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Brief Biography
I was born in Jinan, China on
National Day, where China celebrates its current government founded by the
famous Chinese leader Chairman Mao. While growing up in the motherland, I
constantly switched between the two cities Jinan and Qingdao before making
the life-changing journey to the United States.
My first destination was
Lansing, Michigan, where my parents both attended Michigan State University
in pursuit of post-bachelor degrees. When I arrived, I immediately was
enrolled in first grade at Red Cedar Elementary School. Not knowing a lick
of English, I was put in an ESL (English is a Second Language) class.
Fortunately, I picked up English quickly enough such that by the end of second grade,
I was able to attend the same classes as my native English-speaking peers.
My time in Lansing was cut
short when my parents graduated from Michigan State University and moved to Fort Collins, Colorado. I did
some school hopping by spending first part of third grade at Beaver
Elementary and the latter part along with fourth grade at Moore Elementary.
I enjoyed my time at Colorado, as I spent a good amount of time with the
people around my neighborhood. I learned several important life skills
there, including how to ride a bicycle. I finally settled down at Johnston,
Iowa, where I went to the Johnston Community Schools for both middle and
high school (plus an additional 6 days of elementary). During my time here, I have made countless memorable experiences and
have developed lifelong friendships with the people that I grew up with.
Currently, I am a senior at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, double majoring in
Electrical and Computer Engineering with plans for graduation in June 2006.
I very much enjoy my time here, as Northwestern has a lot to offer, both
socially and academically. Although I keep myself busy throughout the school year, I always find
time to relax and have some fun. Next year, I am going to attend University
of Michigan as a first year PhD student under the guidance of Professor Igor
Markov.
Fun and
Games
So, how do I spend all my
"free time"? These are just some of the things that I like to do. Sometimes
I wonder how work get done in the first place...
Crosswords
My first crossword was
painful and made my head hurt. Five years later, I do crosswords like an
addict. My favorite crosswords to do are the New York Times (NYT) ones, as
they are edited by the talented Will Shortz and have the best themes. These
crosswords increase in difficulty as the week goes on: Monday is the
easiest, progressing up to Saturday, which is arguably the toughest one by a long shot. Sundays are special, as they're bigger and slightly easier in
difficulty than a Friday or Saturday. Currently, I am able to finish Tuesday
crosswords regularly and can do most of Wednesday's on my own. There are
some good
crossword sites that offer daily free ones, including
Yahoo! Games
and of course,
NYT. Do not be fooled by imitation crosswords!
Bridge (The Card Game)
I first encountered bridge
when I was in high school. Every time I did the crossword, the bridge column
would always be right next to it. I always wondered how one card game could
be so interesting that they could publish a daily column on it and make
money, so I decided to learn how to play the game.
At Northwestern, I am part of
the Northwestern Bridge Club. If you're interested, we meet every Sunday
night at 7pm at Norris and go until whenever. I first joined the club as a
sophomore, when I finally gave into my addiction. In addition, I go about
once a week to
The Bridge Center on Sheridan to
play duplicate bridge. I have also gone to Lake Geneva and played Swiss in a
few tournaments. Nationally, I am an active
ACBL
member with about 20 masterpoints.
Sudoku
Everyone else seems hooked,
so I figured I may as well jump on the bandwagon. My level's hovering right
around the moderate to brown belt level. In a way, Sudoku's (black belts in
particular) remind me of the days when I was doing algorithms homework - to
solve the most challenging ones, you have get a little lucky to see some of
the moves. I've definitely encountered "tough" Sodoku's that I have finished
very quickly because I just happen to stumble upon the right path of
thought. Otherwise, I'll be sitting there for hours on end to figure it out.
Yep, just like algorithms :-).
Sudoku's have a pretty low
learning curve, as the goal is very straightforward. However, the general
strategies take longer to pick up and, like most other things, experience
and practice definitely distinguish a good solver from a great solver. On
the upside, it doesn't take a huge chunk of time out of the day (at most
around an hour) and it's a fun way to pass the time.
Last Updated: May 11th, 2006
© 2006 Jin Hu |
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