My Impromptu Bucket List!

Before reading this prompt, I haven’t really thought of any type of Bucket List whatsoever. I was always the type of person who is “Yeah it would be super dope to do -insert activity here-“ and then forget about it a week after. But I guess this would be a good time to list my Top Three things I’d like to achieve/do in the next few years.

First thing off my list is to travel to Japan or go to France with my friends. We always talking about traveling the world and see what it has to offer. The reason why I chose these two locations are pretty important not just to me but to my friends as well. Japan because many of our pastime is heavily revolved around Japanese cultures. Many of my friends and myself are huge fans of their food since most of their history has a large tie-in with their cuisine. As well as, half my friends are weeaboos (if you don’t know what that is, it’s just a name given to people who are addicted to Japanese entertainment such as anime and manga) and would start geeking out when they hit places with Japanese Merchandise. France on the other hand is more of my choosing. Most of my family came from Vietnam which was heavily influenced by France during the Vietnam War and many of our cultures originated form France. So I’d love to visit one day to see how our cultures reflect upon one another.

Second thing I’d like to do is to go re-visit Disneyland and California Adventure. It’s not a big deal to many people but I haven’t been back to Disneyland since 2002 and the sad part is that San Diego is only a good 1.5-hour drive to get there too. Many of my co-workers and friends go frequently and always tell me that so many things are changing, and I can’t relate since I never had the chance to go back. But because many new attractions such as the new Star Wars Land and soon Marvel Land are opening soon, I’m pretty hyped to find a time where I can go to Disneyland and have a fun time.

Lastly, I would love to get out of my comfort zone and go bungee jumping. I’m not super keen on heights but the idea of free falling sounds amazing. I always see people do it at the County Fair and it seems like a whole lot of fun, but I always chickened out last minute. But the saying “I’m here for a good time, not a long time” really motivates me to go out there and enjoy life at it’s fullest. Because in the future, I might not get the opportunity to so if I don’t do it now.

Sucks that this is our last blog. I was getting the hang of it too. I guess for a bonus addition, starting my own blog outside of this class could be another bucket list. But who knows!

I Have a Pretty Successful College Career According to the Internet

All throughout my senior year of high school, everybody has said that college is tough. College is going to make you or break you. That college is going to be the turning point of your young adult life. I didn’t really know what to expect. I always had the vision that college was high school but with more freedom (which isn’t wrong to a certain extent). After a few years of attending college, I can relate to many of the points Annie Murphy Paul talked about in her article.

She starts off her first point as “Pursue with Passion, not A’s”. Being part of the engineering field, many of the classes I’m taking have very high fail rates. Most of my family really want me to do good and achieve a high GPA so I can find a successful job in my field. Yet, the saying “C’s get degrees” slowly became my mantra throughout the semesters. I strongly agree with Murphy Paul, I want to be passionate about my major, yet I don’t want to deal with the burden of grades to come along with it. Even one of my professors this semester admitted that he prefers teaching in an environment where it’s all hands on and no grades at all. I wished many professors had this mindset so it shifts student’s priorities from grades to the topic itself.

Because of focusing more on the passion than the grade, it doesn’t really work that well in a university scenario. I’ll admit, I failed one too many classes that really set me back from graduation in 4 years. Am I proud of it? Of course not. Am I making a difference to do better the second time around? Absolutely. Failing a class is a really shitty feeling and anybody that has failed can agree with me. But I was able to turn that negativity into an optimistic mentality to do better. I wished that many people back before I entered college told me that it was okay to fail. It would’ve helped create a better understanding of how college can really be.

Lastly, she mentions that we should create a personal connection to our studies, I can’t really relate that to any engineering class I took since it’s all theoretical but taking GE classes like Humanities and English/Writing really is a nice breath of fresh air where I could really connect my personal experiences to a platform where I can share it with others. Just like this class, blogging is very therapeutic and gives an opportunity to really speak my mind on a topic.

If I could add on to Murphy Paul’s article, I would add an advice to find yourself in a non-academic point of view. College is a very different environment where you can discover who you are as a person. While academics is crucial in a college career, I believe that making the most of your college life outside of studying and class can really shape the person you are today or as the person you will be in the future.