Happy 2016 ★ Looking Back ★ Looking Forward
It's been forever since I've wrote here, and while I don't feel the need to share daily bits anymore nor am I in the habit of making resolutions I can't keep, my sister pointed out it's good to keep track of your life instead of, you know, watching it slip through your fingers like grains of sand and wondering what has happened.
And I'm clearly not getting rid of LJ so it's a pretty functional time capsule at the very least. Anyway.
2015 Highlights
+ Turned 26. I had my annual "I'm so old" crisis that I've had since I've turned 17 and was whining about it while my sister was reminiscing about it being the end of the year, and I was like "Well I'm the one who just got older." But she pointed out that for most people, the end of the year also feels like turning older too... I guess I've just never felt it because I've always had my birthday when I did. Maybe it's good not to notice this twice a year.
+ I moved out of my dad's house and in with my roommate again. I really like where I'm living and having my own space again, and I think the fact that I'm not constantly with my dad is doing a lot of good for our relationship. When I had my birthday last year, I literally thought "Oh God, if I'm still living here when I turn 26 I'm just going to kill myself give up." So good thing I did.
+ Started a new job. This was going to be one of my goals for 2016, to switch jobs, but the company I worked for went under so I had to break out that hustle ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I can't say it's my dream job, but it's steady, I like the people I work with for the most part, and it's rewarding in its own way. I can't say I'd be happy doing it for the rest of my life, but a bit of stability right now is fine with me.
+ Took the MCAT again. Flopped again. Sigh. I'm still hoping to go to med school but I guess my heart isn't in it. Also living with my dad seriously doesn't help. And I need to take biochemistry.
+ I didn't really travel. I went to Chicago for a work trip, which was nice but mostly work. Actually looking back, I had a lot of life changes, but I think in light of not getting to do what I want in theory to do (be a doctor), I would've loved to spend more time doing the thing I alternatively wanted to do, which is travel. Sigh.
+ I finally got my acne under control! Considering I've been suffering from acne cysts and bleeding from my face since I was 12, this is a hugely important part of my life. I'd been so self-conscious about my skin to the point where it was negatively affecting me emotionally so much. I don't think my skin is great by any means, but I have so much less anxiety and despair over it at the very least.
I had a lot of interesting milestones, but it feels personally less significant to me since I seem to be going further from the direction I want career wise. :/
2016 Hopes and Aspirations
+ This is a bit gauche, but since I already mentioned it here, so might as well. At the beginning of 2014, I had $18,000 in student loan debt. Now I'm down to under $6,000 and I should be done by the end of this year. This is a direct result of living with my dad and hating everything for 2 years so I mean. Rent or student loans.
+ This is pretty much set in stone and I'll take unpaid holiday if I have to: I'm going to the European Championship in France in early June. So I'll get to hang out with rykea in London, go tour the French city we get tickets for for a few days, and hang out in Europe some more. The nice thing about working for a multi-national company is that I can probably even ask to work in the London office with some of those colleagues for a few days if I get super bored. Just wanna travel :')
+ Go on the fanfic SF→LA roadtrip with grisclair and chiharu and maybe some other friends! This one is super up in the air, but I'm salivating at the prospect still.
+ Have a serious relationship of some sort. I keep making this resolution every year, but I can't keep putting it off. My sister and I are in the same boat, but at least she's putting herself out there, even if she has a new boyfriend every 4-6 months. Me? Sigh.
+ Get power of attorney for my mother, and get her a social worker. I can't take care of her, and this is ridiculous. I either need to cut her out of my life or figure out some way to get hers under control. And since option one is not available to me as a Chinese child, I guess it's gonna have to be option two.
+ Run a 5k. Probably won't happen but I'll put this on here anyway to see if it does.
+ Take a biochemistry class in the fall next year. I'm too new at my job right now to be able to deal with the time demands, but yeah. Study and study biochemistry. Let's aim for December MCAT next year and see how it goes.
Here's to 2016, I guess.
And I'm clearly not getting rid of LJ so it's a pretty functional time capsule at the very least. Anyway.
2015 Highlights
+ Turned 26. I had my annual "I'm so old" crisis that I've had since I've turned 17 and was whining about it while my sister was reminiscing about it being the end of the year, and I was like "Well I'm the one who just got older." But she pointed out that for most people, the end of the year also feels like turning older too... I guess I've just never felt it because I've always had my birthday when I did. Maybe it's good not to notice this twice a year.
+ I moved out of my dad's house and in with my roommate again. I really like where I'm living and having my own space again, and I think the fact that I'm not constantly with my dad is doing a lot of good for our relationship. When I had my birthday last year, I literally thought "Oh God, if I'm still living here when I turn 26 I'm just going to kill myself give up." So good thing I did.
+ Started a new job. This was going to be one of my goals for 2016, to switch jobs, but the company I worked for went under so I had to break out that hustle ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I can't say it's my dream job, but it's steady, I like the people I work with for the most part, and it's rewarding in its own way. I can't say I'd be happy doing it for the rest of my life, but a bit of stability right now is fine with me.
+ Took the MCAT again. Flopped again. Sigh. I'm still hoping to go to med school but I guess my heart isn't in it. Also living with my dad seriously doesn't help. And I need to take biochemistry.
+ I didn't really travel. I went to Chicago for a work trip, which was nice but mostly work. Actually looking back, I had a lot of life changes, but I think in light of not getting to do what I want in theory to do (be a doctor), I would've loved to spend more time doing the thing I alternatively wanted to do, which is travel. Sigh.
+ I finally got my acne under control! Considering I've been suffering from acne cysts and bleeding from my face since I was 12, this is a hugely important part of my life. I'd been so self-conscious about my skin to the point where it was negatively affecting me emotionally so much. I don't think my skin is great by any means, but I have so much less anxiety and despair over it at the very least.
I had a lot of interesting milestones, but it feels personally less significant to me since I seem to be going further from the direction I want career wise. :/
2016 Hopes and Aspirations
+ This is a bit gauche, but since I already mentioned it here, so might as well. At the beginning of 2014, I had $18,000 in student loan debt. Now I'm down to under $6,000 and I should be done by the end of this year. This is a direct result of living with my dad and hating everything for 2 years so I mean. Rent or student loans.
+ This is pretty much set in stone and I'll take unpaid holiday if I have to: I'm going to the European Championship in France in early June. So I'll get to hang out with rykea in London, go tour the French city we get tickets for for a few days, and hang out in Europe some more. The nice thing about working for a multi-national company is that I can probably even ask to work in the London office with some of those colleagues for a few days if I get super bored. Just wanna travel :')
+ Go on the fanfic SF→LA roadtrip with grisclair and chiharu and maybe some other friends! This one is super up in the air, but I'm salivating at the prospect still.
+ Have a serious relationship of some sort. I keep making this resolution every year, but I can't keep putting it off. My sister and I are in the same boat, but at least she's putting herself out there, even if she has a new boyfriend every 4-6 months. Me? Sigh.
+ Get power of attorney for my mother, and get her a social worker. I can't take care of her, and this is ridiculous. I either need to cut her out of my life or figure out some way to get hers under control. And since option one is not available to me as a Chinese child, I guess it's gonna have to be option two.
+ Run a 5k. Probably won't happen but I'll put this on here anyway to see if it does.
+ Take a biochemistry class in the fall next year. I'm too new at my job right now to be able to deal with the time demands, but yeah. Study and study biochemistry. Let's aim for December MCAT next year and see how it goes.
Here's to 2016, I guess.