As graduation draws near and senioritis kicks in, I have realized that being proactive is perhaps the most important trait to gain from college. Sometimes this is phrased on job applications as “must be a self-starter” and paired with phrases like a “positive attitude” or “desire to learn.” Hence, this trait far outreaches secondary factors like a high GPA...
From my experience as a writing tutor at UCR's Academic Resource Center for the past three years, I've noticed how students constantly struggle to understand their newfound independence while maintaining the right mindset for pursuing their future career path. Particularly, students need to understand how college acts a stepping stone for success. Ben Nelson explains that college is meant...
With the majority of my peers in high school relocating to the midwest or east coast after graduation, I felt ashamed to admit that I was attending a university that was a mere 45 minutes away from my hometown. I felt that since I still had the luxury and convenience of coming home nearly every weekend, I would miss...
It took coming home from school one Monday night to find two of my housemates sifting through a pure block of cocaine for me to realize I was living in a trap house. While this was certainly a shock to see — it’s not everyday that I see an intact brick of Schedule II drugs worth several thousand dollars...
This May 8 marks a day that will live in infamy for me — the one year anniversary of the day I joined Facebook.
Facebook, and social media in general, has long been something I viewed with distaste, to say the least. I thought of Facebook as a way to waste away your time, not unlike video games, but without...
“Aren’t all Asians supposed to be good at math and science?” As an Asian-American myself, the number of times that I have been asked this question before is truly astounding. Just as there are stereotypes for all different groups of people, the one for the Asian race seems to be that we’re all academically gifted in the sciences and...
If somebody asked me about good places to eat in my hometown, I would be able to give that person a list of options and explain in detail whether the service, quality of the food and ambience justifies each restaurant’s price point.
I could do the same for clothes, makeup and other products. I have formulated opinions on these...
College is the best way to humble someone. I found that out the hard way upon my arrival. I wasn’t dripping in arrogance or anything, but I underestimated the leap that college is from high school. In high school, every teacher I had during my senior year would forecast a troublesome path for me if I treated my college...
These past couple of years, and in particular, 2016, taught me that we Americans are lucky because we’re at a period in which most people in the U.S. now have some access to the internet, the most powerful idea-spreading tool ever created. If enough people recognize that this gives us a great opportunity to improve our country by spreading...
During our New Year’s Eve party in 2014, my father announced that we were going to move from San Francisco to Sacramento in the summer. I yelled at him, demanding answers as to why. I didn’t want to move away from all my friends. I shuffled away from the crowd and leaned against a window, looked outside and just...