ABSTRACT
It was an unexpected but very satisfying path for me on the way to separation science. Ever since my first chemistry kit in eighth grade, I knew I would be doing something related
to chemistry. In Hong Kong, everyone interested in science wanted to be a medical doctor. How else would you get wealth and respect at the same time? There were no électives in the high school curriculum, so I did not need to choose-that is, until twelfth grade. Many of my friends and relatives talked about studying in Canada or in the United States. By chance, I picked up a catalog from one of the small liberal arts colleges. The concept was fascinating to me. In Hong Kong I would have entered medical school right after the thirteenth grade. There would not be many more physics and chemistry courses. I wanted to keep my options open and applied to a half dozen schools in the United States. The selections were based on, not surprisingly, universities known also for their medical schools.
