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| [LAST UPDATED NEW YEARS EVE 2009.]
I hope this works...
So, i am trying to figure out how to write notes, and i guess i can link my old old xanga up. so here goes:
This New Years , between Boston and New York City, I decided to make a list of 50 things to accomplish for the year. The reason for the list is a bit complicated, so you can ask me personally if you must know. I ma or may not get into it. I figure it would give me something adventurous to do, and if anybody actually knows me, I like getting lost and trying new things. In addition, i added a lot of personal goals to accomplish physically and academically. I figure I'll write the ones down that actually get done, and hopefully by next new year, there will be 50 things on this entry. You can call this dumb if you want, i don't care. I figure i'll 'add to note' the people who get mentioned.
The accomplished list:
#11: Get lost in a new place and befriend a stranger.
3/26-27/08, in Las Vegas with Vickie Pon, got way lost in the underbelly of Caesar's palace, and asked a drunk guy to let us ride the inclinator half way up the Luxor
#14: Snowboard somewhere new!
1/20/08, in Whistler BC, with Jimmy, Tim, Cello, Luke, Cahil, Marr, and Luke. (probably missing someone). College weekend in Whistler-Blackcomb. Spent more time falling off the damn T-bar then i wanted. Snowboarding was only half the fun, drinking in long lines was the other half.
#34: Make Scallion Pancakes
1/2/08, in NYC, with Dan Hung. They were tasty. NYC is cold as balls in the winter.
#42: Drink a boot.
1/26/08, at Schultzy's sausages on the Ave, with Tory, Matt Lee (though he was weak sauce), and old RA Mike. We managed to split 3 boots of beer on 4 people and it was definately a deliciously good time.
#45: Open an ING savings account (start saving money...)
2/16/08, referred from Dan, and just did it. Unfortunately I think that most of this is going towards spring break costs unless i work wicked in the next month...so much for this idea...
#21: Get a scholarship
6/20/08, I applied for general scholarships through the ME depratment and happened to get one! Pretty exciting. If i were in-state, it would amount to half my tuition. Because I'm out of state...it less than half of 1 quarters tuition. Its the thought and effort that counts. I've tried since last summer to help support my education. better late than never.
#39: Get a pair of 7s
6/26/08, I put this on my list in hopes that I would stop being a scrub. I'm still a scrub. But i can class up once in a while. Also, it's a small little luxury item I finally can afford given that I'm working.
#50: Brew own coffee
7/7/08, at Psi U's with Maddie. I've never done this. I know. I know. Now I can say I have.
#36: Go camping
08/22/08, at the Gorge with Marr, Mikey, Alex, and Olivia. Maybe not the actual 'traditional' camping experience, but it involved a tent, a jack johnson concert, and a lot of beer.
#3: Visit a good friend at his/her school (travel!).
09/12/08 - 9/17/08, After I had some money from working, I booked a flight to San Francisco. Originally intended to visit Vickie because she couldn't visit Seattle this summer. In the end i crashed w/ her and her pharm school roommates and met up with Chris Nishioka, Dan Kaplan (frosh yr. roommate) , Jeff Chen, and a girl (Christina) who i met on a bus tour about 10 years ago. Amazing trip.
#7: Maintain/improve old friendships
Winter Vacation. Finally got home for the first time in a whole year. Did not go skiing in Maine (or skiing at all) for the first time in at least 6 years. So goes another tradition. But did still hang out w/ Min, Terry, and Anna, and also the some old camp friends (the aristocrats). Hung out with Dan and his girlfriend Susan for a few days which was really nice overall. Good times. This is likely going to be a recurring goal on every list.
#12: Go to Church in a New State. (MA and WA do not count)
12/28/08, Went to NYC and after getting lost for half the day, I found my way to Redeemer which had a service somewhere around 69th btw Park and Lexington. It was pretty cool. We got to sing a few Christmas songs. Definately a lot of asians at this church which i found interesting. Maybe that was because the person who rec'd it for me was asian...maybe. I had the top of a Christmas tree blocking my view from the speaker the whole time though. What are the odds? Anyhow, the sermon was on God's love being stronger than that of love between a man and woman. i was a bit confused. I'm tossed up if I would return , but one sermon is hard to judge a church on .
#32: Take a picture with Penguins. Name the Penguins
12/30/08, On our drive back from NYC, Dan, Susan and I stopped by Mystic, Connecticut and went to the Mystic Aquarium. They had pretty cool penguins there! They look like birds that are flying underwater when they swim, its pretty cool. We took a picture, and I'm naming the cock of the walk penguin Larry. We also got to touch rays and see blue lobsters. blue lobsters are awesome looking!
The 'not going to happen' list:
#20: Dean's list...all year.
3/28/08. I made it in Autumn. I got a 3.49 this quarter. how ball breaking is that? .01 away...
#8: Run a Marathon
Aug 08: threw my back out during training, and compounded with a healing sprained ankle, this year has been painful to train. As of mid August it was apparent this is not the year.
#9: Do a Triathalon
Same as above. And i can't afford a bike. ugh.
#16: Red-Sox Yankees game
September 09, I can't make it home. its too expensive. I fully wanted to go scalp a ticket into the last series, but the $500 round trip, plus the fact that the series starts where classes started deterred this one.
#24: Accumulate $2k in savings
I actually had the money enough in my savings at some point. However, if i factor in the balence on my credit card, i never actually hit this goal. Given that i am back in school and only working 15 hours/wk at a smaller pay rate....and i have debt...this is not going to happen unless something unpredictable (lottery?) happens.
"
Under an old brass paperweight is my list of things to do today
Go to the bank and the hardware store, put a new lock on the cellar door
I cross 'em off as I get 'em done but when the sun is set
There's still more than a few things left I haven't got to yet"
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| i haven't written in a long time, and i guess this is more for me to look back on. It's interesting to look back on the few entries I still have on this xanga thing of my college experiences. It wont be done for another year if i continue this double degree path i've chosen. Regardless, its interesting to look back on my old concerns, joys, and experiences.
I'll say for now i am completely lost. I can be somewhat happy of how much progress and healing i've gone through in the last 3-4 months after an initial, painful burn. It's still there and I'm thinking about ways to get over it still. A busy hectic life has been keeping me from making any sort of progress in 'life experiences' , and everything has been essentially obligations and school oriented. i don't like it.
The things and people I've fallen back on after my 'trusted' 'friends' fell under me have not been much of any help. if anything, some are annoying and keeping me back. I really wish i had some friends from back home out here - a rough reality of traveling thousands of miles away from the nest. I realize everyday who and what i left behind and though I know i wouldn't realize it if i hadn't left, it would be nice to be ignorant and comfortable with the same old people.
Here's my sad dilemma. I really believe that you have to fall completely to rebuild. And i have fallen. to an extent. When i nearly died in a car accident, i turned to God. That was one of the biggest falls of my life. and something good came out of it.
This summer was the hardest experience of my life. I lost some of the most important people in my life in the cruelest of circumstances. So without these people, i had nobody i trusted much to fall back on. So i tried to fill the void with other new people, but so far nobody can achieve a Jordan quality 'good friend'. sorry. do i sound like a dick with a high expectation of friends? sorry. regardless, now there are people in my life i would just like to drop out (in particular the 'scab' friends who turned out not that great. i usually like to hang out w/ a wide variety of people, but i realize now that i would much much much rather just hang out w/ a core group of close people. i wish i had made this realization 2-3 years ago but hindsight is 20/20 you know? What i see now is not what i want.
I would love a close group, but its hard when I have sooo many people around me who i feel obligated (or guilted into) hanging out with. I would love to just start fresh. i think i need to let some friendships just 'fall' so i can rebuild the people close to me. This 'falling' out means i'm going to have to be a dick which is not something i'm good at. typically i don't let people down, rather, i'm' usually the one let down. often. And, there are some people i've avoided for whatever reason that i think i need to reapproach. this summer fucked a lot of things up. its time to start getting over it. maybe. ugh.
sometimes you just need a clean slate. Mines will never be truly clean, since this summer is scarred into my definition. It doesn't mean i can't try.
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| i haven't written in a long time, and i guess this is more for me to look back on. It's interesting to look back on the few entries I still have on this xanga thing of my college experiences. It wont be done for another year if i continue this double degree path i've chosen. Regardless, its interesting to look back on my old concerns, joys, and experiences.
I'll say for now i am completely lost. I can be somewhat happy of how much progress and healing i've gone through in the last 3-4 months after an initial, painful burn. It's still there and I'm thinking about ways to get over it still. A busy hectic life has been keeping me from making any sort of progress in 'life experiences' , and everything has been essentially obligations and school oriented. i don't like it.
The things and people I've fallen back on after my 'trusted' 'friends' fell under me have not been much of any help. if anything, some are annoying and keeping me back. I really wish i had some friends from back home out here - a rough reality of traveling thousands of miles away from the nest. I realize everyday who and what i left behind and though I know i wouldn't realize it if i hadn't left, it would be nice to be ignorant and comfortable with the same old people.
Here's my sad dilemma. I really believe that you have to fall completely to rebuild. And i have fallen. to an extent. When i nearly died in a car accident, i turned to God. That was one of the biggest falls of my life. and something good came out of it.
This summer was the hardest experience of my life. I lost some of the most important people in my life in the cruelest of circumstances. So without these people, i had nobody i trusted much to fall back on. So i tried to fill the void with other new people, but so far nobody can achieve a Jordan quality 'good friend'. sorry. do i sound like a dick with a high expectation of friends? sorry. regardless, now there are people in my life i would just like to drop out (in particular the 'scab' friends who turned out not that great. i usually like to hang out w/ a wide variety of people, but i realize now that i would much much much rather just hang out w/ a core group of close people. i wish i had made this realization 2-3 years ago but hindsight is 20/20 you know? What i see now is not what i want.
I would love a close group, but its hard when I have sooo many people around me who i feel obligated (or guilted into) hanging out with. I would love to just start fresh. i think i need to let some friendships just 'fall' so i can rebuild the people close to me. This 'falling' out means i'm going to have to be a dick which is not something i'm good at. typically i don't let people down, rather, i'm' usually the one let down. often. And, there are some people i've avoided for whatever reason that i think i need to reapproach. this summer fucked a lot of things up. its time to start getting over it. maybe. ugh.
sometimes you just need a clean slate. Mines will never be truly clean, since this summer is scarred into my definition. It doesn't mean i can't try.
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| Propz to all the NECYSC '06 JR. Camp staff. Y'all did great. I'm going to try to compile a picture video while i have 'free time' during Sr. Camp.
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| So it's been about 6 months, and I'm extemely bored at work, so i think it's time for this years biannual xanga update.
School:
School went well. My grades weren't so hot. I failed every final. Not in the typical way you overacheiving asians say "oh i failed", and then go cry into some pillows and find out two weeks later you got a B. I failed these finals. I didn't get above average (2.7-3.0) on any. Engr. Economics i did my best in and only got 10 pts under average. My Mech. of Materials i think was 15 pts under, and Physics was by far the worse. I think i was like 40 points under the average on a 150 pt test. I did better than 11 people in a 150 person or so class.
In short, what this means, is that i had the potential, if i had done average, to get a GPA over 3.5, maybe a 3.6. If i had done average. In particular, i could of had like a 3.7 in physics, instead i barely got a 3.0. Life gives you Lemons. Don't party so much in the spring.
There's a saying about college. There are 3 S's to college. Sleep, Socializing, and Studying. Choose 2. I managed them all well until finals. Greek week, beachbombers, memorial day weekend....pretty much every weekend in May (my finals were begining of June) killllleed me. Make Lemonade next year.
In other news, I was worried most towards the end of the year because I needed to Apply into my major. Quick lesson for you youngsters. If you find any public school with a highly reguarded program, the reason it is high regaurded is because they filter out the shittier (i'll be blunt) students from the better ones. So, these schools with have large class sizes for the intro classes (chem, physics, econ, psych, etc) and make them somewhat difficult to see which students go out of the their way to acheive. the idea is that if students can learn on their own, or by finding help for themselves, when they get into the program and have more direct teaching, they will excell and become the next einstein and come back and give the school an assload of money.
So, i want to be an engineer. Excuse me being stereotypical. Every engineering dept at U-dub is top tier, highest probably being Comp Sci And Engr (CSE). Me is prolly around 20th or so. To get into this program, you have to take prereq classes, write an essay, and apply around the end of your second year. The avg. GPA was 3.54 last year getting in. I am definately under. So, i made a very nice essay and editted it about 6 times at work. (work is very productive for me, as you can see i've gotten so bored i'm updating the xanga...)
So yeah, i applied to ME, and Civil and MSE as backups. i got into MSE first, then Civil, and this week ME. So, i'm excited because i could, but i don't want to switch majors or switch schools (esp. don't want to swtich schools...i'd miss Ashley too much :o( )
So yeah, school is good. the plan is to follow ME. Try to double minor in MSE and Math, and try to get a co-op and go abroad. A hefty plate, but I'd rather think big. I plan on going 5 years. College is supposed to be fun. "going to college for only 4 years is like leaving the party at midnight".
Work:
If you scroll down to an entry i made last year, it's the same. Same place (cambridge College), doing the same work (tech support). Only good thing is i'm make $12/hr so i'm going to go back to school with some chedda' in the bank. I can buy myself something nice, like a TV, take ash on some nice dates, and prolly pay off all my day-to-day (read: beer, food...books) expenses for the year.
Home:
Home is boring. I expected more. Terry is gone to the cape for his Co-op. Tian went to China. Dan's in Taiwan. Min is doing summer school, and he's around, but he has a g/f he's usually with. Max is working, and we've started growing apart. I am bored. Things aren't the same, and it's time i face the facts of life. People are growing up. So am I...i guess. Hopefully our group of camp friends can have one last horrah as we usually do, because i was a bit sad at July 4th because it seems like until someone gets married, we'll never all see each other at the same time again.
yeah, so everyday is work, home, warcraft. More or less. Some weekends i'll hang out, or work. but yeah. this summer is quite bland. I wasn't expecting being home. I applied to a few co-ops, but no dice. the one i wanted was discontinued, and others i just wasn't accepted. Sucks. Next year.
Camp:
So, i figured I'd be a counselor , but I guess there were too many good candidates or something (Feel free to ask me about my 'personal' opinion of 'good candidates'...) , so I was asked to do some new position called "Activity Coordinating". So, instead of having a group, Joyce Sun and I will be doing that. This year, instead of having kids to look after, we will plan, layout, and shop for all the night time activites and color day. I'm currently feeling a bit indifferent to the whole thing, but we're doing everything nesecary. I don't think it'll be as rewarding as having a group of kids looking up to you, almost idolizing you. You feel very attached to these kids for a week and it feels good to see them smile, laugh, and be in teh talent show. We'll see how this year goes, but I don't think it'll be as easy to make any kind of attachment to any campers.
Oh, i'm going to RA at sr. camp too. I have time for it ... why not.
Probably my last year @ NECYSC. I'm like the last one of 'my generation'. George Lee, or Alan Jaw, if for some reason you read this, I remember asking you about why they don't come back to camp. Their responses were similar: too old, and its not the same. being younger, i didn't understand cuz camp was always fun and exciting. I somehow understand what they meant now.
Ashley:
All is good. Minus us temporarily being apart. that part sucks. a lot. a lot a lot.
Other:
I'm flying back the 29th of August. I'll be free from after sr. camp till i leave. so prolly the 20th - 28th. After that, I'll be partying back at the house, and hanging out with Ashley like eveerryday. sounds wonderful :o)
Maybe i'll add some pictures later, maybe i wont. if you want to see newer pictures of me, just look at my facebook. And if you aren't old enough to see facebook, you probably aren't old enough to see those pictures :-p. | | |
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