Welcome 2007
Here’s my annual Highlights and New Year’s resolutions update.
Highlights from 2006:
Well, the obvious one was my study abroad experience in Shanghai, which was great for the experience itself and for the opportunity to travel throughout China and to other Asian countries. I seriously wouldn’t have traded it for anything. One doesn’t realize how China is and how it’s changing until you see it. The chance to see Asia was like an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, since it was my first time in Asia, and I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’d like to be back one day, either as someone involved in the political or business scene, or as a traveler just to see how much it’ll have changed. And of course, everyone does some growing up after being in China.
So my travel schedule in 2006 ended up to be a lot more extensive than I had predicted, and I made sure to enjoy every moment of it (in chronological order): Vancouver, Boston, San Francisco, Tampa, New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing again, Huangshan, Xitang, Xi’an, Korea, and Japan. I don’t think I’ll have the opportunity to log so many miles again until… after I retire?
I think any other highlight would pale in comparison to the above, but here are some other notable events: UCLA MUN winning Golden Bear award at Berkeley, UNAUSAMUN in New York plus all the Global Classrooms Conferences, lost 8 pounds from diet and exercise over the summer (lost about 13 pounds total in the year), attending Spring Sing and DCI, Monster DLP, working at the Anderson School, and living in Sproul 2-South again where I finally felt at home.
2006 Resolutions Evaluation:
1. Get fit/eat healthier: Pass. The diet and exercise worked well in the summer. I surprisingly lost weight in China… but the food there wasn’t that great, and I saved food money for traveling expenses, so maybe that’s why. Hopefully I can continue it because being fit is a lifestyle, not a goal. 14 Premiere is going to be a challenge though. Anyone need swipes?
2. Be productive: Even. Wasn’t too productive while at UCLA, but the first half of the study abroad semester was really academically intense, and I think that’s where I found out what it really meant to “work hard, play harder.” I also found out I could actually be productive! LOL.
3. Get good grades: Fail. My GPA did drop from my freshman year one :(
4. Be more social; don’t be a loner: Pass. I finally felt like college was homely again, in the high school way where we all knew each other but without the high school drama. Living in Sproul 2-South was great cuz we had a close group of friends, and doing EAP was awesome cuz the people were friendly and knew how to have fun. I really wish UCLA would be like EAP, but I guess it’s impossible with such a large student population. I’m going to miss the EAP or Sproul atmosphere when I move back.
5. Figure out my club involvement: Pass. I have to thank Tippy for helping me on this. I think I shed my “club whore” label, and when I dropped my position as dorm PA over the summer, I was happy that for once, I settled down and did something for myself rather than always being ambitious and doing things for others (which is not bad, but sometimes you have to think of your own priorities too - as a result, I got to live with my Sproul friends for a second year). Also, EAP was different because for the first time since I don’t remember when, I was not involved in ANY club! It goes to show that life is fun without clubs, even though my life had revolved around them.
6. Explore relationships for once: Even? Don’t know how to evaluate this one. I don't remember what happened at UCLA, but I do know EAP was different because there was never a point where I was thinking about any single girl. My time there was focused on having fun in China and having fun with the EAPers. This will probably have to change when I get back to UCLA.
7. Drive far: Technically a Fail. Las Vegas distance was my goal, but I did get chances to drive on my own to places like La Canada, Torrance, and UCLA, so that’ll do for now. Of course, my parents don’t know about me driving to any of the above, cuz if they did, they’d freak out haha.
8. Host a successful UCLA MUN College Conference: Even. Well, we did it. Got some good schools to come too. Just not enough delegates… haha okay, actually very short on delegates. But hey, it was our first time doing it, and we did pull it off.
9. Study abroad in China: Pass for sure. Can’t believe I had so many hurdles to do this, but now that I’ve done it, I’m so glad I was able to, and as you can probably see from this post, it was a life changer if not a year-changer. My recommendation for all college students: go study abroad!
Wow I did relatively good in 2006. :)
2007 Resolutions:
1. Continue getting fit: Eating healthy, eating at the right time, and eating the right portions will be challenges in the dorms… and I do get lazy enough to skip the gym. Since my weight is actually back to the pre-college level (although I still feel less in shape than I was in high school), my next goal is to be confident enough to go to the beach without a shirt haha. But maintaining my weight will suffice too.
2. Get good grades/figure out my future: This is like the major theme of my life right now, and it’s pretty frustrating. Figuring out my future has a lot to do with how well I do in school, because if I do well enough, then I may apply straight to law school. If not, then it’s going to be a job, not sure in which field exactly yet. Which leads up to my next resolution…
3. Find an internship: I guess I forgot to make this one a resolution in 2006 and I ended up not having one. This is important for me not because it’s the summer before my senior year, but also because I haven’t decided on my career path yet.
4. Get admitted to a top law school (optional): Depends on how I do on resolution #2, how I do on the LSAT, and how resolution #3 changes my career perceptions. But if I for sure intend to practice law, and if everything falls into place, I better get into a top law school, otherwise it’s back to square 1 and figuring out my career path haha.
5. Do a good job as a USG for UNAUSAMUN: As our SG Mark Thompson puts it, we have the “very simple task” of hosting the “best UNAUSAMUN ever.” I’m on the Senior Secretariat, so I look forward to hard work but fun times in preparation for the conference in May at the United Nations.
6. Be open to a relationship: To me, this is optional, and one shouldn’t plan for a relationship, but for various reasons, I’ll be open to one.
7. Enjoy college and take advantage of its opportunities: Very broad, but very important, because college supposed to be the best time of your life. So far I’ve enjoyed it, but perhaps it can be even more fun and fulfilling. As for taking advantage of its opportunities, I’d like to attend more campus events like the culture shows, and hopefully I can get to learn some stuff that I would like to learn, such as Korean, golf, and maybe ballroom dancing.
8. Be better to people: Added this one after seeing the movie “Click” (last year, my influential movie was “Hitch” haha). Anyway, hopefully I’ll treat people better and not take them for granted, especially my parents.
Reasonable set of goals, with many of them deciding my immediate future.
Happy New Year’s everybody. Hope you had a good 2006 and wish you the best for 2007.
Highlights from 2006:
Well, the obvious one was my study abroad experience in Shanghai, which was great for the experience itself and for the opportunity to travel throughout China and to other Asian countries. I seriously wouldn’t have traded it for anything. One doesn’t realize how China is and how it’s changing until you see it. The chance to see Asia was like an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, since it was my first time in Asia, and I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’d like to be back one day, either as someone involved in the political or business scene, or as a traveler just to see how much it’ll have changed. And of course, everyone does some growing up after being in China.
So my travel schedule in 2006 ended up to be a lot more extensive than I had predicted, and I made sure to enjoy every moment of it (in chronological order): Vancouver, Boston, San Francisco, Tampa, New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing again, Huangshan, Xitang, Xi’an, Korea, and Japan. I don’t think I’ll have the opportunity to log so many miles again until… after I retire?
I think any other highlight would pale in comparison to the above, but here are some other notable events: UCLA MUN winning Golden Bear award at Berkeley, UNAUSAMUN in New York plus all the Global Classrooms Conferences, lost 8 pounds from diet and exercise over the summer (lost about 13 pounds total in the year), attending Spring Sing and DCI, Monster DLP, working at the Anderson School, and living in Sproul 2-South again where I finally felt at home.
2006 Resolutions Evaluation:
1. Get fit/eat healthier: Pass. The diet and exercise worked well in the summer. I surprisingly lost weight in China… but the food there wasn’t that great, and I saved food money for traveling expenses, so maybe that’s why. Hopefully I can continue it because being fit is a lifestyle, not a goal. 14 Premiere is going to be a challenge though. Anyone need swipes?
2. Be productive: Even. Wasn’t too productive while at UCLA, but the first half of the study abroad semester was really academically intense, and I think that’s where I found out what it really meant to “work hard, play harder.” I also found out I could actually be productive! LOL.
3. Get good grades: Fail. My GPA did drop from my freshman year one :(
4. Be more social; don’t be a loner: Pass. I finally felt like college was homely again, in the high school way where we all knew each other but without the high school drama. Living in Sproul 2-South was great cuz we had a close group of friends, and doing EAP was awesome cuz the people were friendly and knew how to have fun. I really wish UCLA would be like EAP, but I guess it’s impossible with such a large student population. I’m going to miss the EAP or Sproul atmosphere when I move back.
5. Figure out my club involvement: Pass. I have to thank Tippy for helping me on this. I think I shed my “club whore” label, and when I dropped my position as dorm PA over the summer, I was happy that for once, I settled down and did something for myself rather than always being ambitious and doing things for others (which is not bad, but sometimes you have to think of your own priorities too - as a result, I got to live with my Sproul friends for a second year). Also, EAP was different because for the first time since I don’t remember when, I was not involved in ANY club! It goes to show that life is fun without clubs, even though my life had revolved around them.
6. Explore relationships for once: Even? Don’t know how to evaluate this one. I don't remember what happened at UCLA, but I do know EAP was different because there was never a point where I was thinking about any single girl. My time there was focused on having fun in China and having fun with the EAPers. This will probably have to change when I get back to UCLA.
7. Drive far: Technically a Fail. Las Vegas distance was my goal, but I did get chances to drive on my own to places like La Canada, Torrance, and UCLA, so that’ll do for now. Of course, my parents don’t know about me driving to any of the above, cuz if they did, they’d freak out haha.
8. Host a successful UCLA MUN College Conference: Even. Well, we did it. Got some good schools to come too. Just not enough delegates… haha okay, actually very short on delegates. But hey, it was our first time doing it, and we did pull it off.
9. Study abroad in China: Pass for sure. Can’t believe I had so many hurdles to do this, but now that I’ve done it, I’m so glad I was able to, and as you can probably see from this post, it was a life changer if not a year-changer. My recommendation for all college students: go study abroad!
Wow I did relatively good in 2006. :)
2007 Resolutions:
1. Continue getting fit: Eating healthy, eating at the right time, and eating the right portions will be challenges in the dorms… and I do get lazy enough to skip the gym. Since my weight is actually back to the pre-college level (although I still feel less in shape than I was in high school), my next goal is to be confident enough to go to the beach without a shirt haha. But maintaining my weight will suffice too.
2. Get good grades/figure out my future: This is like the major theme of my life right now, and it’s pretty frustrating. Figuring out my future has a lot to do with how well I do in school, because if I do well enough, then I may apply straight to law school. If not, then it’s going to be a job, not sure in which field exactly yet. Which leads up to my next resolution…
3. Find an internship: I guess I forgot to make this one a resolution in 2006 and I ended up not having one. This is important for me not because it’s the summer before my senior year, but also because I haven’t decided on my career path yet.
4. Get admitted to a top law school (optional): Depends on how I do on resolution #2, how I do on the LSAT, and how resolution #3 changes my career perceptions. But if I for sure intend to practice law, and if everything falls into place, I better get into a top law school, otherwise it’s back to square 1 and figuring out my career path haha.
5. Do a good job as a USG for UNAUSAMUN: As our SG Mark Thompson puts it, we have the “very simple task” of hosting the “best UNAUSAMUN ever.” I’m on the Senior Secretariat, so I look forward to hard work but fun times in preparation for the conference in May at the United Nations.
6. Be open to a relationship: To me, this is optional, and one shouldn’t plan for a relationship, but for various reasons, I’ll be open to one.
7. Enjoy college and take advantage of its opportunities: Very broad, but very important, because college supposed to be the best time of your life. So far I’ve enjoyed it, but perhaps it can be even more fun and fulfilling. As for taking advantage of its opportunities, I’d like to attend more campus events like the culture shows, and hopefully I can get to learn some stuff that I would like to learn, such as Korean, golf, and maybe ballroom dancing.
8. Be better to people: Added this one after seeing the movie “Click” (last year, my influential movie was “Hitch” haha). Anyway, hopefully I’ll treat people better and not take them for granted, especially my parents.
Reasonable set of goals, with many of them deciding my immediate future.
Happy New Year’s everybody. Hope you had a good 2006 and wish you the best for 2007.