Thanks to CBS’s highly detailed episode recaps for Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) Series, I realize I am much more attracted to storylines than actual shows.

http://www.ticoneva.com/econ/econ100a_fa06/

Undergraduate Int’l: 3%
-We all know how difficult it is to get into Berkeley from Hong Kong
Undergraduate Asian: 41%
-Probably plently of them are Cantonese…

The figures are much normal (whatever that means) for graduate school…
Int’l: 18%
Asian: 17%

People say “don’t reinvent the wheel”, which is why there are textbooks. Unfortunately there are something as bad textbooks, which force you not only to reinvent the wheel but also to exert the effort in replacing the original one.

The first-time teaching assistant course in the department requires a self intro, so here it goes…

Chow Yan Chi Vinci
ECON 301
Self Introduction
My name is Chow, Yan Chi Vinci but I usually go by Vinci. I am a second year graduate student in the Department of Economics in Berkeley. Ethnically I am Chinese, born and lived in Hong Kong until college. I did my undergraduate in Cornell. I originally intended to major in urban planning, but the introductory microeconomics class taught by Robert Frank—who also happens to be a Berkeley economics PhD graduate—permanently changed my academic interest. Perhaps it was not merely coincident that I ended up in where I am.
Now about my life in Berkeley. Despite the fact that I am an economics graduate student I am also a freelance multimedia producer, specialized in animation and computer generated architectural drawing. I also have a very strong interest in portrait and sport photography as well as the piano. I consider myself comfortable at the computer, in the sense that I can usually answer computer related questions and fix computers—something many computer science majors actually not knowing how to do.
You might be wondering at this point I do not seem to be focusing on my studies. In some sense that is true; I value my outside-study life a lot more than inside. Not that I frequently go clubbing or socializing—these I actually have never participated—but that I believe life is truly a lot more than just my intended profession. Besides, I find all my aforementioned interests make me a much more needed person in this world than my qualifications in economics have, at least at this stage.
As an end to this short self introduction I would speculate on my future. My future probably ties with my home Hong Kong. Academic interest is one reason; I am interested in what differences do the lack of anti-trust laws bring. The other reason is life. Beside the obvious benefit of living close to my family I really love dinning out, and there is just no better place in the world than Hong Kong for doing that.