Optimist state of mind.

Graduation

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 23:33:27 -0700

It’s always my junior year where graduation starts to hit hard.

It’s the connections we make. The people we begin to respect, admire, love. Three years into whatever institution you go to and we’ve already forged bonds that could last a lifetime. Wild.

In high school we got the first taste of a true goodbye. For those of us blessed enough to avoid the death of a family member or close friend, graduation meant the closest thing to “I may never see you again” we’d ever gotten. The connections we had worked so hard to make were suddenly jeopardized by loftier dreams and greater journeys.

And yet, back then, that “reality” wasn’t quite as much of one as we thought. Graduation meant that “next step,” sure. College, work, travel… people went wherever life took them, near or far. But there was one thing we all had in common: our hometown. No matter how far life took us, we all eventually came back. There was comfort in that.

College graduation is different. There are no more “next steps”— only this one, the final one. The real world lies ahead, outside of our little college bubble that we’ve grown so accustomed and attached to. And once again, we find the connections we’ve made in danger. Life again pulls us all in different directions, only this time, there’s no guarantee we’ll all be back.

I’m terrified of that thought. Not just of the real world, but of seeing the community that’s defined me more than anything else disperse and fade away. I know its a natural part of life— that college isn’t meant to last forever.

I just really, really don’t want people to leave.

These last three days. Wow. If I can survive that, I can survive anything.

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:28:27 -0700

These last three days. Wow. If I can survive that, I can survive anything.

Bucket List 2.0: 1. Become and RA (was there any doubt this would be on here? Haha). 2. If they’ll...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:13:04 -0800

Bucket List 2.0:

~~1. Become and RA (was there any doubt this would be on here? Haha).~~

2. If they’ll let me, become a returner for SPOP.

3. Learn how to play/sing a song all the way through. No mistakes.

4. Perform that song on stage.

5. Learn how to dance.

6. Go abroad at some point.

7. Do something worth mentioning on this campus. Up to interpretation.

———————————————————————————

I didn’t let the brick wall stop me.

“With every broken bone, I swear I lived.” On...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 01:22:46 -0800

“With every broken bone, I swear I lived.”

On repeat.

More basketball stuff! Designed a poster to advertise for a CHP...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 01:19:54 -0800

More basketball stuff! Designed a poster to advertise for a CHP basketball tournament, and after it was over I decided to make it generic. Inspired by those really awesome sports video game box covers. Haha.

Probably going to make a Durant one when I have the time.

Break and Repair: Fight for Friendship

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 23:20:26 -0800

Break and Repair: Fight for Friendship:

ksbreakandrepair:

20th Feburary 2013

Entree: Fight for Friendship

If any of you are familiar with the quarter system for schools and institutions of higher learning, you know it can be very hard and stressful. And for those of you aren’t, a quarter system is a division of the academic school year in four terms,…

Dear ks,

You are stronger than I think you give yourself credit for. I know it may seem naive of me to say that, having only read into a small fraction of your life. But something about your words, the way you express yourself… it speaks volumes.

Every time I read your post I get fixated on this one line: “I will be myself UCI, and you will have to take it or leave it.” You may not see the strength in that statement, but I do. Too often I feel we get caught up in the conformity you mentioned, morphing into someone we’re not just to feel temporarily accepted. Most people are guilty of this, and I’m no exception. What takes courage, however, is exactly what you’ve resigned yourself to doing— being yourself.

That road isn’t easy, I know. You’ve experienced firsthand how hard it can be to find someone that accepts you for who you are. But you can’t give up. You’ll never find that happiness you seek if you give up.

The late Randy Pausch (who’s seminars I recommend to you, by the way) always used this metaphor of a brick wall to describe the challenges in our lives. He said that in the pursuit of our dreams, there are always setbacks— brick walls, that keep us from moving forward. However, the brick walls, he said, are not there to stop us from reaching our goals. Rather, they’re there to show us how bad we want something.

Right now, I think you’re at one of these walls. It’s discouraging and depressing, sure. A lot of people would turn back in this situation. But not you. I believe you have the strength to break through.

Never stop trying, stranger. And never be afraid to ask for help— there are always people willing to give it. :)

I left my Xbox home so my dad could play when he got bored.

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:23:00 -0800

Dad (1 am - keep in mind he generally sleeps at 9): I just finished halo, this is crazy i did not know when the time went by. Wow.

Me (the next morning): So you enjoyed it huh? Hahaha.

Dad: I saved the world.

I realized recently that I’ve never made artwork with...

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 22:48:00 -0800

I realized recently that I’ve never made artwork with pop-culture— everything I’ve done has been pretty much from scratch. So I changed that. :)

And so I say so long to the most difficult quarter of my life..

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:01:00 -0800

…and hello to the next one, which will probably take this one’s spot at the top.

This is where things start to get real.

It’s amazing how every time I start to doubt myself as a person, someone says/does something...

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 15:38:35 -0800

It’s amazing how every time I start to doubt myself as a person, someone says/does something that validates my whole way of living. Every. single. time.

Not everyone has that luxury, and I need to remember not to take it for granted sometimes.

How my SPOP staffer won the All-UCI Dance Battle.

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 22:25:00 -0700

How my SPOP staffer won the All-UCI Dance Battle.

Week 0.

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 02:15:44 -0700

Man, what a way to start off my third year.

Being this involved on campus is something very new to me. I definitely can’t say I’m used to it yet, but I’m getting the hang of things. It’s a learning experience, for sure.

I think one of the most valuable things I’ve gained from this summer is patience. Patience with myself, others, really anything. I can put up with a lot of things now and really, truly not be bothered by any of it. I imagine that’s been helping a lot recently. :)

Living the good life— I really am. :)

I may have missed LeBron by 10 minutes at UTC, but I made up for...

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 21:28:00 -0700

I may have missed LeBron by 10 minutes at UTC, but I made up for it by getting to sit in on a Scott Brooks interview. :)

How is it that I am this blessed?

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 01:56:55 -0700

How is it that I am this blessed?

Nothing quite like being with these people. I owe them...

Sun, 19 Aug 2012 12:49:11 -0700

Nothing quite like being with these people. I owe them everything.

This is amazing.

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 22:31:19 -0700

I get the feeling I’m going to be a broken record these next two months, but honestly, SPOP may be the best decision I’ve ever made.

Since our SPOP theme/color is tie-dye, I’ve been having a...

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 22:42:00 -0700

Since our SPOP theme/color is tie-dye, I’ve been having a lot of fun messing around with multi-colored projects. Kind of obsessed with the rainbow right now, haha.

Top image is a T-Shirt design I made for our SPOP talent shows. Always wanted to do something involving the paint-text hybrid, so it was cool to finally be able to pull it off here. And I get to see people wear it— probably one of the most satisfying parts of the design. :)

Bottom image is more of a freestyle. Really not sure what I was thinking, other than that I wanted to try something with more of a graffiti style. I picked up a pen tablet a few days ago, so I figured what better way to try it out than to just doodle and see what comes up. This image was also made 90% in Illustrator, which is a HUGE step for me in that program. Made me happy. :)

Two years, and yet I can remember it like yesterday.

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 12:10:17 -0700

Two years, and yet I can remember it like yesterday.

No matter how down on yourself you are, someone, somewhere, thinks you're amazing.

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 22:56:25 -0700

Something worth thinking about.

Wow.

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:14:07 -0700

So much has happened this week. These last 13 weeks, actually. So much transition, change, emotion… I don’t even know how to describe it all.

And it all culminated into this one weekend of SPOP training.

Honestly, I could go on at length describing what it was like, but I feel like I wouldn’t do it justice. There’s no point, anyways— I’ll never, ever forget the sheer, raw emotion that myself and 130 other staffers were able to experience. Nothing can ever take that away from me.

I look back on my post 13 weeks ago and laugh. Then, I said that I would have “greatly” preferred RA over SPOP. Knowing what I know now, I would never make that assumption— ever.

I know that I was meant to do this. I was meant to do SPOP. I talk all the time on here about how I’m looking to make an impact on people, but never once did I acknowledge that this program is a gateway for me to do just that.

Knowing that I’ve been able to make an impact on fellow staffers is enough. Knowing that there are hundreds more people out there waiting for me— that makes me excited beyond belief.

Thank you, SPOP 2012. Tie-dye year. #yoso. Whatever! I cherish our memories, and look forward to all we have in store.