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Who Am I?

A kid wanted to be a scientist, but lost precious things on the road.

Who Am I?

Je n’ai que ma douleur et je ne veux plus qu’elle.
Elle m’a été, elle m’est encore fidèle.
Pourquoi lui en voudrais-je, puisqu’aux heures
où mon âme broyait le dessous de mon cœur,
elle se trouvait là assise à mon côté ?
Ô douleur, j’ai fini, vois, par te respecter,
car je suis sûr que tu ne me quitteras jamais.
Ah ! Je le reconnais : tu es belle à force d’être.

Tu es pareille à ceux qui jamais ne quittèrent
le triste coin de feu de mon cœur pauvre et noir.
ma douleur, tu es mieux qu’une bien aimée :
car je sais que le jour où j’agoniserai,
tu sera là, couchée dans mes draps, ô douleur,
pour essayer de m’entrer encore dans le cœur.

— Francis Jammes, "Prière pour aimer la douleur"
Show English Translation

I have only my pain, and I want nothing more than her.
She has been, and is still, faithful to me.
Why would I resent her, since in the hours
when my soul was crushing the bottom of my heart,
she was there, sitting by my side?
O pain, I have finished, you see, by respecting you,
for I am sure that you will never leave me.
Ah! I recognize you: you are beautiful for being so.

You are like those who never left
the sad corner of my poor, dark heart.
my pain, you are better than a beloved:
for I know that on the day I die,
you will be there, lying in my sheets, O pain,
to try and enter my heart once more.

A New Start

The memories of the past few years have reshaped my life and mind. My loved one left me.
I surrendered most of my heart and essence to her, leaving nothing for myself.
Yet, I refuse to surrender—not on her, not on my life.
With the beginning of my doctoral program as a researcher,
I, MUST CHART A NEW PATH.
For my family, for the one I still love, for my friends, for the students I mentor, and ultimately, for myself.
This blog marks one of my attempts to forge a new life—working with greater purpose, thinking with sharper clarity, and pursuing my dreams with unwavering determination.

who am I?

Life

A vibrant blue cocktail in a glass at a bar, representing a moment of reflection on past trauma and life struggles.

In my younger years, the world seemed much smaller. I was beaten by my own parents almost every month until halfway through high school. I studied at my old school with consistently poor grades and had a crush on one who never even acknowledged me as a normal person. I had very little money for the things I loved… those days were darker than now.
Of course, the trouble wasn’t purely physical. My father placed me in a class with students far more advanced than I was, telling me, “Study is all you need now.” Meanwhile, my classmates would laugh at me as though I were the dumbest person in the world. Even the beatings from my parents weren’t particularly “hard” in a physical sense.
It struck me when my father remarked during my middle school years, “I noticed you’re not as outgoing as you were at 10.” I found myself wondering, “How did I become a person like this?”
Today, I still ask myself that same question again and again:”What did I do wrong? How could she do this? Am I trying my best? How did I became a person like this?”

work

TUIS is not a prestigious school, but it holds special meaning for me—after all, when you spend seven years in the same place and anticipate spending two or three more, you naturally develop a connection with it. While I don’t particularly embrace the Japanese mindset, I must acknowledge that “Without the Japanese approach to research, I could never have become a doctoral student.”
I aspired to be a “hacker,” a “scientist,” specializing in phishing detection—despite my mediocre grades. My former Japanese professor, though strict and uncompromising, was kind enough to allow me to pursue research while questioning my abilities. I excelled in research, performing significantly better than my academic grades would suggest.
Now I’m enrolled in a doctoral program under the guidance of a new, easygoing Korean professor, focusing on Computer Vision, AI, and Vision Transformers. I genuinely enjoy my current work: reviewing papers daily, mentoring junior students, and pioneering work that hasn’t been done before. I truly believe I’m building a new life—just without her by my side.

why English?

I’ve always preferred communicating with locals in a different language—this way, harsh words never feel as offensive as they might in my native tongue, which helps given my struggles with emotional control.
I genuinely enjoy learning English—it’s one area where I’ve outperformed most of my peers. From middle school to the present day, I can confidently say I’ve made more progress than many international students and Japanese locals.
Moreover, I need English for practical reasons: all the papers, theses, documentation, and GitHub projects are written in English, not to mention communication with my foreign friends.
Lastly, I still need to improve my English—throughout these years, I’ve merely used the language without studying it systematically, especially when it comes to writing. As a Chinese person, I appreciate the beauty of Chinese/Japanese characters, while also taking pride in my growing ability to recognize beauty in other languages.

A quiet street scene in Yokosuka, Japan, showing a flower shop and a 7-Eleven, reflecting the author's connection to the city.

— Qui aimes-tu le mieux, homme énigmatique, dis ?
— J’aime les nuages… les nuages qui passent… là-bas… là-bas… les merveilleux nuages !

— Charles Baudelaire, "L'Étranger", 1869
This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.