Monthly Archives: November 2010

As for the Career Exploration Workshop, it wasn’t too bad. There were things mentioned that I didn’t know but the thing with these workshops, even though they are meant to help us,  just get me nervous. Either way it was informative and helpful. My writing skills aren’t up to par and I don’t know what to expect from an interview.( My Burger King interview lasted 2 minutes o.O) It’s nice to know that Baruch offers these opportunities and I should make the best out of them.

TOODALOO

Going into the workshop I was confident on what was going to be in the workshop. I was pretty sure what was going to be discussed and I was right!! I had been through that kind of workshop before at my recreation center.  The workshop I attended helped me land a job later with the recreation center.  But yeah I was right and knew what was coming next.  It was a good workshop for people who didn’t know about resumes and interviews.  Even though the workshop was a repeat for me it did refresh my mind on interviews and resumes.  Everything in the workshop was on point from what i have learned and I even learned a few new things.  Overall it was a good experience and i learned a lot.

Going into the Mason Hall to see Charles Li I thought it was going to be really boring.  Well, it was.  Charles Li seemed to be an interesting guy but I really did not want to be there that day.  I was really bored the whole day and just wanted to get out of school and relax.  So that gave me a bad mindset already.  For the most part I couldn’t even hear what was going on because so many people were talking and I was sitting near the exit.  I did hear some of the answers Charles Li gave to the students’ questions.  He went on about his life and laughed at his own comment.  One thing that he said that opened my eyes was that he enjoyed his life of poverty with his friends back then more than his life now. He said he cherished that life and it was home to the best experiences of his life.  I can see what he meant by that since you don’t know what you have until you lose it.  The same concept applied to Charles Li and he wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for those experiences.  I respect him for that.  The workshop was an overall enlightening experience for me and i enjoyed seeing Charles Li.

The biggest dilemma I face every day is being alone at home. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it. My parents are always at work, and they usually come home in the middle of the night. Since I have no siblings, I’m always at home alone. On the bright side, I have a lot of freedom, but the downside is that it feels very lonely at times.

I have gotten use to this lifestyle since the beginning of high school. Since they’re never home, I have no set dinnertime and basically no curfew. Sometimes I eat at 7, sometimes at 9, or sometimes even at 11. It depends on when I have time to make food, or on when my parents can bring home food. At times I eat out with my friends, or I order take out.
My life often feels like a constant struggle for independence. I never wanted to grow up so fast. I was glad that I was capable of being independent, but at the same time, it felt unfair. Why couldn’t I have normal parents like everyone else who are actually home enough to take care of them? Since I had to be independent most of the time, I felt like I had to depend on my parents as much as possible when they were there, which can be very confusing. So how independent am I really being then?

Due to the lack of time I spend with my parents, I confide in only my close friends and myself. I choose to not tell my parents anything unless they ask, since I don’t think they’ll understand me anyway.

Many of my friends envy that my parents are never home to annoy me or to tell me what to do, but that actually only made things worse. I’m so used to my parents not bothering me that when they do tell me what to do, even when it’s for my own benefit, I get annoyed easily. Sometimes I even feel like they have no right to tell me what to do.

There is a saying that goes “you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.” Family is supposed to be the closest bond, and though I don’t admit it to my parents, it hurts because our bond doesn’t seem to exist. I know nothing changes the fact that we’re a family, but I wish we weren’t so distant.

Walking into that room, I felt like, “Oh, they’re just going to repeat a bunch of information I’ve already heard.” As they talked about interviews and resumes I became a little nervous. As the presentation progressed, I remember feeling overwhelmed. Since the moment I got into Baruch I couldn’t stop thinking about graduating & starting my career, but for the first time I wanted time to stop. Suddenly, I yearned for the times that I could just be carefree. As my mind wandered, I realized I am really growing up. And no matter how much I may want to stay in my comfort zone, I was gradually being pushed into the real world… It was an inevitable change. In this moment I learned something about myself. Most of the time I present myself as a young lady who knows where she’s going in life, but honestly I’m still just a girl expanding my knowledge of this big world that I live in.

I have been told by my friend to go soul searching. The way he does it is by listening to death metal while pacing the room. He said that he has learned a lot and I decided to do so as well. I had to revise the method that he has used since death metal makes my head hurt and pacing is just not my thing. I have decided to do it in an environment that makes me feel relaxed and comfortable. I turned on some trance, lied down with a book and as I was reading and listening to music I have gone into a sort of trance where I was able to think about myself.

I have discovered that I am not just one person: I am a son, a student, a gamer, even a passerby. I am a different person in every given situation: I am here before you as a student rather than a son, since none of you are really my parents…

So here I am imploring you to go soul searching, since you might find something about yourself which you were unable before.

Well i would just like to start off by saying that I never seen an author of a book up close! It was very interesting to see Charles N. Li and my only regret was that I did not get his autograph!!! Anyways, this workshop was interesting because I was able to hear the stories of four distinct people and their struggles as well as conquests. Although my only interest in attending this workshop was to see Charles N. Li, I was very intrigued by Tashi Chodrom and the work she does by the end of the workshop.  Being the founder of the Voices of Tibet Project, my friend was also looking to help out her country in ways she has already done. Maybe she (my friend: Tenzing) can meet with and corroborate the efforts of Tashi. Overall this workshop was very informative and enlightened me with the stories of individuals and their life’s work.

As few others said in their blog entries about the panel, I expected the panel to be boring and a required event that students must attend where no one wants to. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I could actually hear what the panelists were saying and if people stopped talking (this can’t really be helped though). Charles L. Ni is an interesting person and it was great of him to come all the way from California to New York to speak to us, which I thought students should be more respectful to this special guest. I am trying to remember what he said and I think it went something like people can shape their identity in any way because everyone is capable of being good, evil, or maybe both. People can make their own decisions which shows who they are or what kind of person they are.

Also while reading the program for the panel, I saw that Tashi Chodrom is part of an organization called the Tibetan Resettlement Project and founder of the Voices of Tibet Project. I wondered if she knew the “to-be” King of Tibet. I am asking because the King actually visited my high school to spread the word about what is happening in Tibet (story for another day…). I think their organizations probably know each other, right?

…Sorry, bad pun…

While waiting for the workshop to start, there was this annoying bright spotlight right in my eye. For some reason, bright lights makes me really sleepy. But no worries, I stayed awake during the whole presentation. I thought it was really helpful and great that Baruch took the time to organize the whole thing to inform us of how to enter the real world by showing us tips on how to write a resume and what employers are looking for during interviews. I guess starting early is always good. At the same time, it kind of made me scared and nervous for the future. I can feel the seriousness already from the business world and I thought maybe that world isn’t the best for me. What am I doing, juggling between the art world and business? Yeah, you can say that I am confused. Decisions, decisions… But I am grateful for this informative presentation and I know SCDC will be there for any questions I have.