沒有…
我對你的捨得
跟隨腳步 再次看見
走到明天…

-Christy 12/09/10

A closure

After close to two months worth of agony, I finally received a solid confirmation of an offer. This has been a bumpy ride, hitting some problems I have never thought of. I suppose in this tough economy, there are many more factors to consider than simply hiring someone.

Moving onto my next stage of waiting-game, instead of checking my email relentlessly, I need to wait by the mail box to wait for an actual offer letter arrive. It should be here within days. The company's HR processing time turned out to be pretty fast and the people reasonable. As of this morning, I had to do my first counter-offer negotiation (seriously, am I out of my mind?). It wasn't that the original offer wasn't great, it was. But the responsibilities expected of my new position just doesn't warrant such a pay. I didn't want to be greedy, especially considering the high unemployment rate in this country currently. So I wrote back and asked them to reconsider my qualification and expressed my sincere belief that I deserve to get a bit pay bump.

I remember how I regretted about accepting a position too fast back in 2007. It was my first full-time job after all. But after two something years, I learned to screen my position better, and to really wait for the right one that suits my interest and personality. Excitement is great, but once it cools down, I need to really think about the career development. I think this pans out alright,....I am doing alright

The Place Where Snow Falls

From a distance
the rain became a sheer of snow
its gracious rhythm set a tone.

Each drop fit to play a part
I, the lover
On its significance, its formation and disappearance
Drew two souls inside this blanket of whiteness
This, a symmetrical aggression,
silently dipped on the face of Earth.

-Christy

The Terrible Surrender

Sometimes we forget
this world can be lost
Without your smile
the sky then cried for the cloud,
where was the brave soul?

Sometimes I can't remember
the endless snow is here
Might it the forever lonesome be
the words then scramble for feeling,
where is the sacred tear?

-Christy

Before and After

Original Living Room with TV sitting on top of the fire place.

Issue: TV is too high and not ergonomic to watch TV when sitting on the couch.












Solution: Move TV to next to the fireplace. Re-arrange couch to face TV. Piano needs to be moved to dining room with this new arrangement.

Happy Halloween

Outsourced?

Just the other day, there was a campaign commercial telling me why I shouldn't vote for a particular candidate- an apparent fear of job outsourcing to places like China. I am never big on Americanism, given I, like most consumers, buy just anything that's cheaper. For an advertisement such as this one, I wasn't swayed just yet.

Going global suddenly became a black curse among job seekers, regardless of how well multinational companies, like IBM, Microsoft, or Apple, are doing. Rest assure that these companies continue to employ many on the American land. They simply figured out a way to cut back in places that they aren't efficient at. You may think I am writing in favor of globalism, I am not. I am simply writing to rationalize my emotions. Back in 2000, when I was a junior in high school, everyone wanted to be a computer science major, including myself. After the dot-com bust, computer science wasn't cool anymore. Emerged from a business background, I developed a deep appreciation for delicate business processes. But over the years, I held a post in technology field and kept my business background as a backup. With a combination of these two, I have become a master of efficiency, with Internet technology as my tool and business intuition as my logic.

True, in the recent years there has been an exponential increase in technology and many jobs are diminishing. American companies have access to high quality labor at a low cost and better technologies; when efficiency is gained, jobs are sometimes impacted. A new resentment soon rises towards globalization and the dollar value return on a technology job rises to new skepticism. Politicians have raced to accelerate this fear and voters are encouraged to act on it.

But let's get a bit creative here. When a dollar is invested aboard, the margin of profit increases and the salary for the American workers becomes more generous. We take this salary to purchase goods- actually affording more goods made aboard, benefiting from the already low-cost structure there.

I am not worried but I recognize the pressures placed on technology jobs. Even so, technology workers aren't the only ones susceptible to the outsourcing trend. I emphasize on the concept of efficiency. When a company realizes how to do more for less, any one in any field is affected. For example, the primary function of my old job was to create a more efficient production line. And reducing headcount by far yields to high cost-avoidance. Then there are ways to reduce headcount- eliminating processes, combining processes, or introducing technology. These jobs are vanishing, not outsourced, not replaced with foreign workers. Whether this process improvement yields more productivity is irrelevant, the company in the end saves money to achieve at least the same result. Increased productivity does not necessarily mean higher profit for company- as you may learn from the theory of constraint, you're just producing waste.

Some people propose that a better education in science and technology will help America regain its competitiveness. I do not think this as a smart solution. As more students are studying science here, so are the students aboard, and education out there is just as good as over here. And producing talents excessively without parallel demand gives inventory and it is costly to maintain it (I am reluctant to call it waste, but it might as well in manufacturing's term). The work ahead involves equipping one with more than one skill and often considering both hard(technical) and soft(creative) skill. I see my business background as my emotional side- this is part of me that gives me creativity, expanding my perspectives; next my technical skill as my rational side- allowing me to judge the worthiness of my perspectives.

Now, revealing the true intention of this post. I hesitated to make one decision recently because of the term "outsourced". The position I applied for was to be outsourced to a global company for budget reason. I debated if I should partake in the outsourcing nature, but eventually I accepted it. It is for the greater of these two companies, and myself of course. If you look at globalization as a whole, the free flow of knowledge across regions should icon the free flow of goods worldwide. I am happy with the decision I made and truly embrace it.

Boeing Job Hunt Timeline

I even have time to plot this timeline chart... I know I am being impatient since this is a big company. But we all know the agony of a waiting game.

I am only doing this to see if my wait is justified and how silly I am to be waiting by the phone and email, that 425 area code telephone call. I don't really know the complete process of hiring and I am trying really hard to recollect my past experience. And times like this, your brain just seems to be blank.

I am guessing it will take longer than one month this time.

Certainty

Our brain cells do tricky things to our mind. Most of us are gifted with imagination and with that, we can form many plausible scenarios right inside our head. It's like paying one movie ticket but watching many different movies. All are played within the same short time frame. Then, our mind is able to draw conclusion based upon these different movies; we create the sound, fulfil the plots, and make our own ending. If it doesn't please us, we rewind everything and repeat this process again.

As imagination goes, we love certainty too. I don't know if I should call it "the wishful thinking" since some imagination is not what we desire to be... but we like doing it so for where else permits you to do and redo events- and all happening this fast. Soon after these rehearsal, we may find ourselves losing factual bits. We try to recall what was done or said- and all desperately trying to differentiate our imagination from reality. We grabbed onto some words leftover from memory; it seemed maybe that was the important piece after all.

So I refuse to imagine at times. The dreamy, daring scenes are risky and heartening. Quite frankly, my imagination is tilted towards a dramatic loud ending (some call extreme?). I assure you this does nothing good to my well-being. The truth is in front of us; we may ask and we shall receive. For once, I disregarded my imagination and I ran for clarity. The path wasn't stretched long and the theatre inside my mind is gracefully put to rest for good... for now

Rain Love 寄雨

The road not taken

Yesterday, I was asked why I blogged when I could just write my feelings in my journal? I do both actually. While blogging keeps an optimist perspective on my thoughts, writing in my journal reveals my "after-thoughts". I write about my feelings mostly in my journal, you know, the thing about love, relationship, my desires- things ought not to shared with the world yet. Where on blog I use it as my platform to evaluate, mainly to make, my decision.

I keep these decisions open to the public because someone out there may find them valuable. Perhaps, they may have the same doubts, or they may have wise advice for me. The web is neutral; I won't be judged for making a decision and I listen to everyone's say. It helped me get through my days when I know these postings will reach to a certain population one day.

Anyway, it has been a week since I "dropped" out of law school. I am reluctant to speak in this manner since how do you drop out when you are never enrolled? You see, back at my old job, we had a fellow who dropped out of law school- he finished his 1L at Seattle U and figured that road was not for him. I asked him then why he even went if he was clueless initially? He gave me an answer that may be common for most people in law school today- he didn't know what he could do after college that pays decent money. That statement there truly sounded like a drop out to me. Unfortunately, this young man took his own life after a year at the job. My prayer goes out to him.

I used to think I could adapt my love for writing to love for law. Not likely so. I just can't write about something I don't believe in; and I can't be convincing if I can't believe. So with all, this is what I love:

Promise

Before the first sight, before the first night
Before the arcs of many moons a Promise I had known
From the solitude of my walls echoed a soft whisper
“I am falling in love with you”

Fall bloomed red with desire; Winter longed with her sorrowed swoon
Lashed by the snow stream thawed by spring wind
We heaved with shivers of joy, anticipation and loss
The stuff of life; the stuff of love!

Love, the chariot of Apollo, knew of no reasons, knew of no seasons
Faith, ever fragile a mistress, danced her terrible fate
A Promise, not lived, is not believed
A dream, not believed , easily caved

I choose to Live that Promise
Not as a soft whisper in the dark
Not as a painting, a page or a frame
But as a day and everyday in the light of the sun

Superwoman Returns? Part III

I've learned one thing as a child witnessing these fast-moving events/emotions in the past ten years. Family becomes my first priority. I hold this principle dear to my heart and swear to not let this happen to my own family in the future.

Then there is Principle: "a fundamental proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning". At times, we may be excused to lose sights at what matters the most to ourselves. Some bystanders defend their actions, arguing that we make up principles at different phase of life and sitting on one may be extremely difficult. I've noted that Positive Principle created rules governing one's personal behavior. At the heart of the debate is the issue about how principles are discovered and noted. Many may never display the principles they actually have. Who can blame them? We love to distort the events in our favor, measure righteousness with monetary currency. I can give many examples of how Positive Principle means in making decision, not just in a business sense, but in everyday life. That said, my mother's company could maybe be spared of a litigation only had my brother recognized his Positive Principle, if there's even any.

A few days ago, I withdrew from law school. At the very last minute, I could not phantom the term "client advocacy". People told me that I focused too much on that silly term. And there is always the question of what I plan to do if I leave school now (before school starts)? Still, compared with the challenges facing my core principles of advocating for clients who I must fight regardless of any empathy for the defending party, and vice versa, leaving law school is unlikely to cause much more than a hiccup. I have written many posts advocating for the cause, which essentially means the Principle on which our intent to law school was founded. Mine is for Just, for the ideology to move the society forward. Not the money or the prestige.

I want to tell my mother to look deeper into her Principles, and not let any distraction misalign her values. I wish I could pass the message to her and to all of us children to really care for family and to stop interrupting our principles with the prospective prestige and profit. We are not fighting to become any super woman; look at the incentive for receiving what we want if only we know what matter the most to us.

Superwoman Returns? Part II

She grew up poor. She was the second oldest of the ten children and my oldest aunt passed away at her youth year. To support her family, my mother dropped out of high school; she fought hard to provide care for her five nieces left without a mother, then provided guidance to her eight siblings. This was a harsh reality for her. It was the year of 1984. By then, my mother had two of her own children, and a third one was on her way to the world. Lest you consider her being a single mother, life without any substantive skills wasn't going to spark any major change to her own family's fate. She made the decision to leave her work (the companies in Taiwan at that time didn't appreciate a working mom) and started her own company. She concluded that she must be an entrepreneur to allow her to see her children grow. A company was founded with that principle in mind.

Her hard work paid off. She lavished her children with the kind of luxury that she was left incomplete during her teenager years. Each of us learned literature, piano, abacus. We were so much drowned in love and care. And my brother and I, the only ones in the family who found a passion for business, were looked upon to inherit her business.

Let's fast forward to my college year, where I was educated about business and was excited about the prospect of contributing my skills to the company that nurtured me all this time. But my brother, ten years senior of me, was an ambitious sort. He was one of those speculators who watched the company gaining prosperity without sharing the stress and tears behind that mask. During his tenure as a manager for my mother's company in China, he made devastating decision in the name of bringing more business; his reasoning and attitude led him, and the company, at the brink of bankruptcy. Things didn't get better since. The employees lost morale and respect for the company that once shared its glory in China. Left with a cripple management, my mother sank deeper into depression. Where were her children at the time of her desperation? She was not a super woman; she was just a mother who wished to sit down to have a warm dinner with her children. Her now grown-up children lived in a separate places. I assumed, this must not what she had in mind ten years ago, fighting so hard for a broken family.

Superwoman Returns? Part I

When I was young, I would sit in my mother's "CEO's" seat and pretended that I was managing the accounting for her firm. This was the pre-computer, pre-Internet era where the only piece of technology you had to manage a company's account was well, a calculator.

Often now, my mom would reminisced back to this time where I "worked" along side with her- whether to balance company book or to test the conductivity of computer wires (this was her business). Her work fascinated me, so did her persistence and diligence.

A few many years passed by and a few million dollars made, she was left with a dysfunctional family. This was not meant as disparaging, for that the children had enjoyed fruits of my mother's success. The children lived in the life she could only dream of; she had no high school degree but we attained our education in America, one of the us is even on her path to reach a PhD degree. My mother emphasized greatly on education so much that she sent her three daughters to a "better place" for education when they were only 14 years old. Some of us are grateful for her sacrifices- most of her life was without her children but with her company; some took them for granted. They rationalized that: Isn't it natural for parents to foot the kids' bill? My mother's wealth came at a huge expense- a bill that I probably couldn't make sense with any calculator.

My mother is almost 60 years old and one of her children is still a sophomore in college. Her fortune amounts to nothing but the diploma we hold (or will hold), the pride of a kid's Doctorate degree, and a reality of a broken family. Oh, and our grand house that is currently a collateral to an ongoing litigation. To make sense of all these events in the past ten years, one must understand of the struggles and ambitions she experienced.

Nine years have taught me... Part II- Actual Lesson

If there is something to be told from previous post, it's that standardized test score does not measure a pupil's aptitude for pursuing knowledge, let alone using it as a criteria for determining a teacher's pay. If this were true and adopted nine years ago, my teacher would have been really poor and would probably be forced out of a job. But I did alright since; I got a job at Boeing right after college, and got accepted to a respectful law school.

I drew on my experience to prove one thing: Common standards in reading and math are irrelevant in the education reform debate. These standards are set by people whose beliefs are in the absolute meaning of the score metrics; however, school performance as evaluated by English and math scores does not show a student's alternative interest or ability; even within the standards themselves, metrics do not show correlation between English and Math score. Should a school be punished because of their below-average English performance or be rewarded from a higher-than-average math performance?

I admit my opinion is biased. It is so, because this is the only experience I know by heart. But so are the politicians' opinion; it will only be from their experiences they can possibly speak of. And just of how many of these politicians can relate to the low achieving children of the troubling school?

Nine years have taught me... Part I

I wanted to write a blog on my view on the education reform program such as "Race to the Top" purposed by President Obama. In doing so, I had to research perspectives from local schools, students, and of course, the politicians. The federal grants for these struggling school aren't of small amount- but $4.35 billion dollars- enough to completely overhaul school system of any state for good. "Race to the Top" program, with all its strings attached, in my humble opinion, is yet another quick and ineffective approach to fix failing schools.

Anyway, my finding is reserved for another blog. For now, here's an excerpt from my diary written nine years ago:

"...This week is the second week since the school starts. My sister had a test (actually, a group test), and they won the second place. I should be proud at her... but I jealous at her too...."

That was from nine years ago, one and half years after I came to the America. Consider the broken grammar an impressive improvement in English coming from someone who just began making sense of English words and sentences. Did I tell you that I was a junior in high school when I wrote that? Yep, I wrote like an elementary when I was in high school, preparing for SAT at the same time... I scored 320 on my SAT verbal eventually, a humiliating score knowing that I could get 200 just by leaving my name on the test. On the same year, I scored 5 on AP Calculus BC.

Hello Tuition!

I finally felt the financial burden of a higher education. For the first time in my life, I forked over a large sum of 10k to pay for my first quarter tuition.

The past few months were proven hard for me, for that my business hasn't gone as prosperous as I expected. As of September, as I packed and shipped my last order to my customer from Georgia, I made a decision to close down FU Wear Asia. It was a decision I knew I had to make soon.

Sitting on top of the kitchen counter were hundreds of fliers awaiting to be posted on bulletin board; locking away in the cabinet sat a stack of my business cards- a startling reminder of my past enthusiasm. The truth was that I cannot afford to spend my tuition money on this side hobby. When there is no steady steam of income, any hobby is costly, and any expense is magnified. The conservative part of me tells me, I need to quit.

No one likes to be a quitter, but I'd like to feel no shame in admitting that I shouldn't have crossed path with the fashion business. Liking fashion was one matter, actually succeeding in managing one was another. Now the business-deal is settled, however, I don't feel any relief from my money situation. It is not the immediate lacking of money that bothers me- my savings for the past five years have prepared me for times like this. I know in the not so far future, say three years, I will need to ask my family for money. I haven't asked since I graduated from high school; to a certain point, I forgot how to ask. I wonder, will my mom be willing to support her daughter's dream- a luxury my mother never owned? Will my dad be able to look beyond the cost of today and invest in my future? Will my sister, who is one year older than me, be following my path and expecting my parents to support her dream of pharmacy school too, if she chooses to pursue?

I don't have any answer. At times, my pride is too big to even sputter a sound of my questions. I will think about these when time comes. I will leave these to tomorrow. Because tomorrow will be another day.

An appropriate one...

For all the attention on me, my problem with you starts small: you surrendered brutal opinions of me to our mutual friends and expected that I face it with little criticism. These ears are just another channel to transmit your messages. Nowadays so much of our past is studied by mutual friends, or even worse anonymous bystanders. Is there anything that you say that can actually matter?

Everything about it- especially the lack of respect- is awful, but several factors mitigate against my reciprocity. This, after all, is a contest that’s grown too sophisticated for amateurs. In a way, life is less burdensome for me when I can simply ignore your existence, but the stake to redeem an explanation is too high.

The thing about explanation is that we are now two strangers with distinctive voice, and that the listeners can only distinguish the facts from the garbage you say with their own judgment. But people are a quirky sort. Though these are the best reasons I’ve given, they are pretty pathetic. You and I would be better off if we’d just locked our opinion and furious past in a secret chamber and never released it.

開學前必煮的糧食 (Taiwanese snack)

Home made Taiwanese snack. Everything is home-made, including the 餡and皮~
Steamer is my new best friend. Flour is my friend in need.


彰化 肉圓



上海 湯包



四海遊龍 煎餃

note: I am not even going to bother translating the names.
If you would like the recipe for the above snack, let me know.

Just will you take a look at yourself

When you look in the mirror, do you see who you are or who you want to be? I might as well be honest with myself, starting with my conviction, my motivation, and my expectation.

I trembled at the thought of being a lawyer-- I’ve said it when I’ve been independent. Not that the idea of justice frighten me. We all wrote about that subject matter in our personal statement, didn’t we? We wanted to reach to the poor, defend the right, and unwind the wrongful acts- all are partial meaning to this career. Then, one complains about the long hours in the cubicle- writing and researching about cases- and not to at least demand some compensation from big law. This thought, under cover of virtuous sentiment, became one's reflection. The honorable causes you speak, reasons, purposes, are echoes of the past. You even wanted to be convinced that you truly believed. You know, without that disguise, you lose your basic senses and principles of happiness; you stare infinitely into your soul, searching for a noble declaration-- only to find that law is the ultimate horror.

It’s been real to me-- from the day I studied for LSAT (Law School Assessment Test). I was impervious to the notion that a law degree can pay me plenty. I have never imposed that notion on myself. I knew nothing of law, except of fight for a glorious reason-justice. It ought to be the chief goal of this career or I suppose I’d simply been spared the generous paycheck as an analyst at Boeing. Granted, you should know-- no money will buy you reasons you’re in the legal field.

I have never thought myself as such a vulgar rebel. That I refused to accept the vague perception of law school with clear emptiness; rather, chose to be a crusader in my own reasons of entering law. People say, in this career, you either feel a great joy or a timid terror at the end of the day; mine will be a smiling moment. I will not sell my soul to law, not sacrifice its integrity to its promising paycheck; I will give it the dignity it convicts.

After all, I am not here to learn common sense.

Show me the money

After the reality has set in, I am starting to get panic attack. For one, I never had a student loan in my life, thanks foremost to an affordable tuition at undergrad. Scholarships, financial aid, and some money from my business all helped me graduate college without debts.

But this is law school. Truth to be told, a professional school doesn't grant me many perks I enjoyed during undergrad. My tuition, while it is manageable compared to that of other law school, is still a sky-rocket figure ($23k/year) to me.

I then realize that by attending law school will not just put me in debt after graduating, but deplete all of my savings as well. This thought definitely scared me! Having left Boeing four months ago, I started to live off on my savings. I had intended to use some of the savings and started another company- FU Wear Asia, an online website that sells Asian style clothes to the US market. Such a simple concept but involves a great complexity. I have to work with my suppliers who are located across the globe, and the time difference makes many business dealings more difficult. This is not impossible certainly, but I can't seem to stop asking myself: Did I put forth my best efforts?

How can I when I am only using this as a mean to support my own tuition? I am not desperate. This is not my last frontier either, and so, I blame the difficulties on the lack of infrastructure and processes of my suppliers. Since I founded FU Wear Asia, I have debated to whether close it down. Should I continue spending money on advertising or Should I pull a plug to burning cash? As all entrepreneurs know, you have to invest before you can harvest your crop. The problem in me, in this business, is that my law school is my investment. Should I protect my prior investment?

Law or Boeing?

Back when Boeing still paid for a JD degree, the choice was simpler. We would enroll in a part-time JD program or take an ELOA (Education Leave of Absence) to complete our degree; then, if we do not find a job after law school, we would submit our tuition for reimbursement. You really didn't have much to lose except the three years of your life.

But that was during our happier times. Now, Boeing took a reasonable move to cut funding to law program. And for the first time, I had to choose between going back to school or continuing my job at Boeing. I love my job at Boeing- an analyst position in the Industrial Engineering organization. On the days where we have to firefight issues, I find myself getting excited to jump right into the fire. I can't say I want to expect firefighting everyday since it is bad for the business. But after three years, I know very well that I needed something more challenging, more demanding. As UNCF puts it: A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

So in 2008, I began my preparation for law school entry. I did research on LSAT, law school program, career outlook, and job descriptions for attorney. After more than one year of agonizing study and endless happy-hours forgone, I was accepted to the University of Washington School of Law. I cannot forget my emotions when I opened the acceptance letter. It was a Tuesday evening, and I opened that thin envelope with the hands that had just finished marinating chicken breast.

Perhaps it all happened too fast. A desire to move on from my comfortable position at work, a reward for those days of preparation, an opportunity waiting at my hand, and a prestige awaiting my fate. This was a prize too good to say no.

It's been three years!

It's been three years! In this sour economy, three years seemed like nothing. But in the time of searching for a next phase in life, it became rather long.

If it weren't for my fan emails, I wouldn't really miss my old blog "Ms. MBA- Quest for the MBA Impossible". I have to dedicate at least a post to thank them for their support because without my fans, my blog would not appear as the #1 search result under "Boeing MBA" on Google. Also, thanks to those anonymous comments and spammers. Because of the "web" popularity, I've been offered some advertising opportunities. But in order not to distract my readers from my great posts, I kindly declined them. =)

When I read back on my previous blog, I saw a naive girl who wanted so bad to win others' acknowledgment of existence, as if without an advanced degree, I would become invisible in all. But three years have gone by, and not one day was I not glad that I joined Boeing- that I became part of the Boeing family. This is not to say I did not begin searching for a next job in Boeing as soon as I finished my first-day orientation. I mean, this is just the reality, right? We are never contend with what we have.

Anyways, I suppose I will offer my thoughts on Boeing for you future Boeing bees:

1. It values diversity. My work group is composed of people who are from different parts of the world and no matter where you are from, you will never feel alone.
2. It has great HR (human resource) department.
   
3. It has lots of opportunities. If you have patience, then you will be able to get to the top (3rd level) in 20 years.

Boeing thrives on ambitious people nevertheless. Without it, Boeing will not be what it is today. And it is up to you to define what it means to be an ambitious person. At least, I have defined mine.