It's A Small World After All
This weekend was the UC Davis Spring Open tournament. Thus, it was badminton filled. Thus, it made me think of badminton. A lot.
Tournaments like Davis Fall/Spring Open and CCS always make me really happy. Even if I get beaten by little girls who are my sister's age. It's just overwhelming to see the sheer amount of talent and love for badminton, concentrated inside a random pavilion in a random college in the middle of no where. People gather to watch, to play, to win, to lose, but most importantly, to try. There's just so much love for badminton concentrated in such a small space during such a short span of time that it's almost tangible and breathable. It's inspiring, and I love it.
I think tournaments also make me try a lot harder. I thought so hard about where to place my shots during games. Every point, I was constantly thinking. Maybe if I lift to that corner. Maybe if I push here. Drop more there. It works my brain. I didn't get too far in the brackets, but that is okay. (:
There have been so many little moments in the last four years where I'll just sit back and think, man, this is why I love badminton, and these past three days have been filled with those moments. And I'll be so overwhelmed by the bubble of happiness that washes over me during such moments that I can't help but grin stupidly. It's hard to describe how good it feels to whack a bird around after a stressful day; all there is are the familiar dimensions of the court and net - always the same no matter what - and the consistency of a stroke, perfected through countless hours of muscle memory. And though it's had its trials and tribulations, and though I honestly sometimes feel like I'm not good enough to pontificate about the sport this way, I really really do LOVE it. Maybe not as deeply as the people who played A flights today. But I'll get there someday. Some day, I'll at least play C's.
To wax philosophical and cliche for a moment, this sport has taught me so much. It's taught me how to grit my teeth and get through things that are for my own good, no matter how difficult they may be. It's taught me how to try my hardest. It's helped me how to develop (somewhat egotistically) pride in myself, so that I strive to be the energetic one who is eager to do new things rather than the lazy party pooper. And most importantly, it's taught me how to care. It taught me how to have a selfish dream, and how to chase it. For myself.
It's hard to delineate really, powerful ways in which badminton has changed who I am today. But looking back this weekend, for the first time, I wondered where I would be without badminton. And it freaked me out, though I'm not even good at it, it's been such a gigantic part of shaping who I am, that it's like looking at a void, thinking of where I would be without it.
I'm not doing DRD this quarter. Math and chem and physics are determined to kill me, and I still have band and research on top of everything. DRD may be gone... but I'm not giving up badminton. There was a time this year when badminton club seemed a little too clique-y, and I was completely smitten with DRD because it was everything badminton club was not, and I considered just dropping badminton for good. But I have my priorities straightened out now.
Speaking of which, badminton club... I don't know. Volunteering for Spring Open helped me worm my way into the social clique a little more, though I've been chipping away at the edge of the circle this whole year. I guess it's not that they're not willing to be friends, it's more like, they don't really have reason to introduce themselves and make the newbies feel at home (though that's what I loved about DRD) and once you get past that, they're okay people. Sometimes I feel like such a wannabe at badminton. I know that the only reason why I'm interested in getting to know them is so I can expand my group of people to play with. It's such an ulterior motive, and it makes me feel petty. But, this weekend was one step forward, and I guess I'll just have to be braver about talking to intimidating people, and I'll get there eventually.
-
Free stuff is amazing.
And I mean that not in the cheap Asian way, but in the profoundly grateful and overwhelmed at the generosity of the world kind of way.
A while ago, my computer died on me (actually, more like I killed it) and since I didn't have my Vista recovery disks with me, I borrowed someone else's recovery disks, which happened to be Windows 7. All was well until I realized that I only had 30 days to activate Windows 7, and that I wasn't willing to buy the legal version because I was too cheap. After trying all sorts of underhand methods to validate my Windows 7 and failing (which was probably way more trouble than it was worth) I started to look up stuff on Linux, Which is freaking mind-blowing.
When you read about it and think - really think - about all the combined effort it took to make something as complex and professional as the Linux OS, it's just mind-blowing.
"Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'Humanity to others', or 'I am what I am because of who we all are'. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world. "
It's a free operating system that is just as professional as Windows 7 or Snow Leopard or whatever the new Apple OS is called (and if it's not actually comparable, well, I'm not tech savvy enough that it actually makes a difference during my daily use). It's not about revenue. It's not about sales. It's about people donating their time to the world. People working with people to make the world a better place. It's the ultimate blend of technology and charity. It just strikes me down and makes me wish I were part of something as big as this.
And all the open source programs that people make. GIMP, which, for my n00bish purposes, is pretty much the same as Photoshop, minus a few minor details I can live without. Octave, which I used last quarter, which runs pretty much every programing language commonly used ever. And even Wikipedia, which I've taken for granted for so long. So many different people coming together to enrich our every day lives. And most of the time, we don't even notice.
I can't program. But I wonder if there's anything equivalent in the biological engineering world that I can be a part of like this when I get out of collage with all my shiny skills. I'd like to earn enough money to live for myself, but I'd like to live a bit for the world too. It's not that I've never been aware of the zillions of free programs out there, but I've just never thought about it like this. When you give the whole world the shoulders of giants to stand on, I feel like we're a little closer to seeing into infinity.
It's just humbling to think about.
Tournaments like Davis Fall/Spring Open and CCS always make me really happy. Even if I get beaten by little girls who are my sister's age. It's just overwhelming to see the sheer amount of talent and love for badminton, concentrated inside a random pavilion in a random college in the middle of no where. People gather to watch, to play, to win, to lose, but most importantly, to try. There's just so much love for badminton concentrated in such a small space during such a short span of time that it's almost tangible and breathable. It's inspiring, and I love it.
I think tournaments also make me try a lot harder. I thought so hard about where to place my shots during games. Every point, I was constantly thinking. Maybe if I lift to that corner. Maybe if I push here. Drop more there. It works my brain. I didn't get too far in the brackets, but that is okay. (:
There have been so many little moments in the last four years where I'll just sit back and think, man, this is why I love badminton, and these past three days have been filled with those moments. And I'll be so overwhelmed by the bubble of happiness that washes over me during such moments that I can't help but grin stupidly. It's hard to describe how good it feels to whack a bird around after a stressful day; all there is are the familiar dimensions of the court and net - always the same no matter what - and the consistency of a stroke, perfected through countless hours of muscle memory. And though it's had its trials and tribulations, and though I honestly sometimes feel like I'm not good enough to pontificate about the sport this way, I really really do LOVE it. Maybe not as deeply as the people who played A flights today. But I'll get there someday. Some day, I'll at least play C's.
To wax philosophical and cliche for a moment, this sport has taught me so much. It's taught me how to grit my teeth and get through things that are for my own good, no matter how difficult they may be. It's taught me how to try my hardest. It's helped me how to develop (somewhat egotistically) pride in myself, so that I strive to be the energetic one who is eager to do new things rather than the lazy party pooper. And most importantly, it's taught me how to care. It taught me how to have a selfish dream, and how to chase it. For myself.
It's hard to delineate really, powerful ways in which badminton has changed who I am today. But looking back this weekend, for the first time, I wondered where I would be without badminton. And it freaked me out, though I'm not even good at it, it's been such a gigantic part of shaping who I am, that it's like looking at a void, thinking of where I would be without it.
I'm not doing DRD this quarter. Math and chem and physics are determined to kill me, and I still have band and research on top of everything. DRD may be gone... but I'm not giving up badminton. There was a time this year when badminton club seemed a little too clique-y, and I was completely smitten with DRD because it was everything badminton club was not, and I considered just dropping badminton for good. But I have my priorities straightened out now.
Speaking of which, badminton club... I don't know. Volunteering for Spring Open helped me worm my way into the social clique a little more, though I've been chipping away at the edge of the circle this whole year. I guess it's not that they're not willing to be friends, it's more like, they don't really have reason to introduce themselves and make the newbies feel at home (though that's what I loved about DRD) and once you get past that, they're okay people. Sometimes I feel like such a wannabe at badminton. I know that the only reason why I'm interested in getting to know them is so I can expand my group of people to play with. It's such an ulterior motive, and it makes me feel petty. But, this weekend was one step forward, and I guess I'll just have to be braver about talking to intimidating people, and I'll get there eventually.
-
Free stuff is amazing.
And I mean that not in the cheap Asian way, but in the profoundly grateful and overwhelmed at the generosity of the world kind of way.
A while ago, my computer died on me (actually, more like I killed it) and since I didn't have my Vista recovery disks with me, I borrowed someone else's recovery disks, which happened to be Windows 7. All was well until I realized that I only had 30 days to activate Windows 7, and that I wasn't willing to buy the legal version because I was too cheap. After trying all sorts of underhand methods to validate my Windows 7 and failing (which was probably way more trouble than it was worth) I started to look up stuff on Linux, Which is freaking mind-blowing.
When you read about it and think - really think - about all the combined effort it took to make something as complex and professional as the Linux OS, it's just mind-blowing.
"Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'Humanity to others', or 'I am what I am because of who we all are'. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world. "
It's a free operating system that is just as professional as Windows 7 or Snow Leopard or whatever the new Apple OS is called (and if it's not actually comparable, well, I'm not tech savvy enough that it actually makes a difference during my daily use). It's not about revenue. It's not about sales. It's about people donating their time to the world. People working with people to make the world a better place. It's the ultimate blend of technology and charity. It just strikes me down and makes me wish I were part of something as big as this.
And all the open source programs that people make. GIMP, which, for my n00bish purposes, is pretty much the same as Photoshop, minus a few minor details I can live without. Octave, which I used last quarter, which runs pretty much every programing language commonly used ever. And even Wikipedia, which I've taken for granted for so long. So many different people coming together to enrich our every day lives. And most of the time, we don't even notice.
I can't program. But I wonder if there's anything equivalent in the biological engineering world that I can be a part of like this when I get out of collage with all my shiny skills. I'd like to earn enough money to live for myself, but I'd like to live a bit for the world too. It's not that I've never been aware of the zillions of free programs out there, but I've just never thought about it like this. When you give the whole world the shoulders of giants to stand on, I feel like we're a little closer to seeing into infinity.
It's just humbling to think about.