My story

Sichuan

I was born in Weiyuan County, in Sichuan, the oldest of three. If you have eaten food that made your mouth buzz, you have met my province.

Chongqing

I studied materials science and engineering at Chongqing University. It was a serious degree in a serious city, all hills and staircases and fog off the river — Chongqing.

Texas

Then a master's in statistics at Texas Tech, in Lubbock. Flat where Chongqing was vertical, dry where home was wet, and so far from anything familiar that I had to build a new version of myself to live there. I am still glad I did.

East

Life moved east after that — New Jersey, then Pennsylvania. Two daughters grew up in that stretch of it. These days I work at AT Prep, helping high school students figure out how to get where they are going. I know something about arriving somewhere new and working out the rules.

New Year's Day

Brian and I met on Tinder, which is not the most romantic opening line, and had our first date on New Year's Day, 2025, at UMI. Starting something on the first day of a year turns out to be a good omen. This site is his doing.