it's the little things...

I think one of the greatest things about getting to take some time off is that I get to do little things like pack a lunch for the boyfriend some days.  Though it may sound house-wifey, anti-feminism, and whatever else demeaning to women you might think of, there's just something satisfying about getting to do something as simple as making a sandwich for someone you care about.  I know I am doing something for him that probably only his mother has done for him before, and that makes me happy.  There's a certain intimacy to lunch-packing, because you have to know what the person likes and dislikes, and even how they like their sandwich cut (diagonal all the way, obvi).  There's a kind of trust and caring that I find very sweet.

I think at the core, for me at least, I always wanted to be a doctor so I could take care of people.  The lunch-packing routine is just one small way I can feel important, at least to one person in the world.  So even though I might be reading a little too much into the mundane task of making a sandwich, I don't care.  If thinking of it this way makes me want to help him out, I will gladly keep on considering the act of packing a lunch as a sacred ritual that only few will share.

life is busy!

I got to interview prospective students for admission into Northwestern on Sunday.  It was such a surreal feeling.  If I were still in school, even med school, I would not have felt like I was allowed to do something like that.  It was a strange but great feeling getting to walk up the stairs to the alumni meeting room and actually realize that yes, I am a part of this community.  It's a pretty cool feeling that I feel like that about a place that is 2,000 miles away.


I have been away for a while because my schedule got super busy all of a sudden!  I also had my first Kaplan class on Tuesday, which wasn't terrible but could have been better.  I can definitely work on actually saying what I mean the first time a lot more, because my students had a lot of questions!  Good thing I get to put that into practice with my class tomorrow...


I am having kind of a funny time teaching, actually, because I am also taking a Genetics class at the UCLA Extension, so I am either a student or a teacher, depending on the night.  I think I always took for granted the fact that my professors should just be great public speakers and should always be on their A game, but now that I have to teach as well I kind of admire how professors are correct so much of the time.  It's actually really impressive, especially when they have to lecture to a room of 100+ students.  Part of me wants to take notes on his teaching style as well as the science he is actually teaching us, haha.


And to cap off my busy busy week, I am getting to take some computer training classes for the UCLA job... not the most glamorous, but it has to be done, I suppose, especially since I'll be doing administrative stuff.


Oh and of course I'm still doing Banana Republic.  It's getting a lot harder to be polite and nice to people the more stuff I'm doing (aka the more tired I get).  But I suppose it's good practice for the future... just because you're tired doesn't give you the right to be an a-hole, right?  In college people kind of let things like that go, but in the real world being just a little rude to a customer (even if they were being a thousand times MORE rude to you) will only result in trouble.  So as hard as it is, when customers are really annoying me I just put on my extra-fake-polite tone: about an octave higher than my usual voice, and way more "pleases" and "thank yous" and "have a great day!" than necessary.  I don't think anyone's caught on yet that that's what it means, so it's working for now.


Ok time to keep doing some work... I just knew that if I didn't get another entry soon my sisters would be on my case, as apparently this blog is my father's new obsession.  I'll try to keep it updated more, I promise!

My! what a big class you have!

...was the title of my Kaplan faculty manager's email to me regarding my MCAT class that's starting next week.  


All my fears are officially confirmed.


It's a good thing I made a Trader Joe's run today so I  have Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Mint Espresso Beans to comfort me! Om nom nom.

alone time.

Due to the glamorous nature of the boyfriend's job at FOX Sports, I am on my own until the weekend while he gets to travel to Texas and help cover the Cotton Bowl. (Yeah, I sometimes wonder how his life is real, too.)  This means that I am on my own for a few days, which I have mixed feelings about.

Pro: I get to stay up watching White Collar instead of Sports Center (Which I still like! Just not as much as I like watching Matt Bomer being debonair and charming... unless Aaron Rodgers is on Sports Center. But I digress.)

Con: I am almost completely caught up on the gloriousness of White Collar, which means that after one more episode I have to wait to watch it live. Life is rough.

Pro: No need to wake up extra early in the morning so we are both ready in time for work.

Con: No one else is here to help wash dishes.  I really don't like washing dishes, but I like cooking and dirtying a lot of them, which poses a problem.

Pro: The Cotton Bowl (or should I say the AT&T Cotton Bowl) apparently has a lot of money, so media people get sweet gifts, like super legit watches. I am vicariously living through the boyfriend because free and/or unexpected gifts are one of my favorite things in the world.

Con: The gifts are not ACTUALLY for me, as much as I wish they were.

Pro: I have an excuse to buy myself things to make up for the fact that I'm not gallivanting around doing exciting things. (today I bought these, my first ever J.Crew pants, and they are glorious.)

Con: I have to pay for aforementioned things myself.

I could have kept that schtick up for much, much longer, but I'm sure I've made my point.  

In other news, I also learned that GAP is currently selling nail polish, so I will need to exercise hitherto unknown of self control to prevent myself from buying it ALL THE TIME.  The 50% employee discount for being a Banana Republic employee is both a blessing and a curse.  Again, life is rough.

I'll also be teaching the MCAT for Kaplan again soon!  This is my most challenging task, so I'm sure it will be mentioned here often.  It is still crazy to me that a little over a year ago I was studying to TAKE this exam, and now I have been given the chance to teach others how to do it.  If I help my students a quarter of the amount my Kaplan teacher helped me, I will be more than happy.

And finally, I am starting to get rolling on my new job in the UCLA Health System as an Administrative Care Partner, which is just a fancy word for a secretarial aide for the nurses in a given section of the hospital.  UCLA has a lot of really intense paperwork and training, but I know it'll be worth it because I'll actually be getting to work in hospitals!! Also, the training is paid, which is awesome.

These first few posts are probably going to feel very disjointed because I haven't yet decided how I am going to organize this thing, if at all.  Also, I can't decide if I should address anything to or entertain an audience or not.  Maybe I'll do life-update posts on certain days and more introspective posts when I actually think about the composition of what I'm writing on others.  If any of the 3 people who are reading this have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

For those of you who made it this far, a few of my favorite things:

shiba inu puppies.

half Asian babies. (I was only going to post a picture, but I found the accompanying text hilarious so I included that as well.  Geneticsssssss.)

and... husky puppies.

happy new year.

For the beginning of 2012, I have decided to indulge in one of the most cliche of activities and start a blog.  


Real original, I know.  


But what it lacks in originality, I think it makes up for in both necessity and agency, for myself at least.  At Northwestern, the thing I dreaded most (something I believe many premeds and once-premeds experience) was graduating with an undergraduate degree without an immediate med school acceptance waiting for them.  I thought it meant I wasn't good enough, or didn't have "what it takes" to get to med school.  


But after just a few months out of school, I realize that the experiences I have already had, from moving to a completely new place to doing the dreaded job hunt, have added immeasurably to my life experience and my maturity.  It has also allowed me to indulge a few of my hobbies and (some might say) obsessions.   


So that's what this blog is going to be for.  To allow me to wax poetic about the joys of OPI nail polish, Urban Decay's eyeshadow palettes, cooking and baking, the Packers and the 'Cats, and whatever else in my life merits a mention that day.  This is not going to be a focused chronicle of just one part of my life-- I feel like my life has too many facets for me to ignore any of them.  So on any given day I might seem like a complete makeup fiend, but the next you might find me excited about the latest scientific or (more likely) medical innovation.


But that's the point.


This year, my "Time Off," as I have so creatively decided to call this little endeavor of mine, is the time for me to be able to let all my interests grow and develop.  I feel I cannot adequately devote my life to helping others if I do not even have an accurate sense of who I am, what I want, and how I want to live.


If nothing else, the premed in me knows that this will allow me to look back on this year and write a good personal statement.  But the "real person" in me knows that this is something I need to do for me, not some medical school board of admissions.


I may update every day, or it may be every other week.  Either way, allow me to express my thoughts and keep this little online stream of consciousness of mine going.