second quarter at UC Santa Cruz

"I plan to put the lectures on YouTube, so please don't streak in the classroom." -- Prof. Eshraghian

I moved back to UC Santa Cruz on the 4th with the help of my parents. It's hard to believe how fast time goes because it still feels like the break had just begun. But at least I'm not the only one because I've heard two other people say the same.

Christmas break report

I'd say Christmas break was mostly awesome. For starters, our family friends Jeff and Sheila invited us over for lunch on Christmas Eve. Given that I was busy on Thanksgiving due to studying for finals, this actually felt more like a make-up Thanksgiving celebration. In any case, Jeff and Sheila made lots of delicious dishes, and so did my mother. It was nice to reconnect as we hadn't seen Jeff and Sheila in a while.

Another highlight is we had my cousin Cathy over for dinner on Christmas. This was long overdue because she and Andrew both got sick last year and had to call off our get-together. Andrew didn't come this time for reasons I'd rather not go into, but Cathy and my family had a great time catching up. Cathy also told me that she loved her job so much that she plans to stay in Chicago even after Andrew completes his Ph.D. there. I'm very happy for her but am also a bit bummed that we'll probably see each other no more than once a year.

We had also planned a lunch with Mom's friend group around the New Year. However, they agreed to postpone the gathering because a group member had an emergency eye surgery and needed time to recover. I won't complain because it's so much work to host large gatherings. Mom certainly deserves to relax during the holidays!

Gatherings aside, my family also went grocery shopping several times. We got to try so much new food in the past several weeks. I also got to play RuneScape than usual because I'm usually busy due to studying otherwise. On the whole, this break was quite enjoyable.

Continuing my academic journey

To make sure I can graduate on time, I'm taking three courses this quarter. Of note is all three courses take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and three 90-minute lectures in one day are a lot to absorb. ECE 255 looks to be a particularly challenging course. I also have weekly seminars on Mondays and Wednesdays. One thing for sure is that I'll be quite busy for the next 10 weeks.

However, the good news is there is some overlap between ECE 256 and two of my current courses. I'm glad I took ECE 256 because the content from that course may come in handy soon. It was also nice to meet Prof. Eshraghian in person for the first time. He's a great lecturer and is totally hilarious. I definitely look forward to his classes.

Currently listening to: The Greatest Showman soundtrack – "A Million Dreams" by Pasek and Paul

another quiet New Year's Eve + a look back at 2025

As you can probably guess, my New Year's Eve was the same as last time. We hadn't hosted or attended a party on the 31st in over a decade, and things were no different this year. However, last night wasn't too bad otherwise as I got to watch The Batman vs. Dracula on YouTube Movies. It seems that superhero movies have become a new tradition for New Year's Eve. I also did my dailies in RuneScape while waiting for the Times Square ball drop and the countdown to midnight on local channels. Looks like some things never change. :-)

It's true that most people just want to stay home these days. For example, this article from Real Simple says only around 24% of people are interested in New Year's Eve parties. So at least I'm not missing out on much. But man... I still miss the feeling of counting down the seconds with friends. Doing it online just isn't the same.

Of note is my cousin Cathy does like to celebrate the New Year. We couldn't see each other last night as she already had plans with someone else, but the good news is we did get to have her over for dinner on Christmas. She also says she'd love to celebrate New Year's Eve with us next time. It's certainly something I'm looking forward to.

2025 in review

On the whole, I'd say 2025 wasn't too bad of a year. Getting accepted into graduate school at UC Santa Cruz was one of the best things to happen to me, and I already had a great first quarter. I'm confident that I can complete the program and graduate on time.

For me, the worst part is that I developed a major during the summer. I had to wait a while to get it checked out because the dentist was booked pretty far ahead. It turned out I had a huge cavity and needed a root canal done. I then had to wait one more week for the procedure, and then another two weeks for the crown to be made. Because the temporary crown was fragile, the dentist told me to only chew on the other side until the crown was replaced with the permanent one.

Around the same time, a tooth on the other side also started to hurt because the old filling had cracked. I could not eat "normally" until both the new filling and crown were in place. It was a miserable two months, not to mention the huge bills because I didn't have dental insurance.

Furthermore, the economy hasn't gotten much better. Food prices are still on the rise, and that's probably the reason we didn't have our annual block party last year. I mean... parties aren't fun without food and drinks.

However, the good news is that many people are saying that 2026 is going to be a great year. I really hope that's the case. On a related note, I've decided to go back to New Year's resolutions because my predictions for 2025 completely failed. So for this year, my goal is to complete my master's program at UCSC by summer. It's going to be a challenge for sure, but nothing is impossible. :-)

Currently watching: The Batman vs. Dracula