HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY VOONG!!

9th



Lol. When we planned to bomb you. LOLOL. I still laugh at this. We said we were going to take pictures, and at the count of three, we started spraying you with whipped cream and had it all on video! Too funny. I would've cried if you guys did that to me, and you said you wanted to cry too. Sorry, but it sounded like a good idea before XD XD. So sad my youtube account got deleted, because the video is lost forever!

10th



I knew not to trust Kevin. LOL. And when I look back on this day, I'm very happy I could do this for you :) It was a fun day. That was a year of awesome parties!

11th



And our last surprise. You mentioned sushi once and I just knew :) LOL I remember the first thing you said when you saw us was "I WANTED TO BE ALONE WITH KEVIN!" Oh well. The sushi was goooooooood!

Sorry, no surprise this year. I think everything's so lazy this year. Nothing epic has happened yet. But I really do hope you enjoy your birthday babygirl. 18! Officially older than what many of the characters on TV claim to be.

note: sorry this is kinda crappy. I have no time to organize, because I have no time to think of what I want to convey, but I hope the message gets through to you :) :) :) I loooove youuu!

I know I always say this, but it's hard to get into our story without starting from the beginning, so aha. You were the first person I interacted with in Kindergarten. I wanted to sit on the front of the rug and you turned around and glared at me and that's all I remembered. I also remember we were a girl named Serena's friend, we were part of a "crew", but you never liked me and you were a stinking bitch. LOL. But then, I think we started to talk more in the fourth grade, when we sat next to each other, and I remember some fun times. I remember how you always had like 50 pencils! Ahaha. I can't believe it's been so long.

I always think of middle school as bad times, because most of my experiences were so overwhelmingly bad. But I think the reason I'm strong enough to look back at them at all is because of you. I am who I am, because of you. I learned so much from being your best friend in middle school, and still being a good friend today.

I remember how, even back then, you were still very nice to me in sixth grade. And because of Helen probably, we were able to stay friends. And then when all the stupid drama happened in 7th grade, and how we were all being stupid with a lot of stuff, how whenever I did something overwhelmingly stupid, you would tell me that that part of me wasn't all that great. You were the only person that ever told me what I needed to change about myself, and I loved our friendship so much that I wanted to be better. And you made me better. And I decided a long time ago that you're one of the people I consider to have the best intentions towards others.

I used to think I was so smart. That I could figure the world out on my own. I didn't trust anyone in middle school, because I was always afraid to be hurt. But going through middle school, seeing how you handled everything, I learned so much from you.

And it's funny, because you could have easily been the most popular girl in school -- and I still believe it. You could be friends with everyone. But you didn't like that, you liked having close friends, you liked having only one boy. I could have gone that way, I could have cared about what other people said and cared about what other people thought about me, but you were someone I wanted to emulate, and you showed me it was better to not care. I owe who I am to your guidance. You were like my role model, always the better person I wanted to be. You're also probably the reason why I believe kids can be in love, or believe in love even, because I watched you wear your heart on your sleeve, watched you get hurt, and watched you sacrifice so much in your relationship. You have so many admirable qualities, and that's why I was willing to follow you. You always stood up for me to other people, and there were a lot of times where you couldn't trust me, but you always stayed friends with me, and I felt that it was because you believed I was a good person.

And you're always so nice to people. So inclusive. You always make me feel like I belong. Like I remember one time in eighth grade, when I felt like I didn't fit with Kimberly and Vivian always talking about brands of shoes, and I was lonely, I told you and you spent the entire day with me, just talking to me and making sure I wasn't lonely. I needed that and I love you for it.

It was fun when we took drawing together. Such a learning experience! I'm still bitter that you're better in conte crayon! LOL. I feel like with you, even if we're not omgsuperclose, there's a comfort. Like we're family. Like no matter where we meet, we can pick up where we left off and still have the same relationship.

You always used to bring up people you used to be close with and you used to be so sad about how you don't speak to them. And it's clear that we don't talk like all the time, I don't even call anyone just to say hello anymore, and that's sad, but I remember all the fun times we had, and I really appreciate how we can still talk just fine :) How you still consider me, like how you always offer me food >:P ♥ You're so sweet haha.

So giiirl. I hope you have a great birthday. Tomorrow. Buffet. Breaking my three-week diet for you :) And it's going to be your last birthday in high school, and who knows who'll be around next year -- that's too sad to think about. I'm happy to celebrate you, because you deserve attention, you deserve recognition, you're such a great person. I cry just thinking about how much you've helped me grow, and I owe a lot to you. I hope you're happy, because you deserve everything. And I hope we'll still be friends forever and ever, because I really want to play mahjong in the future :]

I love youuuuuu

LOVEEEEEE, MAGGIE♥

I just discovered that my actual weighted UC GPA is 3.6 :) Because they only take 10th and 11th grade, and all the summer school from 9th to 12th. This makes me feel very good, because I always thought it was 3.4 and I literally killed myself when I saw that.

But not because it was low, but because all these years, people have told me different things about how they calculate GPA. I always thought I had above 4.0, but when I learned that it was a max of 8 points, and when Hernandez showed me I had a 3.8 at the beginning of last year, I thought I wasn't going to get into anything! It really put things into perspective, even after my GPA tanked when I failed last year. I'm very grateful, and I feel like I've still kept it high, considering my fail.

Of course none of it really matters anymore.

Stuff I'd Like for College

-Macbook Pro + applicable accessories
-External compatible w/ Mac and PC
-Bike
-New Phone
-Unlimited Texting
-Bookcase
-Digital Piano
-New Printer that does not suck.
-Flip Video Camera
-Digital SLR
-Bulletin Boards/White Boards/Calendars/Planners
-An external full of shows that I'll be unable to download from college premises

Let's go scholarships.

Decisions

California State University

• Los Angeles
• Northridge
• Poly Pomona
• Poly San Luis Obispo

University of California

• Berkeley -
• Los Angeles
• San Diego
• Davis -
• Santa Barbara
• Irvine
• Riverside

Private Colleges

• Ithaca College
• Occidental College -
• Chapman University - Did not send in transcripts/ SAT because I'm a cheapass so application is incomplete

Emoticons courtesy of *sereneworx and ~VIPwnt

My parents are uprooting me once again. It's pretty logical that I move into the smaller room and leave the double to my brothers, that way whenever Andrew comes back Alex doesn't have to move in with my parents again. However, I'm still pissed. Just a second ago, my dad announced it, and told me to clean my shit in the living room and in my room -- and I have a LOT of shit -- and told me to move into the smaller room. Um, I had ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD this morning and you're telling me now, at 10 PM, when I'm sleepy and when everything's too dark to see? What if I lose my fucking homework, like I always do when you force me to clean? And the thing is, I wouldn't mind the room, if it weren't for the fact that both my brothers did shit to it. It's full of spiders and moths and dust. And I really think there's no need to do it so soon, since after his spring break, Andrew's probably only going to come back twice before I move out anyway.

I somehow made some comparison in my mind to the Germans moving the Jews into ghettos. You have a second to pack everything you can and move.

Today is the 10th day of my diet. I have not eaten any junk food or had any snacks past 9 PM in 10 days, and I have went jogging everyday. These past 5 days I have ran a mile each day. Today was too hot to run, but I decided to go out anyway. I was running with HIPPO, but he was tired and didn't want to go around the corner so I ended up not running much today at all. And today I also ate the closet thing to junk food - a double chocolate muffin. But it was goooood. I hope I can run tomorrow, but I doubt it because I have Econ Challenge after school. And it's going to be super hot after school too. Sigh

Freshman 2010-2011

Every Sixth College student must fulfill 4 sets of GE course requirements.

1. Freshman Core Sequence: Culture, Art, and Technology (CAT) requirement

Students must complete the core sequence (CAT 1, 2, and 3) in order. You should complete the sequence during your freshman year or as soon as you've completed the Entry Level Writing Requirement(My 4 in AP Eng Lang + whatever I get in AP Lit = 8 units elective credit and clears Entry Level Writing requirement). The sequence cannot be replaced with college courses taken at any other institution.

• CAT 1 (4 units) (Our introductory course examines from multiple angles how cultural assumptions are embedded in art and technology, thus reflecting and shaping the choices humans make. We prepare students for the writing-intensive CAT 2 and 3 by emphasizing questions and argumentation as the key to learning.)
• CAT 2 (6 units) (Here we analyze specific technological and artistic developments during a given historical period and consider how their intended -- and unintended -- consequences affect our lives today. Our writing discussions focus particularly on how to form thesis statements and arguments.)
• CAT 3 (6 units) (In the third quarter we examine how potential solutions to today's problems fit into cultural systems of values and assumptions. Students concentrate on voice and the details of writing effective sentences, and they complete projects applying course concepts to real-world issues.)

^ CATs are unavoidable.

2. Information Technology Fluency requirement

Students satisfy this requirement by taking Computer Science and Engineering 3 (CSE 3) during Fall or Winter of their Freshman year or by taking another computing course required by their major department. For more information, please refer to the complete GE lists below.

^ I might have already satisfied this with my joint Robotics and Engineering course.

3. Breadth requirement

Students must take 12 courses encompassing a variety of disciplines.

• Analytical and Scientific Methods (2 science courses)(1 course, 3 in AP Biology counts)
  
• Art Making (PDF) (2 courses) (My B in Drawing 101 might satisfy a course; maybe not though)
  
• Exploring Data (1 statistics course) (Not sure what I have to score, but AP Statistics satisfies Exploring Data)
  
• Narrative, Aesthetic, and Historical Reasoning (2 humanities courses)(1 course, A in Art History at ELAC, might count the same as AP Art; 4 in AP US History counts)
  
• Social Analysis (2 social science courses) (If I get a 4 or 5 in AP Econ, I satisfy 1 course, if I get a 3 it's elective credit)
  
• Societal Context (2 courses)
• Structured Reasoning (1 math/ logic course) (Done, 5 in AP Calculus satisfies Structured Reasoning.)
  

Note: AP or IB credit may be used to satisfy only 1 course in each area.

So basically, I've satisfied most of my lower division courses, and according to the 2009-2010 course list, I might have junior standing. But I don't know anything about college so probably not :P

4. Upper-division Practicum requirement

These courses must be taken in order:

1. Practicum course or project
2. CAT 125 (Practicum writing course)

^ So basically like a senior seminar, only on service. Cool.



--

College Honors Program

http://sixth.ucsd.edu/academics/college-honors-program.html

Participants in the Honors Program include:

• New freshmen who have distinguished themselves academically in their high schools
• New freshmen who complete at least 12 graded units with a 3.7 cumulative GPA during their first quarter at UCSD
• Second-year honors students who maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5

^ I definitely don't qualify for the first one, however, I have 3.7 and 20 units completed at ELAC, and if you take away my PE credits, I still satisfy the second bullet so I'll look into the Honors Program. I definitely aim to satisfy the third bullet point.

--

I will be majoring in Management Science and I might choose a minor that will fit with my major. I plan to take Chinese, and study abroad for two quarters in my junior or senior year. I plan to graduate, work for two to three years, get a good GMAT score and then apply to a good Management School (Cal, UCLA, USC, Stanford) and fulfill my dream of becoming a Management Consultant.

:) crossing fingers!

Fuck.

My parents are convinced that UCSD is a bullshit school because everyone gets accepted, which is partly true since I had that Fail in Physics and Daniel had that D in Calculus. But come on, it's ranked higher than Irvine. Although, Irvine is definitely more selective and more appealing for the Asian parent -_-. My mom says if I get accepted to either Irvine or Berkeley, she's going to celebrate. If I don't, I get nothing. That's complete and utter bullshit. She hailed my older brother as some kind of God, with his whatshebelievestobe 3.8 GPA and his whatshebelievestobe 2000 SAT Score (In reality it was 3.7 and 1700). There are double standards everyone. They treat him so much easier when it comes to education than they do me. What, I get nothing for going into college? She says what's the point, there's nothing special if everyone gets in, and the fact that I got rejected from UCLA is a big deal, since that's the BEST school. Well, obviously I'm not the best then, just give up on me then. She tells me she knows I'm clever, and that I could have made it into UCLA if I hadn't wasted my time competing. She tells me, NOW, that I should have focused on YUCA and I should have been on cabinet or something and I should have done tutoring. WTF? Weren't my parents the ones who told me YUCA is a complete and utter waste of time, that they're cheap ass people who want to make kids work, who rewarded my brother's 4 years of service with a $100 scholarship? $100 is something, and it's because of THAT that I started YUCA late, and that I wasn't allowed to do anything. They say a lot of things, how I didn't listen to them, how they know everything. Yeah, because they've been through high school, been through the pressure, because they supported all my endeavors. Oh wait, they didn't. They just told me I can't do this, this and this is a complete and utter waste of time, while I was being dedicated in doing it. They told me no one wanted GSA's help, they told me YUCA was unneeded, they told me Academic Decathlon was worthless. Well, they should have seen UC's second prompt, and they should have seen the criteria for admission into UCSD.


http://www.ucsd.edu/prospective-students/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/freshmen/process.html

Step I: Academic review	Maximum Consideration
Uncapped Grade Point Average (GPA)	4,500
Scores of all required exams	3,200
Number of "a-g" courses beyond the minimum	500
Step II: Additional academic factors
Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC)	300
Educational environment	300
Step III: Socioeconomic factors
Low family income	300
First generation college attendance	300
Step IV: Personal characteristics and achievement factors
Demonstrated leadership	300
Special talents/ achievements/ awards	300
Community and volunteer service	300
Participation in academic development preparation programs	300
Special circumstances/ personal challenges	500

I get a shitload of points from everything other than GPA and ELC. I look at this and I see my work these past four years, and I love this criteria. It looks at everything. I don't care if UCSD is a shit pity school, because it graded me on everything I've accomplished, everything I hoped colleges would see.

I'm going to separate this post into two because this is just full of bitter resentment and my next post will be about my hopes for the future :)

Anxiety.

I really hope I don't fail math. I owe math and econ hwks. :( sigh

What a world we live in today

People sing all the time
Elevating their humble origins
They sing about sweetness
About loneliness
About love, calling out to love
Over and over again
Pitch problems amassing
Thank God for autotune?
And when you sing along
To anthems of youth with others
Every flaw in your voice is hidden
The epitome of friendship

But such a transformation has solid effects

Just listen to instrumentals
It could be about love
It could a story like those in Fantasia
It could tell of about hardship
It could be anything, everything you're feeling now

Or it could just
Be about
Bitches and hos and getting high and cashing in and rollin' in a lamborghini and "Blah Blah Blah"

What a world we live in today.



--
wrote this at 12:30 AM last night waiting for my mom to come out of the shower (she came out an hour later...). I had an idea and it took me all of 5 minutes. no editing. I don't know whether or not I really like it, or if it's what I intended, but I shouldn't be writing poetry anyway so I'm posting it so I will be discouraged to edit. :) qiao~

a few things

I think I'll talk about the good things first because the bad outweighs the good in a hugeeee magnitude.

THE GOOD
My baby brother won a medal for math yesteryesterday at MESA. He was so happy that he cried. And when I saw him go up I felt like crying too. I called my dad and he called my mom and she started crying.

My mommy bought me Craisins. Just now, my daddy told me that they were walking in Costco and she grabbed the bag and said "My daughter loves these!" and bought it. ♥

My neighbors moved out. Finally. They were very abusive towards their kids O_O so I'm glad. And my aunt upstairs (the five bui sisters) bought it! And my other aunt is moving upstairs. How perfect. My dad was joking that we should just cut a whole in the brick wall and raise a dog together.

THE BAD
MESA Webpage due in 27 hours and I thought I had five more days. Sigh.

I didn't get notified from the MLK scholarship so I guess I didn't make it.

I sent in my application to Ithaca an entire month earlier than regular decision deadline (which was required for MLK) and I still haven't heard back from them. It still says I'm missing midyear report. I went to Garcia SO MANY TIMES and she was getting frustrated with my asking. Just now realized that she might've really really screwed me over, not just for Ithaca but for Oxy as well.

Anyway, don't speak to me tomorrow because I have shit to finish.