Plan Event: Briefly describe the event you attended and why you chose this event. What particular skill or campus resource (or both) did this event focus on? How can you adapt that skill or resource to help you maximize your success? How can you use what you learned in this event to become more mindful (aware of your goals, strengths, limitations, needs) and more planful (how to put this awareness into action)?

I went to an Orientation make up event because I missed the last day of orientation when I first enrolled here.  It was an hour long video about all the tools in the school to help new students like me who are kind of lost.  I actually ended up learning about all the different places that are here to help me.  It was perfect timing because I had to make my enroll for my spring classes the following week and I had no idea what to enroll in.

I visited the college advising office the following day and they took a look at all my classes and filled out a schedule for my spring semester.  I was so relieved and grateful for their help.  I was becoming a bit anxious about my future but after the meeting I knew exactly what I was doing. I l plan to seek for help whenever I feel like I am at unease with anything regarding academics.

Describe your reaction to Charles Blow’s talk. What is one thing from his talk that impacted you in some way? If you could spend ten minutes with Charles Blow, what would you talk to him about? What would you say or what questions would you ask him and why?

Racism is such a common term thrown around that I lost meaning for that word.  This is not the first time a black person talks about discrimination nor will it be the last time. Most Blacks have this mentality that it is them versus the world.  Truth is racism is an assignment everyone has to work together to solve.  However, here is the truth: there is no solution to racism.  There will never be a world where discrimination and racism will not exist.  Also racism is not just exclusive to African Americans, as an Asian myself I have experienced racism more than few occasions.

Also there seems to be this idea that African Americans cannot be racist, when African Americans are just as racist or even more racist than any other race. There are countless times where African Americans have racist comments for white people but it is over looked because they are black. I can tell you from my personal experience I heard more racist comments from African Americans regarding my race more than white people. So if I could have a one on one conversation with Charles Blow, I would just ask him why is he making this a black versus white scenario? Plenty of other races faces racism especially to the people from Muslim countries and African Americans are constantly acting like they are the only victim of racism.

Briefly describe the event you attended and why you chose this event. What is one thing you learned through this event that you did not know before? How did this event expand your understanding of the event topic? How do you see this particular event or event topic fitting into your academic journey?

I do not know if this counts as an event but I went to the Career Center on October 28th to learn more about different type of majors.  I came to Stony Brook as an Undecided major because frankly, I had no idea what I wanted to do.  I had a brief idea of what each major was about but I was afraid that I might not like it and have to change my major later in my college year and cause me more trouble.

So when I saw the email I knew instantly that I needed to go to this meeting.  They asked me if I had any majors in my mind and I knew I wanted to do something related to science and engineering.  They explained to me all these different types of engineering majors and science majors.

Thanks to this event I was able to figure out what major I wanted to major in and will be taking classes in Computer Science starting from next semester.  I am extremely grateful for the effort school goes through to help me find the path I want.

I attended a football game on September 19th when we played University of New Hampshire.  I decided to attend the football game because I played quarterback in high school and is a huge fan of football.  It was a 31 to 6 stomp but the rain was crazy. I was able to meet some new friends who also liked football. It also helped me relieve stress I received from the first couple weeks of trying to adjust to a new environment.  The football game made me new friends and helped me adjust to college life quicker than I would have if I did not meet these new people.

Connecting with others is not important to me, as it is said in the Letters from a Stoic written by Seneca, “Wise man don’t need friends to be happy, but he prefers having friends.”  I am an only child so being by myself has already been a norm, and I actually really enjoy the privacy. However, I also do not mind company and I love to hang out with my friends.  So it is not really significant for myself to connect with other people but I would prefer to do so rather than not.

Deciding when to act or when to intervene is frequently a difficult decision.  You can be trapped between seeming imperatives like freedom of choice and taking care of others.  Individual differences also play a role, many of us tend to mind our own business rather than being perceived as intrusive or demanding. 

Describe your own toughest experience in this sort of situation.  What was the issue?  How did you react?  What were the outcomes? Would you make the same choice again knowing what you know now? 

I am type of person that tends to mind my own business.  I had a situation where this old lady tripped and fell along a hill and I saw it happen from about 200 feet away.  I was walking late to school but I decided to help the lady.  So I ran towards her only to find that it was a guy about my age with long hair.  If I knew that person was a young guy I probably would have ignored him as he is young enough to take care of himself.

I don’t recall on top of my head many instances where I had to make a decision of should I intervene or not, but that is probably because I tend to let other people work it out.  For example, last week during LDS class when that one girl got really heated during an argument about whether white or Middle Eastern person have a higher chance to be the bomber, I just took a backseat and watched.  I did not want to make a big fuss about it and it was clear no matter what people say she is set on a belief, which is totally fine.

Individual gender still greatly impacts an individual’s life.  Many assume that women are disadvantageous compared to men which is true to a certain point.  However, I feel like we are at a point where gender equality is as equal as it can be.  Achieving “Perfect gender equality” is impossible, everyone will have their biases and stereotypes that may not show on the outside but is in the inside.  It is same as racism you will never achieve a world where racism is not an issue.

I think gender equality a funny term because its more women complaining about how bad their life is.  Women can harass and abuse men all they want but when men does it, it becomes news and a crime.  Women take advantage of this fact and punch or harass men and when they get retaliated they act like they are the victim.  However, feminists never mentions any of this and men are always at fault.

My gender has not yet directly impacted my life.  I am only 18 there is really nothing that has happened yet that my gender has significantly impacted my life.

Here’s the prompt:  Describe your past experience of participating in groups. What about working in groups did you enjoy or find challenging? What would the ideal group look like to you and what would your role be?  When you are in a group what is your usual role — use a car or a boat as an analogy are you an anchor, a steering wheel, a horn, or what?

My experience participating in groups has heavily varied.  If I am paired with not the smartest people in the world I tend to try to do everything in my own hands. If I am paired with trustworthy people I tend to take a step back and let them control everything.  The most challenging part in a group is getting everyone to contribute.  As everyone knows there tends to be always that one person who wants to get away not doing anything.  However, do you really want to give that person who does not want to do anything work? Chances are the work he does will be “half-ass” and has to be redone anyways.  So the most challenging part of working in a group is getting group members that are all trustworthy.  What I enjoy the most about group work is the fact that you have other people you can ask for help.

I tend to take very different position in a group depending on my group members like I mentioned above. If I am in a group of not so smart people I want everything done in my hands. I am the steering wheel and everything that is in the boat.  I do not care how much work I have, I would rather do it myself than to give it bunch of knuckleheads. If I am with ambitious members I would just try to do my job.  I know other members on my group would probably do better than me so I would let them do what they want and I would just do anything leftover.  So I would be the horn on the boat.  I am there just in case you need me.

In high school I managed time by planning out an agenda everyday I got home on my ipad. I am using the same method in college and so far it is working well. I have been able to turn everything on time. My sleeping schedule is the best it has ever been in my 19 year life. Most of my classes are in the after noon, and only on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have to wake up at 10 which is late compared to waking up at 7:30 like I did in high school. I am also trying really hard to not eat late and not consume too much soda. For the first time in my life I have complete control of what I am eating everyday and I try to stay away from sweet drinks and drink water. Lastly, I want to be successful acadmcally here and that is hands down my number one goal, but at the same time I want to have a social life. So I am prioritizing work first and trying to invest as much as time socializing and making friends. I do not have a plan to balance life and school as things tend to work itself out naturally.

If I were to write a memoir 4 years from now on my graduation, I would write about all the great people I met during this college adventure.  Academic success is 90% of the reason why I enrolled at Stony Brook and my friends besides being great friends also are great helpers.  I am barely 2 weeks into school and my friends given me a lot of help on various assignments. In my memoir I would emphasize the importance of academic success, it’s great to have fun but at the end of the day academic success is the most important. Also I would assume professors would have played a big role to my success 4 years from now.

• Leadership
• Respecting others
• Service