DTE: Surviving College 101

I believe that these questions are great for me to answer:

So I was in school one day and I heard that there was free snacks and apple juice in the multipurpose room. I love snacks and apple juice. I had to go. I did not know what the occasion was-nor did I care. I had to get there before anyone else.

So I get to the multipurpose room and I see that there was one obstacle in the way to get my snacks and apple juice: Blood Drive. I had never done one before but I knew I didn’t have to be smarter than a Fifth grader so I entered myself.

Before I knew it, they were taking all the blood out of my body. But like I said: I love snacks and apple juice. I hadn’t looked at the time in a while so I decided to glance at my phone and saw that class started 10 minutes ago.

Uh-oh! Oh wait. That’s right: I love snacks and apple juice.

I decided that once I was finished I would go to the table, take everything and then blow that place. That was my plan.

In order for the lady who was stealing my blood to let me out, I tried making small talk. She would not buy any of it. But I dont like anything more than a challenge.

I pushed the rest of the blood out of my body and got over to my prize. Snacks and Apple Juice.

I was getting ready to go but then they told me I had to sit and eat. Normally I would fight this; but I love snacks and apple juice. I sat and the lady who I talked to LOVED small talk. It was extremely pleasant.

Anyways, it was time to go and I told them I would be back. I went to class and right after class, I came back and took a whole box of oreos.

I might have stolen cookies from a Blood Drive–still fuzzy on the details. But I did give a whole lot of blood. You’re welcome random person. Cherish it.

This is roughly what I looked like:

RESUME BUILDING WORKSHOP
At this workshop I kind of assumed ahead of time that the workshop would be dull but it was interesting. We justified in between which Resume/Coverletter deemed best and why. The class got to ask questions about how certain situations require us to tweak our resumes. Also very important neccessary tips for us to make our resume shine out over the rest. Overall I was astonished about how many little things must be done to produce a correct resume. She told us this rule of thumb that a hiring manager won’t spend more than a minute reviewing resume and cover letter so we must write short and sweet.

Okay this is my blog about the workshop I did. Its going to be short so don’t expect a lot.

For my third workshop I went to one about doing cover letters. If you don’t know cover letters are what you send or give in along with a resume to an employer or possible employer. Cover letters should be one page long and should be brief. What you should talk about in a cover letter is a job or something you did that would most likely prepare you for the job you are applying to. The whole point of the cover letter is to try and get an interview so you can actually have a chance at getting a job. In the workshop they gave us a booklet (I guess) with examples and space to write a cover letter. There is a list of verbs you can use that are powerful. I don’t remember a lot of what was said in the workshop, I’m going to be honest at one point I took a nap. Well I wont say it was an interesting or captivating workshop. I’m sure it will be useful, well at least the handout. That’s about all I can think of to say. I don’t know if you need to know this but it was on Tuesday the 22nd of November.

For my community service project, I donated blood.  To do this, I went to the New York Blood Center in Long Island City.  My community service worked helped the community because with my donation, I would be able to save up to 3 lives, which is something very important to me.  What better way than to help the community than to preserve its life.  Upon hearing that I’d engage in a community service project, I was excited.  I had shoveled driveways, painted houses and planted trees for other projects, but I decided to donate blood as a way of physically giving a part of me back to the community.  Giving my time and energy to others felt good because at the end of the day I knew that I would be making a huge difference.  After the service I performed, I learned that I will go to great extents to help others.  I also learned that the service site in itself is providing an amazing service in the fact that it is providing a way to survive to the unfortunate.  The experience that stood out the most was actually donating the blood.  Watching them remove my blood in a way felt good…as creepy as that sounds.  The fact that I had the ability to save someone was empowering in a sense.  Engaging in this project made me realize that as I become successful and more knowledgeable, I should give back to the community that has given so much to me.  I owe so much to my community, for it has raised me into a bright, young man.  My community service experience has made me realize that life in itself is valuable and that we as humans should try our best to preserve it and fully live, for life is a gift.  Overall, I was satisfied with my experience.  The personnel at the New York Blood Center was very engaging, enthusiastic and cheerful.  They thoroughly explained to me the process that I would be undergoing and what would happen of my blood.  As I mature, I am certain that I will continue to engage in community service projects to impact the lives of others.  It is my duty as a human to impact the human race in a positive way.  My community service experience made me feel good.

My first semester at Baruch College definitely lived up to my expectations.  Considering that I expected a heavy workload, tiresome commute and an independent lifestyle…yeah…I definitely got that.  Through my first semester, I’ve already matured and changed as a person.  I’ve definitely changed for the better since I have started to develop good habits.  I’ve learned that I am on my own and that it is up to me to do well as far as my studies are concerned.  I’ve learned to effectively manage the time that I have to get everything done.  Because of my newly independent lifestyle, I haven’t really been concerned with making new friends from other than the group of 8 or so close friends I made in freshman seminar.  All in all, my first semester at Baruch went well.  I managed to do well in all my classes.  Because I was proficient at note-taking, I did fairly well.  I’m so content with my first semester performance that I wouldn’t change anything.  After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

I love people. Sure there are some bad ones but if you can filter out the toxic ones (and I’m getting SO much better at that), you can find yourself amazed and gratified by the ones you do have around you. Perhaps I’m just being all Pollyanna because I’m happy to be sober, but I like seeing people I like change and grow and flourish and do kind things and have kind things done for them. And I like to, where I can, help any of my friends who aren’t flourishing, because people have reached out and helped me so much, and seeing people happy and reaching their goals is so fulfilling. My psychologist friend says life is about connection, and it is. I hate it so much when people around you tell you that you need to know more peopel and build your social network because you are supposed to, especially when you want to go for a business major. I know that it is quite true but that sounds so on purpose. I like knowing people not because I want to be popular or try to gain some benefits from every one of them. I like knowing people and making friends because I will be able to hear new stories, see different perspectives, and learn at least something from each one of them. A senior student in the school told me that we can only make good friends when we are in freshman year, because as people proceed they start getting busy on internships and works and big companies, chasing their dreams and having no time to care too much about friends and relationship. I don’t know if its true but I guess we ought to treasure the ones that we just have and the ones that we have had for a long time. No one wants to be alone.

Me and my cousin Ryan next to me, Adam on the arm.

Dear family,

Everything’s going well, I’ve been having a lot of fun with the freedom I receive of being out on my own. That being said, you guys were right about how difficult it is out here, when you’re running low on cash and can’t find a job; I don’t even want to know what I would be in for next if it weren’t for you guys. I know I can always count on you when I need to. Friends, lovers come and go, but family always stays. My roommate is awesome; we’ve helped each other out a ton since we’ve become friends. I figured gay or not, I might as well make friends with him. Turns out he’s not actually gay, he’s dating a friend of mine, and yes she is a girl. We’ve been spending a lot of money coming to and from Port Washington that we should’ve just bought a monthly ticket or something. He goes to a different school too, which I found strange since we’re rooming together, but I guess it’s a mix of all the schools; they really don’t care where you go. For me, Baruch is pretty difficult, especially the calculus class with the awful professor that I told you about the first week after I left. My favorite thing about college is the freedom that ensues. I finally moved out of my parents’ house, I can finally do what I want when I want and not get yelled at, and I can see whoever I want whenever I want without bothering anyone in the house. With all of these I have to remember how I got here, and I wouldn’t be here without the help of you guys.

Dad, you raised me strictly, but with a fun side. You were my private fitness instructor and my best friend. Someone I could ask at any point of the day to play ping-pong or videogames with me, someone that would make me dinner from time to time, and would be there when I hurt myself. To be completely honest, however; you were incredibly over the line strict with me and I hated that.

Mom, you were always the lenient parent, the one I would go to about going out or having people over. I always showed you the most affection for that; dad would never let me do anything. You were there when I hurt myself as well, remember the time I tried doing that really dumb trick on the bike? Yeah. You would also always play rummy with me and we got you into ping-pong as well. Remember when dad broke the lawn chair in the basement? Yeah.

Adam, my brother, you weren’t the best brother I could ask for but I am glad I have a sibling. I’ve seen only childs that wish they had any older sibling. You taught me Magic the Gathering and Yugioh.

Last but certainly not least, I have to thank my Uncle Jeff for putting me where I am today. I always loved him and his three sons, but once True Religion took off, we didn’t really talk much. Still I know you love me since you put me up for housing and my college tuition, maybe one day I’ll have the skills to run your business for you.

Writing someone’s “about me” comes along with the implication that there are things you can learn about said person. So there are these descriptions that people lug around, but are new descriptions tacked on to their prized collections of adjectives, or can you smear away a fine layer of dust to discover that they’d been carrying this part of themselves all along?

My name is a mashup of my parents’ names: Joe and Ann, and for the longest time, I spent my time trying to run away from this association. They dedicated part of our house to a memorial of my paternal grandparents, as per Chinese tradition, and I rejected all forms of the typical second-generation Asian immigrant culture. They bowed thrice in front of two faded photographs of my grandparents and planted three incense sticks into the ashes in front of them, and I left my house to get to church on time. It was the morning of Chinese New Year. Their offers to drive me to wherever I needed to go became a great way to check up on everywhere I went, and I stayed out later and later. We never had cheese in the house.

I have my dad’s jaw, my mom’s eyes and her “huck-huck-huck” of a laugh, his incredible willingness and curiosity and her devotion and laziness. I have come to take pride in the small bursts of conversations in Chinese that I’m forced to partake in at work, and for all the fights I’ve gotten into with them over staying out too late with my church friends, I’ve grown to become a pretty straight-laced type of person. I am a steadfast friend and a klutz in time management. I am shy and adventurous at once. I am immensely pleased when people like the things I recommend. My temperament changes according to who I’m with; some would say that I am a people-pleaser. I don’t mind.

These two paragraphs are from my last blog because I have found that I haven’t changed too overwhelmingly in the last month or so. How do I see myself? I attached a picture of me (in Baruch’s computer lab, no less) trying to look all cutesy and whatnot because I couldn’t figure out just one aspect of my life that covered over everything else. Except maybe Christ’s blood. Yep, I’m that Christian but I don’t mind that either.

 (And if you didn’t catch on, Joe and Ann become Joanne in college student form)