When life takes a turn

Phi Eta Sigma Induction

2010-03-29T17:08:00.000-04:00

I suppose this is college life...

The Induction was held on March 17, 2010.

In the years to come, we will look back on this day and be reminded of the memories we shared.

We Wear the Mask

2010-03-18T03:11:00.000-04:00

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

We wear the mask!

- Paul Lawrence Dunbar

Old Times...

2010-01-31T03:25:00.001-05:00

Oh I love these guys, and those not in this photo, for putting a smile on my face every time I think of them.

In Retrospect

2010-01-23T19:56:00.002-05:00

It had been slightly more than a year since the time of this event. It wasn't entirely a bad trip, just a little miscommunication and a ball of misunderstanding. I believe for most of us, we still feel a little uneasy thinking and talking about it but I think it is time to let by-pass be by-pass.

Thailand trip was shit. But come on, it's funny! It was stupid funny. It was childish funny. How did we ever master all our logic to come to the kind of conclusions we had is in itself a funny thing. In retrospect, the first supper we had was great, though the room reek of the food smell afterward, but that supper rocked. We saw an elephant wondering the street, that to me wasn't entirely exciting but to some, oh yes kitty kat, was very exciting. The time we took the trishaw (motor-cab?), to bargain, and also, taking the stupid train which was way too expensive and inefficient, was hilarious. And we had quite a fulfilling seafood trip too. And yes how some of us horny bastards got our money cheated was in itself, quite a funny adventure.

Though I don't think we would live out of our embarrassments to tell our children this story, but perhaps one day. And when that day comes, I would gather all the kids in one room and let them in on the stupidity of their parents then. That should be interesting.

We have to realize that some of our fundamental qualities do clash: Opinions clash; decisions clash; personality clash; words clash; friends clash. Clashes are inevitably the result of our differences. It is in our nature that we are all different, but we shall never give up due to our differences, for those differences, my friends, sum up the whole dynamic of our group: so different; yet so similar.

In the core of our relationships, there lies a struggle between love and hate. We may bicker, we may fight, and we may ignore one another. But at the end, we must reconcile. We should not be blinded by our heats of anger and overlook the genuine quality of our best of friends. For countless of reasons - spoken or unspoken; acknowledged or taken for granted - we love and cherish one another. And above reasons, we have, at least I do, a belief that reminds us that these friends are the right ones. Friends don't just turn their backs on one another. And certainly not what a family would do to each other.

"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection." - Abraham Lincoln

Winter Session

2010-01-04T07:52:00.000-05:00

First day of winter session.
Philosophy and American Politics, ha, what a joke!

Oh and District 9 is such a sad movie. It's not something I would recommend to those starting their first day of school.

Year 2010

2010-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Live it, not waste it!

Happy new year my beloved friends.

New York - Winter Time

2009-12-27T15:16:00.000-05:00

i really really like this photo. and yes i took it. (:

It's been a while...

2009-12-25T00:25:00.000-05:00

Like i said, I suck at this blogging thing. Oh wells, it's been 4 months. Awes me how time flies.
I got this two photos off my school website, which I think will do my school some justice.

Oh wells. What else. I guess I did pretty alright for my first semester. Although I was supposed to have a month off in January but I've decided to take up Winter Session - Philosophy. And in Spring I will be taking 6 courses. Maxed out my credit requirements and was told 'You must be crazy!" several times. Well, we'll see.

Anyways, it's a snowy december here in New York. It's the first time I actually walked under the falling snow. And then tracking the snow covered roads the next morning. It was quite a challenge.

The sky is so clear in Canada. The stars glittered brightly. And yes I do reminisce, I miss it all.

Its one of those days...

2009-10-25T22:24:00.000-04:00

Feeling lazy and drained...

Haiyoyo haiyoyo haiyoyo.

Yesterday I was 21, and tomorrow I'm gonna be 24.

Tsk tsk tsk.

College Days.

2009-08-31T01:28:00.000-04:00

Monday blues.

Starting my first day of school tomorrow. Damn.

How I Wish.

2009-08-27T22:29:00.001-04:00

I wish I could write better.

I wish I could read faster.

I wish I could understand quicker.

I wish I could be rich.

I wish I could be smart.

I wish I would never have to worry again.

I wish I would never have to need to make another wish.

I wish it all comes true.

Autumn Falls

2009-08-24T14:13:00.002-04:00

It was a five minutes walk from my place to the subway station. As I walked under the scorching summer Sun, I was accompanied by the arriving autumn breeze. It was nice actually, perhaps a little too chilly but I liked it anyhow. It was a nice blend of warmth and cool.

I never really liked cold places. It makes me shiver and my teeth grind. It awes me as how swiftly Winter will come before I can even realise it.

The weather is going to change as August coming to an end. Autumn will be making her entrance and take over the main stage. Time to bring on the hoodies and the sweat pants I guess.

Baruch College - City University of New York

2009-08-20T12:53:00.007-04:00

I had never attended school orientations as I always assumed that I wouldn't like it. But this time, the choice is not up to me. I attended my first (mandatory) orientation on 20th August '09 at Baruch College - The City University of New York. As of today, I know for a fact that I indeed hate orientations. Don't get me wrong there, the school was great and all but the nature of the event itself, just never appealed to me. Therefore I went through with the process reluctantly.

Awkwardness. This seemingly familiar feeling I had grew accustomed to through my years of not wanting to be socially inclined. Yet it felt so different this time. Sitting in that room amongst hundreds of other individuals made me felt uneasy. Somehow I had never being so out of place. While I was just sitting there, I can't help but to notice how contrastive from me these people are. Both physically and mentally. From things like their hair color, dress sense or even their eye colors to their language, culture, background and mentality. It was then I finally realised that I am in another place now, attempting to live a different life, struggling to fit into this incognizant environment. Life has displaced.

There were a lot of time wasting as I'd expected. The orientation officially began with a surprise, for me at least! A 300 page novel called Reservation Blues (by Sherman Alexie) was given out, following with an announcement that it will be up for group discussion the following week, exactly 7 days from the day of orientation. And to top that off, a vast majority of the students were given Reservation Blues weeks prior to their orientation when they attended their summer course at Baruch. Right now I just hope that it's going to be somewhat a good read.

The Dean made his officially addressed the students and ended his speech with a pretty impressive quote,

"Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words.

Be careful of your words, for your words become your actions.

Be careful of your actions, for your actions become your habits.

Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character.

Be careful of your character, for your character becomes your destiny."

With that, it concludes the first half of the morning.

The next half of the morning introduced us to a 35 minutes writing assessment.

Topic: Do you think the American Society emphasis too much on winning as the only measure of success? Agree or disagree?

Which also reminds me that on Tuesday, 18th August '09, the topic for the writing test was, "Write a letter to the school board stating that if you think it would be more beneficial for the students to have a few three-to-four months breaks or the existing summer block holiday. State and explain how your choice would benefit the students with their school life as well as their personal life." As always, I struggled through these essays, have my fingers crossed that my scores would turn up satisfactory.

The last half of the morning was spent lazily in the computer lab, listening to facts about the courses which was pretty much covered during the online orientation programme and us facebooking away, me randomly updating my pessimistic perspective of my orientation day. Fetched quite a fair bit of response there thou.

Lunch.

The day continued on with another hour of listening to a motivational speaker about how to plan our future and such. Then it was another computer lab session.

What may be interesting though was that I made a friend. An Indian friend, born and raised in New York, Brooklyn if i did so remembered correctly. We shared views on how ignorant americans can be, with their heads held high and living in their own little world. He's seventeen. one way or another, I just seems to make younger friends by the year. We had a few laughs when the computer technician walked in. He bore a striking resemblance to Harold, from the movies Harold and Kumar. He spoke with a strong chinese-english accent and of all people, I was the one snickering at the back of the class. Ironic.

It was not so much of a fun nor an enriching day but I guess I made the best out of it. Well, to bring justice to the school, the campus outlook is sleek and modern, equipped with some of the best facilities you could possible find in a city state university. Some of the faculty members were very kind and helpful, and some of them were a little mean. All in all, I think I am going to grow to like this school. And with time I'll fit in. It is just a matter of time, this much I know (or maybe I will be totally outcasted).

Who would have thought? I got acquainted.

Messiness.

2009-08-17T09:33:00.003-04:00

Three weeks, yet it felt like forever.

New Chapter; New Journey

2009-08-03T19:19:00.001-04:00

When life takes a turn, adaptation is the key...