Thank you, 喜儿. This is the signature picture of UPenn.
* I was here, attened this school from 1985-1987. This happened when your famous 1986 picture was taken (with Jason, Becky etc) at a restaurant at San Francisco. Time flies... I was working for my Master Degree at its Moore School of Electrical Engineering. The world's first computer (with vaccum tubes, instead of integrated circuits), was designed and built at this school. Sorry, I did not think about any Class78 classmates then, while I was at UPenn.
* A few words about UPenn, it is a bit elitist. Many rich American families want to have their kids to attend its business school--the Wharton Business School (top-5 in the US). I met many bright and talented business school students then. Many of them, paid their own tuitions, after saving some money from works. I was very impressed with these MBA students. I wondered why they made such a sacrifice. This was particularly so, when I attended UPenn, the school paid me instead (something like $1000 per month, by working as teaching, or research assistant). Years later, I realized that perhaps, I may have being better by taking their career path, instead of my hard-core engineering pursuit...
* UPenn is a good school. Its engineering program is designed to produce the classic intellectual giants, like Einstein, Newton, and Maxell... In others words, everything was very academic, abstract (paper and pencil). Knowledge is about ideas, practical skills and implementation details, are mere deratives of it. This was UPenn's ideals, goals, and thrust to train its graduates. It, kind of re-connects me, at the time to our math/science teachers at Class78 days, their teaching methods, and philosophy. Such an approach to education, constrasted sharpy with the realities in the late 1980s in America. After all, this was the era when the computer industry was red/white hot (Silicon Valley Booms, Digital Equipment, Wang Lab etc.). In the computer profession, everything is about practicality. Any/everything goes, if it works. To excel and make money in the computer profession, you need no formal education, you need hard work, trial and errors, experiences (heuristic the word summarize it all, and a bit of luck) etc... Obviously, I was torn, which path within the engineering carear to take (Einstein, or computer nerd, money) ... Ahhh, so much to elaborate...
* 20 years later, all the threads of thoughts/trade-offs mentioned above are not all that significant. The compter/Hi-tech industry, in America is on the wane (just like the American auto-industry)...
* So, what is writing all about? Should your kid be inspired to attend a school like UPenn? Let me finish this writing with an observation. At my colleage (Bachelor degree, UMass-Amherst) graduation/fairwell party, every one of us shared, where each of us was going, the career path to take on etc. I proud said, I will attend UPenn (the respected), to work on my Master degree. Then, an American classmate kindly reminded me, why did I wanted to continue to study engineering? Life would be much better off and less certain by taking on the medical career path, he gentlly and kindly offered me the advice. He followed by saying that he would attend the medical school, studying dentistry at Temple Univeristy (a much less well known school nearby), and become a dentist, instead of the hard-core engineering. 20+ years later, I warmly think about him, and his kind words...
Do what makes you happy. Another 20+ years from now, does it all realy matter, uhhh...
