|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| I don't know why I couldn't figure it out. It was so simple.
You can officially follow me on Google Reader.
>>> Add this link: http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3420137/posts/default
You know what that means.... goodbye xanga (finally!!)!!
| | |
| After reading this blog entry that Estera discovered, I really began to appreciate the work ethic that my parents instilled in me from a very young age. I'm not even going to get into the ridiculous array of extracurricular activities I've dabbled in, but in elementary school there was never a summer without the accompaniment of supplementary workbooks. My mom was the mastermind in ordering reading, writing, and math books at least one level above the grade my brother and I were entering into. My dad, on the other hand, was the one on the sidelines who impounded into my brain, "There's no such thing as a break. Breaks are for getting ahead." You would think that our summers were lousy with all work and no play, but that was quite the contrary! My fondest childhood memories are doing those workbooks. I'm not crazy, really. With the help of a wild imagination and the provision of a great backyard,I remember those summers as completing those workbooks in the "treehouse" full of old sofa pillows and blankets with my brother and our dogs, or in a sprinkler-proof tent that we set up on the lawn. I was and still am a victim child of two working parents. Much of my daytime childhood was spent with my grandmas. However, there was NEVER an instance I felt neglected by my mom or my dad. They taught their children the values of hard work and diligence, a loving home, and a closely knit family. | | |
| Sometimes I imagine graduate school being just like undergraduate school. I'll make amazing friends, live with people I love, be active in a church community, experience new things, take advantage of freedom...
And then there are other times where I feel that graduate school will be nothing like what I imagine. It'll be hard work. It'll be actually learning complex things and defining and refining a career path. It'll be thesis writing and working part-time.
Why is it that I feel this way? Other than memorizing 80 words a day for the GREs, I've also been preparing what to write for admission essays. I decided to apply to a total of eleven schools (yowza, maybe it'll be less) and have been compiling all their admission requirements together. The gist of my statement of purpose essay has to answer the following questions:
1. What are your future career goals?
2. How will this graduate program prepare you for your career objectives?
3. Describe your previous educational and employment experiences.
4. How did your development of interest in this field come about?
5. What are your areas of interest in city planning?
6. What will be your contributions to the graduate program?
It's been so hard to even begin outlining what to write because I seriously don't even have concrete answers to any of these questions. I think I really have to sit for a day or two and reflect and contemplate why I want to pursue urban planning and what my particular passions for it are.
Another thing is that this isn't applying for undergraduate schools. These essays actually have to be well thought out, well written, and have analytical and purposeful meanings. My senior year of high school I wrote about life being my stage (both metaphorically and literally), Chinese speech, architecture camp, and journalism. RIDICULOUS!
I think I'm stressing, but wow, what is it that I want to do with urban planning!? Most graduate students average around the age of 25 years, most already having some professional experience. I barely have any and I have to compete against them? Here it goes.... | | |
| When I came home from my Asian-vacation, I was greeted by massive amounts of bags and boxes filled with junk signifying my 4-years of accumulated college memories. It was like seeing two world colliding and having to figure how to mesh it all into one. I was excited, but negatively overwhelmed at the same time.
Well, it's day 3 (like, literally... I've been at it for most of every day; yesterday it was 10 hours) of cleaning, organizing, and throwing away. I've gone through 4 bags of trash and 5 bags for good-will.
I'm a sentimental hoarder. It's so hard for me to throw things away. Either I feel like I'll have a really creative way of using something later (which, usually never comes around, or I feel like the occasion is not "special enough" for the item to be used), or I'll keep something just because it reminds me of or represents a certain person or occasion.
So naturally, it's been difficult bidding farewell to past homework assignments and notes (I know, right?), stuffed animals, jewelry, random rocks and sticks (I have issues). I've been taking pictures of things I'll miss, like my Sailor Moon pencil box and my 5th grade clay human statue.
It's amazing how physical items trigger the memory. There are some things I found that I never would have thought of ever again if I had not seen them, and it's sad to throw those particular things away because it's as if you're losing that piece of memory forever. The there are other things that I found that I don't remember at all (like a hand-painted ox-tail bone), and that's when it really gets scary to see that life is passing by so quickly and the human mind and body is just going to continue to deteriorate.
Seriously, there are some people in high school that I was pretty okay friends with and would see regularly, and now it's hard for me to even recall their names. What would we do without Facebook?
My room is 90% finished, all I have left is organizing the bathroom and then hanging up a ton of clothes. I'm on a roll! | | |
| I'm officially moved out of Berkeley. I don't think it's hitting me yet because everything happened so quickly. These past few days have consisted of moving out boxes and bags of accumulated junk, trying to spend as much time as possible with college friends, and discovering massive amounts of mold throughout the apartment.
I know this isn't goodbye. Things actually aren't going to change that much. I'm still going to see pretty much everyone consistently, but I think life will be difficult to keep exciting. I know for sure that I'm going to fall into lethargy and apathy--I'm 30 miles away from my church community and the only consistent beings at home are a collie and a yorkie.
I'm going to miss college! It really is such a unique time in life; I really don't mind studying, and if I could, I'd be a student my whole life. I should've gone into medicine! Just keeding.
God you have grown me sooooooooo much. It's amazing, and although I know that some superficial things from the Janet four years ago haven't changed (burping, being loud, being brutally honest), it is evident that my heart has. There's still a lot more sanctification to be done, but I am encouraged that God is faithful in softening it. | | |
|
