Before I even knew it, another school year has passed. Compared to the freshman year, which was mainly about fun, the sophomore year made me really experience the pressure of "applying to college". Time became more tight, and I had to think more about everything. The arrangements of each day became more "formulaic" and more similar, and time also felt like it was passing faster and faster. By the time I really started to react to the passage of time, the summer vacation was almost halfway through. Therefore, I think it is time to summarize the meaningful things I have done in this school year, the unforgettable memories I have experienced, and sort out every precious moment.
Here I mainly record the events of 2025, and the events of 2024 are recorded in the 2024 Annual Summary.
The first thing that made me happy in 2025 was actually qualifying for USAPhO in the F=MA competition in February. Before preparing for this competition, I went to Japan for a trip and found precious tranquility in the Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe areas. I was able to concentrate on studying F=MA in such a beautiful environment. After completing my preparations for the exams, I went to the United States in February to take the F=MA and AIME exams. After the exams, I was not very confident that I could qualify.
While I was nervously waiting for the results, I started to work harder with Lin and Wu on the Beacon project. We worked hard to develop the first prototype of the project and prepare for Conrad Challenge China. After a long period of preparation, we participated in Conrad Challenge China in mid-March. In the middle of the competition, we went to communicate with two individuals with visual impairments and received a lot of valuable advice, which also gave us a better understanding of the real life and needs of the visually impaired. I was very happy that on the way to Shanghai to participate in the Conrad Challenge, I learned that my F=MA had advanced to USAPhO. Later, we also won Silver Metal in the Conrad Challenge as we ranked the second in the country. In addition to the certificates, we also gained a lot along the way. We decided to really implement the Beacon project after the competition and make it a product that can really help the visually impaired.
After the Conrad Challenge, it was time to prepare for the USAPhO. The preparation for this exam made me realize how much room I needed to improve. Although I had studied some physics before and achieved good results in the Physics Bowl, F=MA really made me realize the gap. I took some college courses every weekend and practiced a lot of question sets. Under these practices, my self-confidence was actually getting more and more hit. In mid-April, I went to the same test site as F=MA to participate in the USAPhO competition. This competition was my first time to participate in the Olympiad in my life, so I basically did not sleep the night before the exam. With this nervous mood, I finished the exam unknowingly. Fortunately, the questions this year did not involve too much heat or quantum mechanics. They were almost all mechanics and electromagnetics, which I was relatively familiar with. The questions about optics were more like mathematical derivation questions. My most impressive memory is the relaxed and happy mood when I ate chick fil a bought in UCI University City on the way back to Cupertino after the exam.
USAPhO was over, and I started preparing for the SAT right away. While preparing for the SAT, I also participated in a competition in Chaoyang District with the school football team. When I felt that I was getting better and better, on April 26, just before the sports meeting in our school and before I went to Japan to take the SAT, I unfortunately suffered the biggest injury I have ever encountered in my life in this football competition: ligament tear.
The impact of this injury on me was enormous, but it also allowed me to see a lot of new things, which are also mentioned in this article.
After taking the SAT in Japan, I attended Osaka Expo 2025 and took a two-day break in Beijing before heading to Hong Kong to take the AP exam. They all went pretty well. I was very happy and honored to receive that my SAT score was 1550 and that I won the USAPhO gold medal and ranked among the top 40 in the United States during the AP exam.
At the end of this semester, I missed a lot of sports games because of ligament injuries, and I haven't resumed playing any ball sports until now.
In the blink of an eye, another year has passed. This year is no longer a carefree journey, but a leap forward. In the tranquil of Kyoto and Osaka, I took a moment of peace, and then devoted myself to the preparation of F=MA with contemplation. Finally, in the early spring, I received the news of the USAPhO promotion. The birth of the Beacon project was like the dawn of light, and the dialogue with my visually impaired friends ignited the ideal of "technology for good"; and the competition in Shanghai was not only an honor, but also a closeness of souls. In the late spring, I welcomed the challenge of USAPhO. I didn't sleep at night and my heart was not calm. I walked into the examination room with the tension of my first Olympiad, but I was lucky because of the familiar questions. I still remember driving back after the test. The aroma of Chick-fil-A and the California sunshine intertwined. At that moment, it seemed that the whole world was applauding. However, life is not always smooth. A sudden injury - ligament rupture, interrupted my running rhythm. The pain was always with me, but it also made me look at the word "accessibility" from a different perspective for the first time. I grew up through reflection and gained strength through stopping. In the following days, I shuttled between Japan, Hong Kong and Beijing, and everything unfolded smoothly, including exams, rehabilitation and exhibitions. When the SAT scores and the USAPhO gold medal came one after another, the joy at that moment was as clear as the dawn after the rain.
This school year has been a journey of ups and downs, a journey of self-questioning and exploration when a young man first awakens. It is not only written on the award certificates and transcripts, but also engraved in the heartbeats after crossing and settling down again and again. Now, I am once again embarking on the journey to summer school, and a new chapter is quietly unfolding.