Su Liu

Every tent's owner has a story.

    So does Dexter Scott, the owner of the tent "Jazzy Sprouts" at the Shrine Farmer's Market.

Zara Liaqat, from Pakistan, is now a 3^rd year Ph.D. student in Economics at University of Southern California.

She is the former "Miss Liberty" of Beaconhouse School, and the only Pakistani to ever get a World Distinction in Economics (a trophy for the top scorer in Cambridge International Examination held by the British Council). Zara Liaqat is a household name in Pakistan.

Unlike most women in the mysterious kingdom of Pakistan, Zara is a pioneer. She is a religious Muslim, praying every day and fasting in Ramadan. She is also independent and liberal, leaving behind the old-fashioned attire and embracing a more modern lifestyle.

It's interesting to Google myself on the Internet. But it's also sad to find out that with so many different Su-Lius in the world, articles mentioned the real me are scarce. At least, until now, no one cares about the life of a journalist-to-be, or more specifically NBA-female-journalist-to-be.

Luckily, I have a role model, whom I consider as the male and future version of Su Liu.

  Marc Stein, the NBA correspondent for ESPN.com.

Prologue

  Healthcare plan, an issue I never paid attention to back in China, but I have to start learning about it in English first. What a leapfrog.

  As a total layperson in the field of politics, all I know about my country's healthcare plan is that it makes it cheap to see a doctor, compared to that in America. Besides, we don't need to make an appointment before we go, the doctors are always standing by. But still, when it comes to curing severe diseases, the cost of treatment and prescription drugs is unaffordable.

  Whenever I read a touching news about how people from a small town reach out to the whole society asking for donation on a talented student who is suffering from Luekemia or other fatal illness, I will pause and wonder, why can't the hospital or  pay for the expensive cost?

  Luckily, China is also in a healthcare reform. Though the targets leave the citizens wondering its practicability, still it is an unprecedentedly giant step in Communist China's history.