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.