(continued)

Graduate Life
    The first semester was very hard. I took 7 courses for senior study and another 7 courses for graduate study. To be frankly, I didn't study well for several of the senior courses. Then the second semester was easier. After the first year's classes, I moved totally into the Hydraulic Fracturing Research Lab, mainly working on projects about fracturing simulation (programming work). I spent much time on computer and learned some knowledge about it, but learned little about my major, Hydraulic Fracturing.
    After I finished the last second project, I was not so busy as before because the topic of my thesis had not been determined yet. During that winter break, I was thinking about my future, and decided to go out to have a look of the world outside of China. Then I began to prepare for GRE and TOEFL. The last project related to my thesis came when I was applying to study in USA. It was not easy and I learned a lot from it. I finished the project one week before my flight to KU. I gave up my Master's Degree because I didn't have enough time to write thesis. I then went back home, visiting relatives, friends and former teachers. After staying together with my family for 3 days, I went back to Beijing to prepare for leaving. Three days later, I flied to USA.

Study in USA
    I arrived at KU in August 2002, studying at Chemical & Petroluem Eng. Dep, majoring in Petroleum Eng. The project was to study the effect of shear on gelation. I was simulating hydraulic fracturing in China, but here I was doing experiment about the gel system which was used to block natural fractures in the reservoir. It was kind of interesting.
    The first time I met my advisor, my listening and speaking abilities were poor. We had problem in communication, especially when he used technology terms. At that time, I had been away from English for a long time. So, I took an English class at AEC to improve my English, although I got a waiver based on my TOFEL score.      Study in U.S. is harder than study in China, I think. There were normally about 10 courses each semester in China, which kept me busy but not too tired. Four courses kept me busy and tired during the first semester here. The way of thinking was much different from that in China. And I paid more attention to and more time on homework than I did in China. Everything became easier after the first year.
    After two years' experimental work, I realized that I didn't like it very much because a lot of things were out of my control, e.g., problems of equipments. Then I decided to go back studying for something related to simulation (or computer). Dr. Huang in Mathematics Dept. gave a presentation about moving mesh in CPE seminar, which impressed me. Then I applied and enrolled in Mathematics Dept. on August 2005.
    The courses in Math Dept. are interesting, althought not easy. Life is always busy, and there are always a lot of things to do. But I still like to take part in some activities if I can make the time, because I like to make friends, practice my English, know about American culture, and have fun.

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