Breaking Through The Mundane

i feel like…

i don’t use tumblr for the right things…

It’s time for a new blog :D

New Year’s Resolution

I have never done a New Year’s resolution before, but I think it’s a good time to start, since this past year I felt that I did not work with optimal efficiency (in fact, my efficiency probably dropped to an all-time low). So let’s see what I can do for an awesome 2012 :) !

Studying Goals

1. Reading Speed Goal: 2 minutes/page for Math and Computer Science, 30 seconds/page for English
2. Code AND Write EVERY DAY.
3. START ON PROJECTS FROM DAY ONE.
4. Go to as ALL lectures, discussions, and as many Office Hours AS MANAGEABLE.
5. NO GAMES.
6.  30 minutes of Facebook, Youtube, email a day.

Distractions, distractions, and more distractions. I need to stop getting into a daily cycle that goes like this: Facebook, YouTube, Chat, Games, Repeat. I’ve seen so many other computer science students do the same thing. It’s a bad, no…terribad, situation. Lives are ruined in the process. I guess it would be okay for most people to “enjoy their college life,” but in the interest of graduate school or whatever I do after these 4 years, I’ll leave this on the list.

My writing SUCKS! When I read my graded essays I quickly realize that I’m a terrible writer. I see writing as one of the most essential skills in life, so that has to be fixed…immediately.

I Need to Code More. Many people in the same Computer Science classes I take have years of programming experience, and know where to look to get assistance. I stupidly jumped in with this group without ANY prior programming experience. The rest is explanatory.

I need to “Go to ALL the discussions”!!! Lectures and readings are not enough! Enough said.

Health/Fitness Goals

1. 1 hour of exercise every day. Yes, EVERY DAY.
2. Eating Healthily (Need more research so I can get into the specifics on this one)
3. Eat Breakfast, EVERY DAY!
4. 20 minutes/Meal (Lunch and Dinner) Not 1 hour/Meal
5. 7 Hours of Sleep/Day (17 Hours/Day, 4 Hours of Lecture + 2 Hours Eat/Exercise (Piano???) = 11 Hours Working Time…maybe 1 hour of Socializing)

I have been feeling tired and sluggish often. The source of this problem is probably lack of sleep and exercise. I’m guessing that my average sleep time and my total exercise time were less than 6 hours during the last month of this semester. Even after sleeping 10 hours per day during winter break I still have panda eyes. Oh yeah, and no more energy drinks or coffee! Seriously, it’s got to stop.

I am now 175 pounds (and my parents call me fat). I guess my BMI is at a pretty healthy level, but I’m convinced the BMI system can’t be trusted anyways. In high school, I used to exercise every day for at least 1.5 hours. I miss the level of energy I had and I’m tired of my parents squeezing my belly fat.

Social Goals

1. Create A Regular-Meeting, Lean, Mean, Study Group Machine (It’s SUPER HARD to make study groups that meet regularly/weekly but I’ll figure it out)
2. Commit to a group and stay with them for AT LEAST a semester
3. BE LESS AWKWARD (this one is hard…)

I feel lonely. Yeah, I met tons of people, but I can’t say that I’ve made extremely close friends in college. This is probably because I get caught up so much with my troubles that I don’t closely pay attention how I interact with people.

I didn’t spend enough time with the groups I committed to. In my defense, I thought it would be better for me to study 24/7 in the beginning of the school year, so I committed really late. Here’s to staying with my groups for at least one semester to see how it goes.

Personal Goals (Tentative)

1. Start Piano Again?!!!

I QUIT PIANO. I planned to keep piano as a lifetime hobby, so I never ever thought it would come to this. But I think this situation needs to be taken under serious consideration. For example, I have noticed the decline of interest in classical music recently, so doing classical music at all can sometimes seem like a waste of time (since the purpose of music is to show a feeling to others). On the other hand, I enjoy (at least I think I do) classical music because it’s the music that has withstood for centuries. It conveys a message that contemporary music cannot. So is it worth keeping piano? Or should I spend more time improving my computational skill and with the organizations I’ve committed too? All in all, this is a hard question that’s very personal to me.

Well, that’s all for now, folks. Best wishes for a Happy New Years. It’s going to be a great year!

Revival

If I had to describe my school year in just one word, it would be: overwhelming. However, this was not because of my university’s infamous competition. UC Berkeley did not exceed my expectations. This semester, I found the limit of my abilities to be myself.

This semester, I naively came into Berkeley expecting everything to change—my social life, my academics, my musicality, my general health and fitness. Of course, this was all possible. I do not doubt for a second that it was possible for me to play piano, keep up an rigorous 16-unit schedule getting my 4.0, and stay fit. But college won’t change a life in itself. The truth is: getting into that special college doesn’t mean anything on its own if you aren’t hungry to learn.

Every day feels like a nightmare, since I haven’t been able to focus or settle down and I haven’t been able to enjoy my readings, homework, and projects. Procrastination has been at a maximum and I have started to ditch my lectures. Every day I find myself in a mess of a cycle that ends up with no work getting done.

It’s not like I am failing. I am doing better than average in all classes and my GPA is reasonable (3.5). But it’s not enough for me to be above average especially when I know I can do so much more. When you rely on your intelligence to get by, it just isn’t satisfying.

One semester has flew past like a bullet. That is one-eighth of our four undergraduate years, or 12.5% of our time here. There isn’t any time to waste. Here’s to savoring every second from now on. Here’s to living my life to the fullest. Because my time at this amazing institution is short and because there is no better time to act than NOW.

iamrawg-deactivated20120121 asked: I AM FOLLOWING YOU, MISTER. xP

lol >_>