03.14.2016 - Law

I went to a study group today to work on our problem set. 

I didn’t realize how much I missed school and taking classes. The discussion, the debates, the reading. But most of all - the challenges and being in a position where I need to learn more and try harder.

I haven’t been studying as much as I should have, but I will definitely make sure I kill it on this LSAT test.

I really want to go to law school.

I want to make it to DC or the UN. 

03.02.2016 - Half Assed

This is probably going to be a rant - you’ve been warned!

So I chatted with my friends from Japan today. It’s been a minute since we were last active in our group chat. Anyways, the topic of food came up and I relayed to them that I was doing vegetarian Mondays and vegan Tuesdays. 

One of my asshole friends decided to call me half-assed for only doing two days out of the week. (Just for reference, it’s lent and I gave up meat on Fridays too.)

…And that ticked me off. Especially since it was precociously in Japanese kanji and completely unnecessary. 

I responded with, “Better than none at all, asswipe.”

“Debatable.”

“Not really.”

My vegetarian friend Josh chimes in, “Yeah, starting to do something is better.”

“I didn’t say I was gonna debate it, I’m just saying debatable.”

(…Okay?) I respond with, “Anything is though” - hoping to end the idiotic conversation. 

“Also debatable.” 

That drove me nuts. There isn’t really a point to his arguments, especially to the hypothetical ones he isn’t even making. If so, what was the point for any of those responses? Just to be irritating and seem pathetically uneducated with baseless points. It doesn’t help anyone if you’re arguing simply for the sake of arguing. Take your energy and go to the gym.

Time is better spent on informed, intelligent conversation and discussion.

Don’t waste my time if you aren’t going to stimulate my mind.  

#takeaseat

03.01.2016 - Outliers

It’s been five days since I wrote anything. I’m a little angry at myself for that because I promised I’d push to write more. Although I’ve written a couple times every week, what really makes a good writer (or good anything for that matter) is putting the time in. Those 10,000 hours means almost 10-15 years of practicing something 2-3 hours a day. Everyday.

I’ve been listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers Audiobook on YouTube and some of the things he teaches have really struck a chord with me. How geniuses aren’t just on talent alone and that opportunity, culture, and legacy are all part of the mix. How anyone can be amazing if they are given the opportunity, put in the time, and have just the right amount of luck and tenacity.

It reinforced the thankfulness I have for my parents, my background, and my history. Life wasn’t always easy, but comparably, it wasn’t extremely difficult either. I grew up safe, my tummy full, a roof over my head. I grew up not worrying about tuition or rent and watching my peers get gifted with cars and jetting off to see the world. I was given opportunities and I was lucky enough to live a life many people wish for. But it’s not only that I am lucky, but that I am grateful too. For the things I wasn’t so fortunate about, it’s important that I saw them in different lights. Success is measured by the way you see things and how you react to your situations.

Some people blame, complain, and give up. Many people, actually. They can’t say no to their parents. They can’t get on a plane to live somewhere new. They can’t live on their own. They can’t get a new job. They can’t.

And they would rather resign themselves to whining about how the world is unfair and how everyone is against them. That luck and fortune wasn’t on their side and their lives were terrible..

I think it’s time to get a reality check.

Instead of crying and seeing situations as a win or a lose, black or white, it’s the kids that come up with solutions and do something about their problems that become successful in the future.

This book is great because it inspires. It tells you that nothing is only by luck of the draw. That it really takes the effort and the ability to think positively that propel people to the top. Outliers tells you to not give up. To see things are problems with solutions and not end games. I’m not quite finished with it yet, but I hope to take its teachings in earnest. I want to instill great routines in my life and I want to meet and exceed all my potential. Write everyday, meditate, work out, study, network, work, run, draw, (floss), love. Do.

Do better. Be better.

To that extent, I must do my best.

Every. Single. Day.

02.24.2016 - Girl Meets Boy

Girl meets boy.

Girl kicks boy’s ass because she realizes how society is run by rich, white men and that media has brainwashed her to think less of herself. That her self worth isn’t measured by what males think of her.

That it doesn’t matter if boy doesn’t like girl.

More on this later.

I love being a woman, but sometimes, there are just so many decks (dicks) stacked against you.

02.23.2016 - Yo' Mama

One of my kids asked me today if it was okay to tell “Yo Mama” jokes. Of course, I said no. I explained that some people didn’t have mothers, and those jokes would hurt those people.

He didn’t really understand what I said.

“Everyone has a mom, Ms. Chu.”

So I explained that I had grown up with just my dad and my brother, because my parents were divorced and I didn’t have a mom at home. That jokes like “Yo Mama” jokes would’ve really hurt me when I was younger.

The table of third grade boys looked down at their lunches in silence. I was worried I had ruined the mood for their lunch. They murmured amongst themselves how they could never imagine their parents divorcing and that it wasn’t possible in their family. I asked if we had any divorced families in our class - we didn’t. Some of them agreed that having parents split up was sad. They thought it was sad I didn’t grow up with a mom.

And then Jacob looked up at me and smiled.

“But now you have 28 kids, Ms. Chu.”

:)