I have got the master degree of Solid Mechanics in University of Science and Technology of China. Actually, I have taken several courses related to this subject, such as strength of materials and the theory of elasticity. So, my strength may be that I have some  knowledge about it, but my poor ability to solve PDE or even ODE could be the specific obstacle for studying this course. I will do research in Suo’s group(http://www.seas.harvard.edu/suo/), and my research may be related to soft matters, such as gels. Obviously, this course is essential for my future research, especially the topic about finite deformation. I think all of us, no matter which major you are in and what your future goal is, can be benefitted from this course. Some concepts and results in this course, such as stress concentration, stress wave propagation, plastic deformation, are very helpful for us to understand both crucial engineering designs and natural phenomena and even can give us some proposal for everyday life.