更加开放的另一道题：

1. Describe your dream job (location, employer, field of concentration, duties and responsibilities).

Answer:

It is really hard for me to say an accurate answer, because life is unpredictable. I don’t want to simply give an answer like: I want to be a professor in future, or a scientist in a company, or as I’m planning now to be a lawyer and serve a law firm in a big city. However, I can definitely give a plan ahead.

Now I’m 31. There are several things take the main part of my life: 1) my parents. I pretty understand the US culture normally encourage people to be independent from their parents, and you may notice that son always beat his father in lots of movies. It is not my values. I sometimes would like to lower my individual need, but prefer to make my small family happy first. Therefore, I told myself that when my parents getting sick or getting really old, I don’t want to say this but it is inevitable, I will have no doubt to spend several years with them in China. In this case, I suppose I will have another 8-10 years chance to live apart from home.

2) My personal goal. It took me a very long time to realize what kind of person I am, and it took as long as that for me to figure out what kind of career I would like to contribute my entire life into. My childhood dream was to be a scientist, or a diplomat, or a lawyer. There are reasons: I love nature, and was fascinated by kinds of natural life; Zhou Enlai, the first primer minister is my idol (it could be the success of Chinese education); and I enjoy argue and talk to people. Somehow, I dislike government because of corruptions and hypocritical behaviors, so I never think about working for government. I watched a Chinese TV show when I was about 12 years old, and in that show, a famous defense counsel was killed by a criminal, and I clearly remembered I told my mom that night I’m afraid of death and I didn’t want to be a lawyer. My parents both started their job as accountants, but they let me decide my major by myself for my college study. So that I pick up biology because I do love nature. I sincerely feel that I’m very lucky to have a family like this and I could learn biology as my major. Not only does this major offer me a philosophical standpoint to see and understand this world, but also does bring me lots of opportunities and finally could study in the US. But life is really unpredictable: I’m learning science in the US, while got chance to touch the Embassy. And then met lots of lawyer friends. I still have no idea how a lawyer’s life look like, but I will never know if I don’t try. I always half-joking with my parents or friends: if there is a world war III, I will definitely hide in a college and teach. I hate war. But if there is a peaceful world, I will contribute a little energy on building a better human society, or try to influence more people of this world a little bit more, though I am just another common PhD student as everyone who has a unrealistic dream of saving this world.

Herein it is talking about my life in next 10 years, about from my 30 to 40. I wish to get into a top level law school first: Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Chicago, Columbia, or NYU. To achieve this, I need to get a LSAT score 175+/180. Dentons, a global law firm, might be one of my main targets, not only because it is top 10 law firm of the world, but also it has a strong influence in China. Location may not be decided, will depend on my next step. I wish I could travel between China and US flexibly as I need.

The hard part here is: my parents will be mad if I couldn’t get married first, but continue to study… However, that’s the third step of the plan. First is complete my PhD work nicely, second is to get the law school AD, then I will consider how to talk to my parents.

When I’m 40-50, I probably will spend more time with my parents and family members.
After my 60 or later, I wish to find a place like Clemson, quiet and beautiful. Reading and writing. To see if I could help more people. I do have a personal website, and have a life list to be completed. I have achieved some of them, and will continue to finish it. One of my goal is to live healthy at least to 80 years old.

Life is too complicated to be predicted. But it is different from reading another writer’s novel, I’m writing my own life, I can at least be initiative to do my own part as good as possible, and enjoy my precious life.