Friday, July 18, 2008

  • A Year in Review (1st year of college)

    It’s so weird.

    It’s so weird because it doesn’t feel like it’s summertime at all. I keep thinking that instead of spending time on my computer/hanging out with my friends, I should be studying or doing homework. It’s so weird that I’m sitting in this empty room that has been my home for the last school year. It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that I met my roommate and we went for a night tour of the school with a couple people I met from CalSO. It seems that it was just yesterday that I walked out of my Math 1A final early feeling amazing because I knew I had just dominated it. It seems that it was just an hour ago that I screamed swearwords and made not-so-appropriate jokes in front of people’s parents. Oh wait, that was an hour ago. Sorry Ethan.

    It’s so weird that I just finished my first year of college. When I was in middle school or high school, college just seemed like a far-off entity that I could never really reach. I felt that college would be like a completely different life where I would automatically become a mature college student and suddenly know what to do with my life and where I am going. Well, here I am, a college student and very much the same essential entity that I was throughout middle school and high school. I have changed a lot though, and a lot of that is due to Berkeley, my friends, and a lot of self-reflection. Mainly, I am just a whole lot happier now than I was throughout high school and middle school. Instead of always finding a reason to be unhappy like I used to, I try to find reasons to be happy and it makes life a lot easier. Try it some time. :)

     Also, I find that just being able to laugh at things (mostly the stupid things that usually end up happening to me) is the best way to live life. Running and laughter cure almost all problems. Yep. Anyway, (I also found out that anyways is not proper...thanks Kevin...anyways sounds so much better though) I feel that I’ve become so much mature after a year at college and it makes me really really happy. L&S 160B really changed my life and if you go to Berkeley, I highly recommend you take it. Professor Phillips is really an amazing lecturer (except when he makes us watch the videos...you can sleep through those) and truly inspirational. The class has helped me so much just going through life (as stupid as that sounds) and has changed how I approach so many aspects of the oh-so arduous task of living.

    I’m leaving for San Diego in two days and it’s going to be awesome. I finally get to meet Ben’s girlfriend and some of my friends from Berkeley are going to be there as well so that should be really fun.

    ==================================================

    Well, it’s been exactly 2 weeks since I sat down in my dorm room and wrote all that from above. San Diego was pretty awesome and Stephanie is one of the coolest girls I have met in awhile.

    Back to a year in review…

    Two Things I Learned my First Year at Berkeley:

    Asides from the academic things, these are two of the maaaaaaaany things I learned at Berkeley. I thought they deserved a place here.

    1.      It is awesome to meet new people.

    In high school (mine at least), your class essentially stays the same since 6th grade, with very few people subtracted or added, so I guess you just do not get that much of an opportunity to meet others. I wasn’t too involved in extracurricular activities in high school so that made it even worse, though I did meet some really cool underclassmen through track. The thing about HS is that even if you don’t directly know some of the people in your class, everybody knows who everybody else is, and they already have pre-formed images in their minds about what everybody is like.

    Coming to Cal was awesome because you essentially get a blank slate…nobody can really judge you based on your past because they don’t know it and they can only see what you are like now. (That’s the same way for all colleges but…heh) Anyway, I felt that was really cool and I have hence met some of the coolest people ever and probably (hopefully) some best friends that I will keep for life. I remember the spring AAA retreat that I went to…I think I expanded my social network by about 40 people in 2 days. The thing that really drew me towards AAA after the retreat was that the people I met were just so nice. I would just be walking down to Sproul and some random AAA person would just pat me on the back and say “Hey Neil” and then start a conversation with me while I walked to class. I am horrible at names and I am sure some of those 40 people were also, but they really made an effort to get to know me and to become friends with me. This is AAA at its best.

    In high school, meeting people was just a mundane task for me. My dad always has guests over from all over the world with a variety of different backgrounds, and meeting them in the past was like a chore. I had to go through the premeditated “background regurgitation” where I explain my age, school, possible college, interests, and maybe throw in a joke or two.

    Now, I’m a lot more excited to meet new people. I just like hearing about where they come from and hearing their stories and what drives them. It’s inspirational and amazing. I’ve discovered that I really really like people.

     

    2.      Anger does not help

     

    I used to be one pissed off little kid. I got angry a lot, mostly at myself because I used to be an absolute perfectionist (not sure how I would classify myself now…), but I’ve realized this year that anger just does not help. The best solution is just to take a step back, calm down, and look for a creative solution. I think I’m just spouting what Prof. Phillips says right now, but I truly believe in what he says. Essentially, when you think the emotions that are welling up inside of you are approaching a point where you might react and do something that is instinctive but maybe not constructive, you should just give yourself a little breathing room. Take a step back, take a deep breath, calm down, and look for a way to respond using creativity. Of course it is impossible to always do this but I find that it is SO much better to just be calm about everything instead of getting angry or worked up. I know a lot of people that will just start screaming their heads off when they are mad and I think this is just counter-productive. I think the only time I got really mad this year was during finals Fall semester. I was trying to photocopy a mock exam and for some reason I just kept messing up and wasting paper…yea…but that was before L&S 160B…I have an excuse haha. This doesn’t just apply to when you get angry but also during times of stress. A lot of people get so stressed out that they begin to snap at other people (usually me) and this pretty much sucks. I used to do it too, it’s ok. My advice is to just chill, be happy. Life is to be loved, it’s not something you have to fight. Sometimes it does a really good job of hiding, but happiness can be found if you look hard enough.

     

    This is all for now. I had the best year of my life at Berkeley. A huge thanks to all my friends. You guys made it amazing. I walked through Unit 3 a few days ago and it was weird that I couldn’t walk into Priestley, go up to floor 2, and walk into room 212. That’s ok. Next year it’s room 406, Fine Arts building. Shattuck and Haste. Come visit.



    ------edit

    apologies for bad grammar/bad writing

    that's what you get for doing things late at night

    maybe I will go back and rewrite some parts

    ...probably not

    hello summer!

  • Choose Identity

  • Give eProps (?)

  • New! You can now edit your comments for 15 minutes after submitting.

Who recommended?