This semester, I am taking professor David Yao and Ioannis Karatzas’ class. Battle in the field of probability and stochastic (ps) with two legendary captains are arduous but honorable.

What I haven’t expected was they teach wisdom, not information. Their personalities which made them who they are are embedded in every interaction. For those who seek to grow, these life long lessons could be harvested weekly. I will list some of the few as I hope to follow them.

– dynamic document: Ioannis’ effort to complete solutions to his lecture notes, David’s updating lecture notes, their interest on what the other college teaches (mutual respect, inherent curiosity, and urge to develop their teaching).

– perpetuating penetration: David penetrating questioner’s state, they know what I am asking although I must admit Ioannis was enjoyable to communicate with in terms of analogy 🙂 David thinks about the best form of answer to a certain question which requires knowing different approaches.

– affectionate advice: “Read the work of masters, don’t look up the internet but rather think for yourself of search textbook. Prioritize home-works and what we teach in class” Dull sense of prioritizing and less goal-orientated is both boon and bane for me. Their advice kept me from wandering around in far extreme and will save me from being defeated in the battle of ps. Love towards students are the root of the above two, although they appeared in different forms depending on their personalities. Hence the following figure which I give credit to my artist friend Im Jiwoo. Forgive me for not asking permission for the portrait, David and Ioannis. Thank you, truly.

I will followup with the second post which will focus on more technical side: Stochastic tales of Yao and Karatzas.

P.S. Did you notice d, p, a of the list? Understanding the root of in distribution, in probability, almost sure convergence and their direction of implication is at the heart of this field. A rules.