Ripples

Hello, it's me again. Curious about what's new? I have completed the first part of my course "Fundamentals of Neuroscience," taught by Professor David Cox of Harvard University. This is a MOOC, and you can easily find it online. I plan to share what I've learned and my experiences enrolling in this course. However, covering everything in a single post would be overwhelming, so I will divide it into four parts. Please note that my understanding may not be entirely accurate since I am only a high school student, so I apologize for any mistakes. I would greatly appreciate hearing your thoughts. I will use the present tense for convenience.

"The Tale of Kieu" has been a very familiar literary work to not just the Vietnamese, but also to people around the world. But have we stopped to wonder what makes people so hyped about "The Tale of Kieu", or is it just overrated? Well, in school, we are taught a great deal about literary devices: metonymy, metaphor, foreshadowing, anastrophe, and here the list goes. But I would argue that "The Tale of Kieu" offers an avenue to the interpretation of the meaning of life. When I was discussing with my friends the motif of adventure tales and fairy tales, it struck me that "The Tale of Kieu" does not follow such a motif, which appears weird because most of the tales go with a happy-forever-after ending for people who lead a noble life. I will not summarise the plot of the story, as it can be found on the Internet, so please go read it if you want to be familiar with the topic.

Last semester, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the study exchange programme with King’s College London (KCL), United Kingdom. The programme spanned 5 months, allowing me to take courses across different departments at KCL. It came as a surprise to me that it still took me a while to adjust to a new environment, despite this being my second time studying abroad.