LC 16

It was very hard to pay attention to the panel with all the students around you doing something. Students were on their lab tops, texting on their phones, and just talking. Also, it was very hot and it was crowded. With all this going it was hard for me to grasp anything the speakers were saying. But I did remember Mr. Li talking about identity and how it is hard to find. Mr. Li went through many difficult times from being forced to move because his father was arrested to living in Communist China. He finally was able to leave China for America and this is were he established his identity. Its amazing how his life was and how after all his struggles he was able to find himself and succeed.

As for the other panelists, I didn’t really pay as much attention. I know three of them were professors and the other person is a moderator. I’m sure all of them had interesting things to say but I zoned out.

I feel the people running it should have shortened it because it made it drag on. Also, I don’t know if it would have been possible but maybe they could have broken it up into four groups instead of having every freshman in their at once.

Alright well first of all, sitting way back up in the balcony didn’t help my concentration and hearing at all. I’d have to admit I wasn’t paying attention when I thought it was pretty much useless. The three panelists come from very unique backgrounds, yet they were all tied to one unifying theme. Like Stan Altman and Charles N. Li, they talked about realities and identities. Of course, Mr. Li used his past experiences to serve as the backbone for his discussion about it. He had two cultures to base his discussion on, nonetheless. From East Asia, mostly China, and the west, the United States of America. There was also a discussion on that as well. The third panelist, I have about no clue what she was saying. But I’m sure it was very “enriching” as well.

The workshop was certainly very interesting. I learned so much from Mr. Li’s accounts of how he wrote his book, his thought process, and his personal experiences in Communist China. I learned never to take the freedom I have in this country for granted because it gives me a sense of individuality. Although if I did grow up in Communist China I could also write a book and make a fair amount of money. Overall I thought it was interesting. One thing, may I add that I saw people sleeping and talking and texting and listening to music during the workshop and I got very very angry and wanted to tell them to STOP but you know people these days. I cant believe it.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t paying much attention to the discussion panel and panelists. It was sweaty hot and it smelled very NASTY on the balcony. Never the less I found some way to entertain myself (with Rebecca 😀 )

But I can say that, during the times I paid attention, I heard some pretty interesting things:

I specifically liked the fact that every one of these panelists had troublesome and tough backgrounds yet they each found a way to contribute and build the community. Tashi Chodron contributed much to through film, books, artwork and cultural events. Katrin Hansing, Charles N. Li, and Bruce Payne are professors. They struggled for their careers and once successful, they decided to help the community build as well.

😀

             We have been studying in Baruch for more than one month. In early September, I finish my assignment a day before the due date and I am doing the same thing now. I think I didn’t improve myself but I will still keep trying to change this bad habit. I would like to share some of my goals with you since we have just finished writing our short term goals and long term goals recently. I think you guys know Lily wants to be an event planner because she always keeps saying it. I also want to be an event planner, but actually I just want to be a wedding planner. I love to see a couple wear the wedding gown and hand in hand to walk along the streets. I want to plan for their wedding and think of all the ideas to make the wedding party more perfect so the wedding would be very memorable for them and all the guests. Besides a wedding planner, I also want to have my own wedding company so I can achieve all my ideas without any restrictions. If I have some more time, I would like to learn how to design a wedding gown, too. I love reading the wedding magazines to focus on the design for the dresses.

            I also want to share another goal with you which are building a primary school in mainland China. One day, I watched TV about an artist who is retired and she have got $80,000HKD which is around $10,400 USD for retirement. She used this money to build a whole primary school in mainland China and provides some stationery for the school. I believe $10,400USD will not be too much for me when I am retired so I also want to devote money to build a school to help more children to be educated.

            These two goals may not be a big thing for some people but I want to realize them and I would like to spend my time doing it.

College is a very new environment and there anew many new opportunities here. One such example is the clubs here. Something I joined was SASA, the South Asian Student Association here at Baruch. This club is directed more towards South Asians, but anyone can join. SASA holds a lot of fundraisers and events- one such event they want to hold is the multicultural show, something I hope to take part in. There will be a lot of dancing, singing, and performing of all things South Asian; I’d like to do a dance with the boys’ team. I did it for four years in high school, and I even choreographed a dance in my senior year, and I hope to continue doing that throughout college. I know that joining SASA will be an experience I’ll never forget.

Guys here is my picture I couldnt upload it 🙂

Charles Li Discussion Panel:

I thought the discussion panel was pretty interesting, though I thought that he could have elaborated more on his experiences in the Communist school. The guest speakers were interesting, especially the professor that teaches here (her name slips me) because she seems to have a similar experience to us, or at least me. I also had a little trouble associating myself with particular groups and defining myself in the beginning. Overall, the discussion was interesting, and even though some people were not paying attention, I think it turned out well.

My name is Rabi. I am 18 years old and the youngest of 5 children. I have 4 older brothers, all of whom are three years apart. I was born in the Bronx, moved to Queens when I was four and have lived there ever since. I am an outspoken individual with varying talents and hobbies. Having four older brothers I love to play and watch sports. When I was fifteen my brother started to teach me how to box, I can throw a mean straight right and watching boxing is one of my favorite pass times. I like watching football and basketball and I love to play handball. another passion I adopted from one of my brothers is my love for sci-fi, I cant explain why I like it so much, I just do. I love to play violin and am learning to play piano. I love reading, some anime, but mostly historical fiction novels, I also love archeology, I would love to visit the pyramids of Egypt, the ruins of Greece and Rome and travel all over the world. I plan on living in the Netherlands for a year after college. I am a very loyal individual. My freinds and family mean the world to me and I would do anything for them. I am willing to try anything at least once, you never know how it will change you, trust me, I know. Over all I am a very complex person, but this is the best way I can describe myself. My name is Rabia.

I hope college is going to be a great experience but it is never going to compare to my experience in high school. High school was the greatest times of my life and I didn’t realize it until recently. While I was at high school, I hated attending school and going to football practice. Sometimes I would even get myself sick thinking about going to practice. I just always couldn’t wait until I got out of high school so I can just go to college. Now that I’m in college I wish I could go back to high school.

I didn’t realize how much I missed high school until I recently visited Farrell with my friends which put everything in whole new perspective. Walking through the halls made me remember the fun times I had in high school with my friends joking around in class and hanging out at lunch. But the thing I miss most about high school is playing football. I went to a Farrell game two weeks ago and my coaches allowed me to stay on the sideline during the game. When I walked out with the team to start the game and the crowd was yelling it brought me back to my years of playing football. I remember I used to get nervous before the game and the crowd would send chills down my back. There was nothing better than making a big play that made the crowd go crazy. Practices were even fun because my coaches would say the dirtiest, most inappropriate things. It’s really true when people say “you miss something when it’s gone”. I just wish I could have realized that in high school so I could’ve enjoyed every moment of it.

I’ve said many many times before that my motto was “Don’t worry, be happy.” I said that before and that still holds true today. Today I want to talk about having a good time. I consider myself a guy that doesn’t worry all the time because I love being happy! You know what? So should all of you! Why? Well, I’ll tell you why. think about it. If you’re not havin a good time, what else can you have? A bad time! And I’m sure nobody loves bad times, now do they? When you’re in a bad mood, everything is upside down. Nothing seems to go the way it’s supposed to. On the other hand, if you’re in a good mood, everything seems to go so much more smoothly. Everyone seems nicer, you are nicer, the whole WORLD is NICER!!! Let’s give yall an example. Let’s say you’re cooking. If you’re angry about something, then you’re gonna put too much of everything or too little of everything and nothing will come out right. And then someone will eat your food and get angry because it is ANGRY food. However if you’re in a good mood and you’re cooking, then your food will turn out delicious, well maybe not if you’re a terrible cook, but even if the person who eats your food is about to puke it out, he’ll be happy because it will be HAPPY food. So that’s why you should all try and be happy. Sure it’s natural to be sad sometimes when bad things happen. Cry. Let it out. Don’t bottle it up. It’s weird to be happy all the time. But don’t be sad all the time either, because as the popular saying goes, behind every cloud there is a silver lining. So don’t worry and be happy. Have a good time. Trust me; it’s worth it.

Here’s a picture of me that I think shows that I do in fact adhere to the motto: “Don’t worry, be happy.”

I consider myself a “twinkie” or a ”banana” because as an Asian, yellow outside, I’ve pretty much been Americanized hence being white inside. I barely kept in touch with my Asian culture. It’s always been easy for me to get depressed; I realized what depression was when I was seven years old, when my father passed away because of cancer. While growing up I was a very mischievous and messed up kid. I would get into fights; pull tons of pranks, one of which was pull the fire alarm at the end of my street. My friends and I would chuckle when the firefighters came and went “where’s the fire?” We’d end up burning things for fun, by stacking paper or whatever was burnable. There was one time when this guy (seriously messed up in his head), took a brick and smashed it on a baby bird that was lying on the floor. I just watched, felt disgusted looking at its splattered guts. During the times in school, I didn’t get a long with people that well. I got bullied some of the time, and I felt horrible. I wanted to belong somewhere, but I ended up being a lone most of the time. When high school came along, I was still a coward for my first two years, but then I just couldn’t handle it anymore and I use violence to settle things. And what do you know; it worked out well for me. People backed off, I got time to settle in and stuff, but my socializing skills weren’t that good. I’ve always worried about school, and for the most part did good, but I ended up slipping, I’m screwing myself over and my stress level just continues to build up. Then I end up getting angry and pissed too, and I usually get depressed also. I just wish there medicine or something to grow brain cells.