Sunshine and Bagels -- The Little Miss Thinks

Climb a mountain so that you can see the world, not so the world can see you.  I learned about this graduation speech from my dear friend Laura, and I could not NOT re-post it. "You are not special" Graduation Speech. Pretty beautiful and inspiring.  

I'm not saying that everyone should live their lives searching for affirmation and positive feedback and energy from other people, because you really need to be able to affirm yourself and give your own self positive reinforcement... But I'd be lying too, if I said that affirmations don't do much. Because it does. One of my professors pulled me aside to say that he thought I did a really excellent job on our group presentation, that he thought I was really quiet and laid-back, but that I really shined while we presented. This is probably one of the greatest compliments I've ever gotten while at Berkeley. At any large university, you can really start to feel like just a number, just a student among thousands, and forget about what makes you special, what makes you, you. And in one small comment, my professor did that for me. He made me remember that I am not a grade. I am not my GPA. I am not an SAT score or potential GRE or LSAT score. I am not any digit or n...

trans: That's life My French is coming along, don't you think? It's been a while since I last updated, but I still don't have much to say. This week is finals week so I look towards it in anticipation and fear. Hwaiting! Also, I have my visa appointment with the French Consulate on Friday! Ahhh, scary. Uhh... Any suggestions? Like clothes... what does one wear? In any case, I can officially say this: It seems to me that the French are much better at writing/ making meaningful movies than Americans. Perhaps it is because my teachers are showing us only really good films... but in either case, they are much better than the American movies I've watched recently... The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain (2001) was quite a hit success in France and has a huge cult following. It was released in America under the title "Amelie." Definitely give it a watch. It's pretty hilarious and gave me great insight about French culture and humor. It made m...

There's often a tradeoff between quantity and quality in life, and lately, I've really felt this tradeoff. Balancing two 4-unit classes with my 10-unit French class, coupled with my GRE prep class, and let's just say, I don't have much rest or sleep. I'm running out of batteries and as a result of this balancing act, I'm a jack of all trades but master of none. There's no use thinking about the what-if's and if-only's, all I can do is keep on chugging, chugging, chugging, chugging. I was looking through my backpack the other day and found this fortune cookie fortune shoved in somewhere between tens of crushed receipts and papers: Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos. Here's to hoping that that is true. On the bright side, I'm starting to prioritize better though my procrastination skills are as horrible as ever. No time yet for a true update, just stay posted!

I went home to San Jose this previous weekend with Xuemin and though we didn't do much, except a small barbeque at the house, it was definitely nice just getting away from Berkeley. We tried a new pho restaurant, Pho Que Huoung, oh so disappointing. We also tried Hiro Sushi, also another disappointment (read Xuemin's yelp review for more details). But again, it takes tasting something not so stellar, to know what you consider delicious. We finished moving on to the new summer sublet on Wednesday and though it was a hassle, we have now settled in. At the time, I wasn't really thinking about the distance from campus but as I walked by at 9PM after my class ended, I definitely was conscious of everything -- the darkness, the shadiness, the distance... I miss our old studio :( Classes are going pretty good. I'm enjoying both the Antebellum U.S. history class and the Racism in U.S. Law course. In both courses, we have just finished discussing Andrew Jackson's pre...