07.26.09
My dreams
Dreams really is an interesting topic. Sure there are plenty of psychological as well as scientific explanations to break down why we have the dreams that we have. A couple of common beliefs consist are logical and most likely true. For example, it’s been said that the last thing that we think about right before we fall asleep is the thing that we will dream about when we hit REM. Then there’s the theory that we dream about the things that we worry about most, the things that plague us while we’re awake and just cannot seem to find a solution for. Both of these explanations seem valid and logical. And of course, I only speak of these two before I experience them the most. Just last night, I dreamt of the last thing I thought about last before I went to sleep. It’s funny because I remember that even though I was dreaming, I knew it was a dream. And then I just sort of stopped dreaming. I stayed asleep but I don’t think I had another dream for the rest of the night, at least not to my recollection. Of course, that doesn’t mean I didn’t dream afterwards. Most of us do not remember the dreams that we’ve had or even if we dreamt at all. On the other hand, when you do remember a dream it can be both a daunting and at the same time, a pleasant experience; or it can just be one of the two. When you remember the ones that are daunting, they’re called nightmares; when you remember the ones that are pleasant, they’re called fantasies. In any case, some of them are illogical, far-fetch’d, outrageous, and downright impossible. And then, there are the ones that seem so real and so probable and full of hope that one day they’ll no longer be dreams but turn into reality. So who’s to say that my fantasies won’t come true, not even just once?
07.04.09
My haircut
After a little more than month, I finally got a haircut today. With the weather being its shitty self, I just couldn’t stand it anymore. The humidity and the heat was making it unbearable. And of course, I hate having to run my head under water in the morning when I wake up to battle the bed head from the previous night of restless slumber. Now however, my hair is nice and short again just the way I like it.
But as I was sitting there watching as hair fell from my the top of my head and listening to the razor buzz and the scissor snip, I couldn’t help but think about all the things that’s happened since my last haircut. In a way, the hair that was falling ever so gently onto my torso and onto the floor-they’ve been through a lot with me, in a weird sentimental sort of way. Looking back, when I got my last haircut I was job-less and car-less. Now I’m neither. But I think I was a bit happier then than I am now (no emo). It’s just that I haven’t had the best month despite the job and the car. But I’m hoping things are going to pick up now. Maybe a new haircut means a new sort of beginning in a new month, hopefully.
06.21.09
My doubts
It’s been a month since summer vacation has started. To be honest, this wasn’t exactly the best month ever. Actually in retrospect, it was a pretty bad month. It has its moments I guess. For example the last time I updated, I was car-less. Now I am the proud owner of a SUV. But the strange part is, I’m not as excited as I thought I’d be. To be honest, I found myself avoiding the opportunity to drive it. It’s not that I don’t believe in my ability to drive. I guess I’m just nervous now that it was MY car. Anything that goes wrong, whether it be my fault or someone else’ fault, I’d still have to pay for damages and be responsible for the aftermath. In addition, it hit me just how much money it’ll cost me to keep this car. My first paycheck from this job of the summer is completely gone already and I’ve early got paid this past Thursday. I gotta find me another job soon when this one ends mid-July. That’s gonna be fun. Nevertheless, I can’t help but be excited that I have my own car now and that I can drive it whenever I want and need. School this fall semester just got a little better.
Other than the car, I’m not all that sure if there has been anything else worth being happy about (no emo). I mean the weather has been just awful. I don’t think I’ve seen so much rain in a span of three weeks in my life. I’m one of those people who are sad when it rains. Hence it makes going to work that much more depressing in the morning. And from the forecast, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of changes any time soon. Wonderful.
And finally, I was reminded this past month that people can be pretty cruel. Silent appreciation does no good to anyone, and silent rejection offer no comfort. I don’t like the idea of guessing. Maybe it’s because I’m not good at it. Go figure.
06.03.09
My summer vacation
So summer vacation started like 2-3 weeks ago. It felt like it started a lot longer though. Maybe it’s because I actually wanna go back to school. Oh well, as long as I’m home, might as well enjoy it. So far I’m trying my best to do just that. So a little recap of my last couple of weeks home. First thing first, saw my friends that came home from college. Hung out with them a few times; went shopping, ate out, parked, even had a spontaneous out-of-the-blue BBQ in May. So far, so good. Second, I finally found a job after 2 months of craigslisting and false hope emails. I work for the Independence Party of New York. The office is in lower Manhattan, very close to where I worked last summer. I don’t have a set schedule yet persay; so far I’ve gone in to work at 9, 9:30, and tomorrow I’m going in at 10. So far the job’s pretty easy. I’m mostly doing administrative and data-entry work. But later on, I’ll be doing QC (quality control work) on petitions sent to the board of electors. The pay’s good, 12 bucks an hour. It’s money I desperately need because I’m supposed to be getting a car this summer. Speaking of that, my brother and I have been looking. I guess this time my family’s finally serious about me getting a car of my own. We’re looking at mostly mid-size SUVs like the Highlander, the CRV, the RAV4, etc etc. My brother thinks very highly of the Highlander so I’m probably gonna end up with that, which is completely fine to me, I just want a car. But yeah, that pretty much summed up the last couple of weeks. Hopefully the good times keep rolling. Have a great summer!
05.15.09
My finals week
Well it’s finally here. It’s the end of my sophomore year here at Stony Brook University. And I must say it’s been a fairly decent one. I’m also happy to announce that it’s ending on a pretty good note. In the midst of finals week, I find myself unfamiliarly free. The reason? I have a total of 5 classes this semester: Business Statistics, Financial Accounting, Introduction to Economics, Independent Research for Media Projects, and Computer Literacy. The last two classes go towards my Media Arts minor and consist of no tests throughout the whole semester. In the end, should have 3 finals to take. However, I’ve done well enough in Business Stats and Economics so that I don’t have to take my optional final. So I’m only left with my Accounting final which I took care of yesterday. It’s only May 15 and the last day of finals is the 19th. I’m happy to say that I’m already finished. I’m already guaranteed 3 A’s. Hopefully I land an A in my Independent Research class and at least a B in my accounting class. Accounting class has been the one that’s given me the most trouble all semester. The thing with accounting is that it’s not difficult; it’s just really boring and tedious. I did my share of studying and I hope I did well on the test. That’s all I can do now. I guess I’m pretty satisfied with this semester then. Hopefully, I don’t get any unwanted surprises when the actual grades come out. Anyway since my semester is technically over, I’ll be moving out on Saturday. I guess I’m happy to finally be going home. But on the other hand, I’m sad for leaving for a couple of reasons. First off, my suitemates Ryan and Eric are both graduating this semester. These last two days are the only time left I have to hang out with them. It makes me sad because I know I’ll miss them later on. They’re pretty much the first new people I met here at Stony Brook. They’ve been more than just suitemates, they’ve been my friends these last two years and I guess kind of like mentors too, not academically but in terms of showing me how this school works and stuff like that. We definitely had a lot of great memories in the past two years. Hopefully we will stay in touch in the future. This time I actually mean it, not like those other times I said it to people in High School, most of whom I haven’t talked to since the day I signed their yearbook. Another reason I’m sad to leave is because unlike last summer, I’ll be going home to no job waiting for me. As of this moment, I still have no employment for the summer. I can’t go through the whole summer without doing something productive, and by productive I mean I need a job. I need to make some money, especially if I’m going to be getting a car over the summer. Nobody legit has responded to my resumes and emails yet. Summer is approaching awfully fast for me to not have any bites. Worse comes to worse I go back to my old job from last summer at Wenig and work with Stephen like I did with Sukmon. But that is last resort; I really don’t want to go back to work there. Don’t get me wrong, the job was alright-flexible hours and everything, but it was just so boring. I remember that in a 9-5 8hour schedule, I worked maybe a total of 4 hours. The other 4 was usually spent reading and daydreaming. As easy as that may sound, I didn’t enjoy it that much.
05.03.09
My “plans”
Upon reading Diana’s latest blog update about her plans for the future, I’ve decided to write down my plans as well. Although mine are not as “entertaining”, I do hope you enjoy reading them.
Plan A:
Finish undergrad with my BS degree. Then get my MBA, and my MAPP. Then I go to law school for my JD. Hopefully by then, I’ll be 27-28 years old and rather than me looking for jobs, jobs will look for me.
Plan B:
Teaching. I’ll become a teacher like Andrew. As for what subject, I’m hoping that by the time I graduate, I’ll have enough knowledge and qualifications to teach English and or history. On the side, I’ll be coach for the school’s basketball team. I’ll teach with a laid-back style that is questionable by my colleagues and accepted by my students. I’ll be the coolest teacher ever. But that’s only during the day. At night, I’ll run my own sports bar/restaurant kind of like the one in McClaren’s in How I Met Your Mother or Cheers.
Plan C:
I win the lotto.
I think I like Plan C best.
04.28.09
My decision
So the end of the spring semester is slowly but surely creeping upon us. Soon classes will be over and the inevitable task of taking finals will leave everyone exhausted and begging for mercy. Questions such as “why did I ever take this class?” or “did she even go over this shit?” and probably “is there going to be a big curve at the end?” will be asked by many. For those who do not have finals, they’re left with papers and or projects to complete. But for me, finals and projects are actually not my biggest worry right now. No, for the next week or so my mind is going to be on whether or not I’m going to transfer to Binghamton University. After applying several times for a transfer, Binghamton finally accepted me for the fall semester. I am happy about it, but I’m not 100% sure I want to go. If they had accepted me earlier, then yes I would definitely (OK Sukmon? Ya happy? “DEFINITELY”) transfer. But at the moment, after spending two years at Stony Brook, I’m not too sure. There are a couple of reasons why I am hesistant with my decision. First off, my credits and my classes taken here at SBU might not transfer all the way to Bing. This would mean that I’d have to retake some of the classes I have already completed here. On top of that, if I were to go to Bing I want to transfer into the School of Management, but that would require at least one semester in Harpur College (the college branch in Bing that I am currently accepted into). In the end, that would mean lagging behind a lot of my friends. Another reason is because I just never actually thought that I’d get accepted into Bing. Don’t get me wrong, I never doubted my grades nor my ability to get accepted. It’s just that I’ve been here almost two years now; I got used to the school, the area, the surrounding, the people, and just the way things are around here. If I were to leave, I can honestly say I would miss it. I built myself a nest here and I’d be sad to leave it. Plus I have a whole gameplan set up for the rest of my Stony Brook career and I just completed my housing selection which is going to awesome. To be honest if you can’t tell already, I’m really leaning towards staying. I guess I just want to finish off what I had already started.
04.11.09
My break part 2: The end
Well my week-long spring break is over. I wish it didn’t have to end so quickly. I guess time really does fly when you’re having a good time. Looking back, this has been a good and fun-filled little vacation. I didn’t go anywhere worthwhile and I didn’t see anything special. But I hung out with people who are special to me, and the things we did were definately worthwhile. Let’s recap a little bit shall we? First thing I remember doing on this break was going to Bay 8th. I don’t remember the last time I was there in a tshirt and shorts. I played basketball for like 3-4 hours that day. It was just such a beautiful day, a great way to start off the break. Then there was eating in Queens with friends whom I havent seen since Christmas. All I remember from that night was too much tofu, and talking in a parking lot for a half hour before deciding we should just go home. Then there was hanging out with my Stony friends. Even though I see them everyday at school, it was nice seeing them outside of Stony Brook too. Later than same day, I went to see Fast and Furious during which I fell asleep in (I don’t know if it was THAT bad or I was just THAT tired). Spent another day at Bay 8th playing basketball and then went running by the shore to ToysRUs, something I haven’t done since last summer. Next is hanging out Ryan’s house. We ate, we watched movies, we played video games, we lowered the rim outside his house so we can dunk. Good times. Finally, today I went dim sum with my family in the morning and then I went to the NYC Auto Show with my brother, my cousin and his girlfriend. The show itself was not too impressive. Oh well, it was still a good day I guess. Of course, I did some schoolwork. I wanna say I did a good amount, but doing so would be a lie. Let’s just leave it at SOME schoolwork. But I did do a lot of internship hunting for this summer and I made a class schedule for next semester as well, so I guess that’s something to be proud of.
All in all, I’m pretty satisfied with my spring break. Like I said, I didn’t do anything that extraordinary. But its the people who I spent doing those things with that makes them satisfying and enjoyable. I mean the things that I did over the last week, they’re things that we’ve been doing since high school-going to the park, eating out, watching movies, hanging out at someone’s house, they’re not new. But I don’t get tired of it, I honestly don’t. I guess I realized a long time ago that these times are pretty precious especiallyfor college kids since we all feel like we’re growing up just a little too fast. Everyday we have to face new challenges and new problems, not just homework problems but real world problems and its comforting to know that there’s still childhood left inside us in the end. I’ve said this before but I think its important to hold on to that inner child of ours-when everything was so simple that even the slightest thing can put a smile on our faces. OK, I drifted off topic enough. Bottomline is, I had a great Spring Break. I’m glad I spent it with friends and family, people that I really care about. I do regret not being able to do a couple of things I had originally planned to do and not being able to hang out with some people whom I really wanted to see and I really miss. But hey, in a short month and a half I’ll be back for summer vacation. Hopefully by then I’ll have a job too, but most important I can’t wait to see everyone again.
By the way, this is the song I was listening to as I drifted off topic about childhood:
04.05.09
My break
So finally the highly anticipated Spring Break is here. After a grueling two months into the second semester of my sophomore year, I am off for the next week. I am back home in Brooklyn and it feels wonderful. Granted that my schedule at school this semester is pretty easy and mellow. Nevertheless, I’ve had my shares of late-night homework, projects, and studying for exams. Fortunately, they have all paid off so far..for the most part. This week off is going to provide me with some much needed rest and relaxation. However, there is one tiny little problem. What is it again? Oh, that’s right. I don’t have time for rest and relaxation! Sure I can probably sleep late every morning for the next 7-8 days. But for those who know me, I can’t sleep past 10:30am on most days anyway so that doesn’t matter. On top of that, I do have work from school that I have to do. I’ve actually conjured up a to-do list for this spring break. I have homework from my statistics class, my economics class, a project for my accounting class as well as an exam scheduled for the 21st to study for. On top of that, I have to do my independent research for my media minor. And on top of that, I have to hunt for summer jobs and internships, both of which are hard to find especially in this economy especially if I want a paid internship. During the last two days, I’ve been on craigslist and Google non-stop searching for such opportunities. I’ve found a couple which led to me deciding to update my resume/cover letter and send them out. Hopefully, I get some responses soon. Hmm, now let’s see what else is there to do. Of course, I can’t leave out the hanging-out-with-friends part. Friends from Binghamton are back in the city too. CUNY students are also on break. Hanging out with them is going to be great since I haven’t seen a lot of them for awhile. Then there’s always making time for my Stony Brook friends. And then there’s spending time with the family. What else? Oh, can anyone tell me why is the weather so bad during spring break? I looked on weather.com for the 10-day forecast-there’s maybe two nice days in which I would consider basketball weather. Disappointing…
But yeah aside from all that, it should be a pretty relaxing break. Just can’t complain when there’s home cooking mixed in the equation. Overall, it should be a productive break. So for all those who are on break as well, have a safe and fun-filled one! And for those not on break, well you had yours; now it’s our turn.
03.22.09
My curiousity
I was looking through a friend’s (well not really friend, he’s a friend of my brother’s and we play basketball together on Sundays) facebook and I see that he just sold his Evo (its a car for those who are confused). And naturally I think about what new car he got to replace it with. But through facebook stalking, I couldn’t find any clues as to what car he bought. Instead, I just came to the conclusion that he will no longer be working in lower Manhattan because of his status changes. Apparently, he’s going to be moving his office to Jersey City. Looking at his info, I see that he is an employee of Goldman Sachs, a company my brother used to work for as well. Of course, I actually knew about this beforehand because during the previous summer, I had seen him around downtown during my lunch breaks from work. Most of the times, I was eating lunch with my brother since he worked at the Third World Trade Center at American Express. We would be eating at this chinese restaurant Ho Yip and see his friend eating there as well. Anyway, looking at his facebook, I see that he attended Fort Hamilton high school like my brother and went to CUNY College of Staten Island like my cousin. I guess knowing these two facts gives me a bit of reassurance. No offense to him, but CUNY CSI is not the most prestigious school in the world. But he was able to graduate from there and work for Goldman Sach’s now. This tells me that although the name of a college is important, it isn’t everything. It comes down to hard work and determination. Which then makes me curious. I wonder how my life would turn out after college. And when that time comes, I hope I can look back and think I’ve made the right choices along the way.
