Hurrah: showered and done with my graphic design project! And somehow everything is already packed…so all that’s left to do is to send out a last email, import some photos from the past two days, and go to sleep.

And just a quick shout-out to my big brother—congratulations on your master’s degree! I will never admit this out loud, but since you creep on my Tumblr once in a while and the chances of you seeing this (and I kind of want you to see this, kind of not) is like 5%, I will say it: I am really proud of you, and I look up to you a lot. I’m really blessed to have an older sibling like you. I complain a lot about you being too smart and most days I don’t understand how you think (remember when your friend from Yale came over? You guys were just chatting very colloquially and even then I didn’t understand half the English that was being exchanged), but deep down, I really do love you. I’m glad we all get to go to China and spend some time together before you become a real, working adult (as you say, “contributor to society”).

And Stanford, thank you for treating my brother so well. There have been ups and downs, but today during general commencement, I was really touched by the energy and community and just overall, sheer brightness of everyone in the Stadium. I can’t imagine myself anywhere but Berkeley, but there is no doubt that Palo Alto is a place I love dearly and will miss visiting. Of all the colleges in the nation, you are the one I respect the most. There’s some unattainable quality about you that always strikes me with awe…the people you churn out are not corner-cutters, not second tier in the least. You are not a grade inflator, you don’t have that quintessential ivy background that helped pushed you into acknowledgement; you are hard work and dedication, innovation and cutting-edge in all senses of the word. I don’t admit this often either, but there is a part of me that never wanted, never wants to be a part of your community because it’s something sacred to me and I don’t think I would ever deserve it (nor could I deal with it if it ever happened, haha), but my dad nudged me today and said, “Grad school?”, and all I could think about is what a blessing that would be if it ever came down to it.

And God…you know my thanks. You are the source of all of this. All the blessing I feel, all the goodness in my life. Thank you for leading me thus far, and thank you for that promise of always being there in the future.

Next adventure: China. Laters, friends :)