Dear students,

First of all, thank you for your comments.

We all live in a competitive society, and the amount of reward we receive is primarily determined by the amount of contribution we make to society We can hardly make any significant contribution without sufficient skills.

I moved to the United States from China three months ago for a Ph.D. here at UT Austin. America is the wealthiest country in the world Most of you have lived in the U S. a lot longer than me, and are very used to the luxury lifestyle here. I am not American, but I also want to lead a luxury lifestyle. Presumably, you as Americans also want to continue your way of life. Unfortunately, resources in this world are limited and cannot afford every human being to be this rich. The competitive nature of this world determines that you have to be more competitive than us to defend against us.

When I was attending college in China, I usually take around ten courses every semester. I spent an average of 12+ hours every day on my studies, including holidays and semester breaks. The workload I had was a lot higher than what you described in this post, and the difficulty of the courses I took was also more significant I am not saying that you should do exactly what I did.

However, you should be aware that people like me are going to be your future competitors.

Many of you mentioned the large number of students who believe this assignment is too hard and who would like to give up. Again, in a competitive environment, only a few people can stand out

The nature of our world is cruel, no matter how people try to embellish it or how advanced civilization is.

I wish you all the best.

Your TA