w=mg: The fallen state of my college career and how to accelerate it back up
Do I look smart to you? Do I seem intelligent? Is there a certain level of sophistication that I affiliate myself with? If your answer is no, then chances are I’d agree with you. I graduated from high school in 2008 and it’s quite clear that I’ve been in college for quite some time now. The only problem? I’m dangerously behind.
What’s the problem?
The drop
Earlier this semester, I dropped Mechanical Physics because the material was too difficult for me and I was not prepared for it. Most of my time went into this class, yet the worst results came out of it. It was time to let go. By doing so, I’ve added another item to my ever-growing list of college career setbacks.
The big picture
How behind am I? Lets put this into perspective. If I never had any academic setbacks in my life, if never had to attend middle school for a fourth year, if I went straight to a university after graduating high school, and if I committed to being a full-time student instead of a full-time employee, then I would most likely be graduating this year. Simple as that. But no, I am behind by at least two years. I know so many people who are graduating this year and I am proud of each and every one of them. These are people I had class with dating all the way back to Pre-Kindergarten. Unfortunately, it also brings out the guilt in me, knowing that I could have been one of them too. I’m growing older every day and the last thing I want to do is continuously rely on my family to take care of me. It’s getting to the point that I need to show responsibility and take care of them, but I can’t do it if I keep hammering nails into my college career coffin like this.
That was Spring Break?
So this past week, I spent my Spring Break in Killeen. It went by so fast and it didn’t really feel like a break. Before the break started, the game plan was to focus primarily on work and schoolwork. Unfortunately, everything didn’t seem to go as planned. At the same time, a few upsets were thrown into the mix. Let’s sum it all up.
The Good
Being able to see old Killeen buddies throughout the week was probably the best thing about my break. I’m glad that I was able to catch up with people like Raymond and Matt, who stay in San Antonio and Houston respectively. Not only them, but also Jasmin, Green, Ana, Dustin, Thomas, Devo, Krystle, co-workers, and the Killeen Town Brawlers crew. It was great to see all of them again. Since my life seems to revolve around friends at College Station these days, seeing all of them was like taking a small peek into a time capsule. It’s also great to be around my mother as well as my sister Eunice. I’m not a confident Korean speaker, but I tend to speak more Korean when I’m around my mother these days. She constantly spends her time studying English pronunciation, I should at least do the same for her native language. Throughout the past few summers, I’ve tried to commit time to become fluent in Korean and failed every single time. I want to try and make it work this summer. Being close to mom makes me want to try to become more fluent in Korean by Fall 2011.
I also worked close to 40 hours at Geek Squad during the break. The workload was really insane and it looked like they could really use the help. I’m just glad that I was there to do so. Managers constantly kept thanking me for helping the store, but should they really be? I’m a full-time college student who is able to focus all of my time on studies without having to work. At any period of time, I am able to return home and work as if I had never left. And it’s not even a bad job either. I repair computers and make a decent wage. How many students even have that kind of power and flexibility? Not many. The managers shouldn’t be thanking me, I should be thanking them. My employment with the Killeen Best Buy alone is enough to be thankful for. It really helped make a difference while living in College Station, and I don’t even need to work for their location either.
Thanksgiving Photos for Krystle
Hello everybody, did you all have a good Thanksgiving? I hope so.
Thanksgiving was pretty good stuff. Was able to hang out with friends and just have a good time (and a good dinner). We decided to get Krystle in the photogenic mood and take a few shots. Some of the places we planned on visiting weren’t lit the way we expected them to be (or weren’t even lit at all). The photos came out very well nonetheless. Krystle didn’t know exactly what type of pose to do. I tried to think of some poses from the top of my head such as the mantle or that cute fist-to-cheek pose that a lot of Koreans seem to do. Even though I saw this funny video about camera poses, I just could not think of that many at the time. Nonetheless, she did them all without hesitation and with the most enthusiasm possible. Very great photos. Take a look at the gallery below and be sure to tell me how they look. :)
After playing around with my new Nikon SB-600 Speedlight for a bit, I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t need it and it’s not for me. It would be cool if I were able to take advantage of it’s wireless flash capabilities (here’s some amazing examples from a photographer who uses external flashes wirelessly), but unfortunately my camera doesn’t support it. Relying solely on the light source being on top of the camera just doesn’t cut it. While some photos look nice with the flash, most photos end up looking better with natural light. I invested in my 35mm 1.8f NIKKOR lens to get the most of natural lights so I will just keep it at that. I’ll be returning the flash tomorrow. When I purchase a better camera in the future, I’ll buy one that supports wireless flash and invest in external flashes.
It’s 3:17am as I am typing this and Black Friday starts in about an hour and a half. I’m so glad that I don’t have to work until 9am. I’ll be sleeping for a few hours and then work until 7PM. Oh Black Friday… how you always seem to keep me on my feet, even if I’m not shopping. I hope that you all will continue to stay safe have a great Thanksgiving weekend!
Really, GOODBYE Halloween Weekend
Halloween weekend was fun, had it’s ups and downs. On Friday, I spent parts of the day with Thomas, Jasmin and Shalen. Just hangin out and buying our costumes and getting them set up. Jasmin had a baby and Thomas spent a loooong time at Oh Mart trying to put in color contacts. After a long wait, I decided to just help him and got em in less than a minute, ha. Eventually Matt, Devo, Richey, Cece, Krystle, Kim, Anthony, Courtney etc. etc. came down and some of us ended up hangin out at Walmart. I left early cause I was stupid tired.
Halloween day came and I decided to help my sister clean her room. My mom and sister ended up getting in a serious argument that eventually involved the police. Nothing happened though, the police just gave a lecture to my sister and left. But yeah, I helped my sister clean her room and I went to work dressed as a doctor. Work was alright, a lot of people were dressed and there was a lot of food to eat. What sucked is that I had to stay there until 10PM. Afterwards we took as many people as possible and took some group pictures of ourselves. The pictures came out very well, but they could’ve been better given that the vibe didn’t get killed too early. Nonetheless, some pretty beast photos. We split into different groups afterwards. Some of us ate, hung out, and stayed at Court’s house until 4 in the morning. And that was after Daylight Savings time was applied.
I woke up today and went to work feeling like crap. I really wanted to leave early but decided to man up and stay until I was supposed to get off. After work, I ate and took a 5 ish hour nap. So yeah, that’s my weekend. Much better than last Halloween considering I didn’t do anything last year. I haven’t studied all weekend, I’ll be sure to get started now. Oh, and pictures! Here you go! :)
Thanks Raymond. I’m glad she appears to be doing well.
Goodbye Halloween Weekend
Hello, it’s been a little while. This past week has been pretty boring, but still something else. Best Buy has finally demoted me down to a part-time position which completes the final step of my plan to boycott unnecessary things. I’ve had the past four days off and it feels great. I have more time for schoolwork and personal agendas. I haven’t missed a single class this week and I was able to turn in all of my assignments without having to do it all at the last minute. What sucks is that every night that I spent studying, some either called or text asking if I wanted to do something that night. I had to refuse. The irony is that now that it’s Thursday and the weekend has started for me, nobody wants to do anything now. Ahhh karma.. I have to work the entire weekend. Even worse, I have to work Halloween night, until 10PM. DANG. No parties for me I guess, since I have to work early the next day. ef em ell.
This weekend, other than work and studying, I’m going to take my D60 and my 9mm 35mm and go on a shooting spree all around town. It’ll be a blast for sure. >:] Question! What are you all doing for Halloween weekend? TELL ME! GO! :)