When I was preparing for the GRE test in 2011, I got a little anxious, and I had troubles concentrating on the monstrous vocabulary book. So I side-tracked myself by making some wallpapers.

I chose three words from the vocabulary book that I was holding in hands at the time, with initials of “G”, “R” and “E” respectively, that could best describe this test. “Grueling”, “ravishing” and “elevating” caught my eyes. Studying for the test is one of the most grueling experiences of my life; as I went deeper, the test problems became somewhat ravishing (the vocab book defined “ravishing” as “enchanting”, which turns out to be a bit inaccurate…); meanwhile, the process is definitely elevating, and pushed towards self-improvement.

I chose four colors for four toughest parts of the test preparation: 背单词 (vocabulary), 码作文 (analytical writing), 刷类反 (analogies and antonyms) and 啃阅读 (reading comprehension), but I never finished the last two. The Chinese text on the top reads like “I am a GRE test taker, and my recreational activity is…” Then there is a while (true) loop, with the above four activities inside.

Preparing for GRE truly was grueling, but rewarding as well.

If you happen to be struggling for GRE like I was, feel free to take these. Click on the images for large copies.