Spring Quarter.

dang, i'm almost done with my first year in college. time flies huh. nonetheless, i had been anticipating for this quarter. there is just something about a new quarter that brings in freshness. maybe winter quarter was just way too stressful for me, juggling with busywork and classes and worries and whatnot, and starting a new quarter gives me a sense of being free, a sense of the hope of starting anew, like a blank sheet of paper. tabula raza, in John Locke's term. Of course, i'm not completely blank- because i'm not going to leave everything in the past behind, and i can't anyway, for many cases. but just the newness of it... so much hope and so much potential :)

With much anticipated hope, of course, comes goals for the quarter. i really want to make the most out of this quarter, knowing that this is my last quarter as a first-year.

1. GO TO CLASS: this is going to be SO hard, especially i've already skipped a class after 3 days and fallen asleep in a few, but i am going to aim for no skipping more than one class per day, which is going to be hard on MWF... i'll try :)

2. FIND A JOB/INTERNSHIP: i need money. well, more than that, i've come to conclusion that if i want a good job offer after graduating, it's more important that i find a good internship than getting really good grades.

3. WORK OUT AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK: i played tennis tonight for the first time in a long time, and i remembered how it always makes me feel so productive, healthy, and hence, happy. also, since i do pay $13 per quarter for wooden, i really want to take a dance class there, maybe hiphop or ballroom or jazz? haha or belly dancing ;].

4. WAKE UP TO WATCH THE SUNRISE: i actually decided that during finals week of last quarter. Sunrise is just so beautiful, and for some reason more so than sunsets for me because i just love that freshness and cleanness of early mornings. and it's almost embarassing that every time i get to watch it, it's because i haven't gone to sleep yet, and not waking up for it. Every time i watch the sunrise, or any other natural wonders, i cannot help but become in awe of how amazing God's creations are, and how much more amazing He Himself is.

5. 90% QUIET TIMES: i also realized that i totally slacked off last quarter when it comes to having devotional time, and it's time to cut the slack. For now, i'm just going to read "our daily bread" and whatever passage they infer to daily, but it's a good start, right?

now, i am going to go to sleep, so i can wake myself up at 9 and eat breakfast. yay for breakfast food.

2005...

has come and gone.

"2005" has always been especially meaningful for me, mainly because as a part of the "class of '05" for the past 4 years, i had been taught that the year "2005" would be OUR year, a year to be filled with pleasant promises such as senior privileges, senior events, a summer purely dedicated to fun and games, and becoming a big university student. Yet, when the year 2005 arrived in the midst of my senior year in high school, it also brought along sadness in leaving high school, an environment so familiar to me that i have learned to cherish despite the workload and everything else academically related; it brought along uncertainty about the future, whether or not i would even get an acceptance letter from a decent school; it brought along the anticipation for college, where freedom, not parental control, reigns.

Looking back, the year has truly fulfilled most of its promises. Sure, there were times of doubt, times of hatred, times of heartbrokenness, times of anxiety, times of fear, times of falling away from having God as the center of my life, but it has also been a life-changing year, a year of experiencing life, a year of searching for what and who i want to be, a year of growing spiritually (though not nearly as much as i had hoped, regretfully) and emotionally, a year of developing and keeping friendships, a year of growing up and moving out of home, and of course, a year full of FUN and forever cherished memories. Tis a year to be remembered.

DATES TO BE REMEMBERED:
President's weekend- last high school winter retreat. fun stuff.
UCLA (3/11)- the night i got my acceptance email :) go bruins!
Keyclub Convention(4/15)- all 5 kids who got kicked out were from our school. can your school do that? i don't think so. so we are kinda special :)
Proms (5/20 &6/4)- were fun ;] and so were the after parties.
Senior Excursion (6/9)- nothing beats Disneyland. period.
Graduation/Grad Night (6/23)- class of 2005 hehe.
YSC- awww last one ever.
Move-in (9/25)- beginning of college and d9-luv ;]
Reunion (11/26)- (oh-so-white) asian crew forever :]

Unlike other years, though, i don't acutally think i want to make a resolution for this new year, not because i don't think i have anything i want to change about myself,  of which there are plenty, but i just don't believe that they were ever that meaningful. oh wells, it is just a title.

Last night (12/31), as we were counting down for the new year, i felt a sense of melancholy within me. Somehow, probably because i am biased, 2006 just doesn't seem like it will have the potential to surpass its precedence. but hey, i hope it will prove me wrong :)

so bring it on,

2006