No more school

What would I be doing now if I weren’t going to school? For some people, answering this question would be quite obvious. But for an Asian American woman like myself, I really have to really think about how I would approach answering this question.

The reason as to why I have to really think about how I am going to answer this question is because education is something that is strongly valued throughout me and my family. Call it an Asian stereotype, but my family has raised me to stay in school to get a good education in hopes of finding a better job.

 I have been going to school since I was a young toddler, so to say that I don’t need to be in school anymore sounds crazy.

Why does it sound crazy? Without being in school, the only other opportunity that would be presented is working full time in a low paying job. With a low paying job, I would be stuck doing the same routine everyday. With school, my routine is in constant change and it never becomes boring.

If it weren’t for me being a full time student in school, I would most likely either struggle to find a job or I would just be incredibly bored with my life. Because of school, I feel like I am doing something with my life.

Even though, it sucks being a college student who is broke, I know with a degree from college will lead me to a better job and a better life.

I value my education way too much to give it up for anything. Being in school is the one of the few things that I can say has helped me throughout my life. Throughout school, I’ve always had my struggles, but in the end I have gotten through the hard struggles.

With school, I am able to learn something useful in my every day life. Not only does school help me gain knowledge, but I am also able to meet new people that have the same interests as me.

School helps me set goals and reach my goals.

I don’t know how people out their in the real world can just give up on not going to school. School is something that has grown on me for years and years now and I don’t see myself giving up on school just yet.

If I were to give up on school completely, I would not only disappoint myself, but I would disappoint the people around me that matter the most. I am not the type to please people by staying in school, but by staying in school has been a big accomplishment for me.

To be honest, if I weren’t in school right now, I would be completely miserable. I know sometimes people have to give up school to do other things. But let’s get real, people who are just working in retail jobs, even if you get promoted to management you can’t really go any higher. Retail for people is just an excuse for people not to be in school.

Now I am not trying to look down upon those who are working in retail for the time being, but I know of some who do admit that they miss being in school, but they all end up saying, “I can’t afford being in school.”

I have reached the conclusion that I will stay in school for as long as I can. Now I am not saying that I will stay in school forever, but I will stay in school long enough for me to find a job. School is what keeps me stable and without it I would be lost.

Hello Canada

Bright sunny skies all around, thick accents, and all around beautiful scenery. For those who do not know what I am taking about, I am talking about Vancouver, BC.

 It had been a while since I did some traveling. Luckily my parents and sister chose the right time to go to Canada, which was during Spring Break of last year.

During this traveling time, my family and I went to go scope out the Canadian life. It’s a little crazy to say that Canada reminded me a lot of San Francisco. There were tall buildings all around, there were places where people can go sit and relax like a park, and there were a lot of great food places.

During the time that my family and I were in Canada we just did the things that we normally do when we get the opportunity to travel. We would get up early to go to our destination, then from the time we arrive we look for a place on where we are going to stay, and then finally we grab something to eat and go adventure out.

A lot of the planning of this trip was planned by my older sister. If it weren’t for her researching on what there is to do in Canada, my family and I would’ve been lost.

I would say my favorite part about being able to go to Canada is getting a different experience cultural wise. The food, the fashion, and the people were great.

Although being able to experience something different and enjoying the time being in Canada, I believe that the stereotype of Canadians hating Americans can be true.

Why do I say this? Well let’s just say that it was really hard one night with my family trying to find our rental van. Turns out, it was towed late at night while we were going to dinner at a fancy Japanese restaurant. Why was it towed? Well we didn’t realize that the van was parked close to a fire hydrant.

It was a mess trying to find where the van was towed to. My family and I kept walking into the same coffee shop trying to get a phone number to the towing company.

When we finally found out as to where the van was towed to, we had to take a $20 cab ride to the towing place which was in the middle of nowhere. When we got there, my dad was pretty much arguing with the woman as to why it was towed but sadly the woman couldn’t say much about it.

The last few days that were spent in Canada, we went to a few famous parks (which I cannot remember) and we went hiking around them. The weather was a bit cold but it was also sunny, so at least we weren’t really cold. In Canada, once the afternoon rolls around with sunshine it becomes warm and nice.

And you can’t forget about souvenir shops. Every time I go to a place, I always have to get some sort of item to remind me of my time being there. I ended up buying a nice bag that says “Canada” everywhere and I also bought some shot glasses.

Even though it was a rocky experience in Canada with being overwhelmed with the culture life and trying to navigate, I would say that the experience was a great one. As I mentioned earlier, since I do not get to do a lot of traveling, I am glad that I got to spend my spring break in Canada with my family.

Eat some Pho

As the weather gets colder outside, it is the perfect weather to go grab some Pho. Ordering some flank soup from Saigon Bay on campus and sharing the experience with three others seems like the perfect way to end my school day.

I always remembered seeing Saigon Bay on campus since I started school at Sacramento State. I was sort of unsure of how the food would be since it is an express on campus restaurant.

I remember it was it was 4pm on a school day. I had just got out of class and was hungry for some Pho. Since the weather was a bit chilly out, there was nothing more satisfying than a warm feeling of soup.

It was Calvin, Cole, Calvin’s friend, and I going into the restaurant on campus. The people in the front of the register were friendly and the environment was quiet and not too crowded.

What I had ordered from the restaurant was a bowl of flank soup and an Arizona Iced Tea to go along with it. Because when you’re ordering soup and if you like your soup with full of flavor and spice, you’re bound to get thirsty.

I was very surprised on how fast the customer service that Saigon Bay on campus had to offer. I remember the other Saigon restaurant off campus takes a little bit of time only because it is an actual restaurant. But if you’re in a hurry and do not have a lot of time to spare on your hands, go to Saigon Bay on campus.

The restaurant was well kept up with and was very clean. A clean restaurant always makes for a better experience, at least in my opinion. The people working there behind the counter were well dressed and properly talked to customers when taking their orders. Although I have to say that the man working there was sort of hard to understand because of his thick and heavy Asian accent.

Even though it is an on campus restaurant, I think the people working there should be able to take an order to a table instead of calling an order out for a person to pick up. But I guess that is why they add the word express to Saigon Bay.

The soup that I had ordered was delicious. There is something about eating soup with meat and noodles that satisfies my hunger and to add hot sauce to it just makes the soup a million times better. The only thing that I wished that they had was bigger spoons to eat the soup with. You know what I’m talking about, the big “Chinese spoons” or something like that.

Not only do I wish that they had the big spoons to eat the soup with, but at every Pho restaurant, I am used to getting the toppings that come with the soup. Asian basil, jalapenos, and bean sprouts add to the soup to make it better. Although they did have the jalapenos, but I felt like the other stuff would’ve made my soup experience more exciting.

You may think that $6 or $7 for soup is a bit pricey, but if you love Pho as much as I do it is worth it. And by going with friends, it just made my Pho experience a positive one.

And there really was not a process in getting the check from Saigon Bay on campus because you simply pay for your food at the register in the beginning of ordering your food.

I would say my experience at this place was a great one. Who would pass up an opportunity to be able to eat great food and to hangout with friends? Not me of course, and being able to write about my experience is something that I will never forget.

Jersey Shore time

Take five pre Madonna’s, a lot of alcohol consumption, and excessive tanning and what do you get? You get the hit reality television show Jersey Shore.

I’m sure we as a society are all familiar with Jersey Shore. It’s a television show that is about a group of people living their everyday lives in unnatural social situations where their responsibilities are tanning and laundry. Your only real form of responsibility is some sort of job at a t-shirt store.

The one thing that only made me want to watch this show for a first time was the fact that it is a train wreck among the people that are on the television show. I mean who doesn’t want to watch people make fools of themselves on national television. I guess that’s why it’s popular because it is a reality show that is cheap to make and people are more likely to watch it because it’s not that old of a show.

After watching this television reality show, lets just say that it is something that I probably wouldn’t watch ever again for several reasons. One, I don’t really see what the rage is going on that television show. I have a friend Katelyn who watches Jersey Shore every night and is always talking about how good the show is, but my true opinion I think it’s a waste of time because it’s like every season of the real world.

Why do I say this? Because someone gets drunk, someone fights, someone has sex, and someone gets kicked out of the house before the season ends. Not only that but sometimes someone does get arrested.

It seems as if this television show gets advertised more before it started than when it actually went on the air. This television show wouldn’t necessarily fit what I would watch, but it is definitely something that I would watch on a bad day for a good laugh.

This show would be a match with MTV’s reality show True Life because that show is basically about a person having a real life story to share. True Life can also teach people as a society many lessons that people have hardships and struggles and no one is perfect on camera. For the comparison side to side with Jersey Shore, this is assuming their cast does not appear to be what you would call “fake.”

I guess you could say the only other reason as to why I decided to do a television review of Jersey Shore is because it is a show that is considered to be popular and that I wanted to see what the rage was about.

Call me old fashioned but I do like watching reality television but I only watch family related reality television shows. Those are the types of shows that teach me how to have good morals and to be a good person.

Corny I know that sounds but it seems as if reality shows like Jersey Shore follow one pattern and that is getting the truth of people on camera no matter how embarrassing it may be.

MTV’s reality shows True Life and Jersey Shore share similar qualities but the concepts seem to be rather different. In MTV’s true Life, camera men are following two and sometimes three people about their own life struggles and only get one episode. But in Jersey Shore, the camera man is following eight people for a summer and they get a season.

Sorry Jersey Shore, but if you were a little bit more interesting and actually had an interesting storyline other than drama among people I would probably watch it more. I am more into reality shows that are relatable to those who feel like are outcasts like the other MTV Show My Life As Liz. I am more into sarcastic humor than funny stupid drama humor.

True Beauty is fashion

With all of this fashion talk throughout my columns I realized that I do not spend enough time talking about how it plays a role in each of our lives. It’s crazy to think that by just putting a simple outfit together can make a bold fashion statement.

 I am not trying to make any false assumptions of what you think of fashion, but I think fashion and beauty go hand in hand. What people may not realize is that fashion and especially beauty is skin deep.

So why would I be talking about fashion and beauty in the same column? Because I feel as if not enough people take the time to take a good look in the mirror. By taking a good look in the mirror, it’s as if you are accepting yourself for who you are on the inside and that you should wear yourself proudly no matter what you are wearing.

Take for example, the campaign for Dove. Now I know it may sound silly talking about a beauty product, but what products are in fashion are just as important as what clothing is in fashion.

The campaign for Dove “For Real Beauty” teaches female people that no matter what skin type, body type, or nationality you are, you are always beautiful and that you shouldn’t let anyone bring you down. Dove products have something for every season and every scent. But the ultimate message of Dove’s campaign is that it teaches females to be a natural beauty.

Maybe I am wrong to also assume this but I think that a lot of females do not realize how shallow fashion can be. Just because a female chooses to dress alternative does not mean that she is a mean person. Just because someone chooses to dress in Victoria’s Secret PINK clothing line doesn’t mean that they are preppy and stuck up.

Fashion is like a word. What I mean by that is if you give a random person a particular clothing line to dress in, you can pretty much describe it in one word.

Maybe I am starting to sound a bit shallow myself about fashion but I feel as if a lot of people like to live in luxury and buy the expensive and top brands. But what people do not realize is that with every season, the clothing is changing rapidly. Something that was in season last year does not mean that it is in season or fashion this year.

People like to keep up with the fashion trends that come every year. But with fashion there comes with a lot of judgment and hatred towards of what a person is wearing.

I think that it is wrong for people to wear specific fashions just because they feel like they are being forced to dress a certain way.

Fashion can be a make or break deal to a person’s self esteem. It’s not like the old times where parents picked out the clothing for their children and made them look a certain way. Now, times are changing as years pass by.

The funny thing with fashion is that people try too hard to look good. What do I mean by that exactly? I feel as if people are trying way too hard to make a powerful statement. Some of the fashion statements that I have seen can either make a person look good or look bad.

But I guess the message is that even though fashion will never die, it doesn’t mean that people should change just because something else goes into style rather quickly.

Keep it classy, not trashy

Fall is here, we are seeing pumpkins everywhere, and there is a lot of orange and black being used in every department store I go into. That’s right everyone, I’m talking about Halloween. This is the holiday of costumes and going out trick or treating for candy.

Halloween is the time of year when I get to see the different costumes that people get to show off and it also lets me see what costumes are still considered to be in style. Do you remember when costumes used to be so simple when we were little kids?

It seems as if every year costumes are changing and newer costumes are being developed by creators of the costumes. In every single Halloween store I have been into, there is a costume for pretty much everything.

The big thing with costumes especially for women, and don’t take this offensively but it seems as if the costumes are appearing to be “inappropriate.” I think that Halloween is just an excuse for women to take it up a notch to the extreme no matter what other people will think.

 Do you ever notice when you go into Halloween stores that every model on each costume looks the same as every other costume? I believe that the creators of the costume make the women look more degrading and sometimes it can hurt the self esteem of others. It’s like the display of the outside bag is telling women that they are supposed to have a slender body and big breasts.

I’m not saying that Halloween is my least favorite holiday. I love Halloween mostly for the candy and for the pumpkins.

Sometimes I feel as if Halloween is more of a competition among women. Halloween is starting to remind me of Lady GaGa because of the crazy outfits that she is seen wearing. I know that the two comparisons sound funny and do not make sense, but I believe that Lady GaGa wears her crazy outfits to make somewhat of a positive statement, whereas women who wear crazy costumes to just show off their bodies.

You may think I am crazy for writing a fashion column about Halloween. If you think about it, it makes absolute sense to write a fashion column about Halloween because it does attract attention and it attracts fashion.

Maybe I am appearing to be jealous because of the fact that I can not wear the over exaggerated costumes because I have an average body. I choose not to wear those types of costumes because even though Halloween is supposed to be all about fun, I just think I can a lot more fun without having to wear a crazy costume.

Fashion will always make a statement, especially when Halloween season rolls around. A lot of us get excited about Halloween but people like me just treat Halloween like it’s any other day of the week.

Maybe at this point I am sounding a little crazy talking about fashion in Halloween but at the same time it doesn’t sound crazy at all. It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of costumes that women will be wearing this year. With all the costumes I have seen, I don’t think costumes can get any worse or any better.

Throughout this talk of Halloween costumes, the message of my column is that just because I do not like the costumes that are being created doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t change the person. I believe that Halloween is all about harmless fun. As I said before I am curious to see how the fashion trend of costumes carries on this year.

Protest it

For this week’s column writing assignment, Professor Fitzgerald asked the class to write a column about the Occupy Wall Street protest and our feelings about it.

 At first when people in class were talking about it, when I generally hear the word “strike” or “protest” I generally think of that it would be about people losing their jobs due to the lack of economy or about education.

Because in this world, and especially in the news it seems as if we can not get enough about the ongoing problems about the hopes of keeping jobs or budget cuts for education appearing.

So after watching a few news videos and reading a few columns, I learned that the Occupy Wall Street Protest is an ongoing protest that has reached people throughout the nation.  

To sum up what has been going on about the Occupy Wall Street is that, “Wealthy individuals who own giant corporations have bought off our Congress and bought off our government and, you know, the people no longer have a voice anymore,” one protester told CBS News (Cbsnews.com).

So what does this mean for the working class people? Does this mean that I am being fooled by Congress thinking that they are actually trying to make this world a better place?

I believe after reading one of the major articles that I have quoted that is featured on Cbs’s website, among the people who feel like they do not have a voice, I feel the exact the exact same way.

All the protestors in this movement and everyone around them had one message. One of the protestors Jesse Lagreca says, “The wealthiest one percent is taking advantage of working class people. They've been selling us faulty financial products, they've been taking huge bonuses while depending on society to bail them out” (Cbsnews.com).

It really does not make any sense for businesses to try and take the easy way out by creating more problems for the working class.

What lies in the future for the working class? I mean we already have a bad enough economy with the lack of jobs available out there. I think that businesses do not take into consideration of how bad some people have it out there.

Because of how ugly this protest and how real it is, I’m thinking that is there is hope for a big change between the working class and the wealthy.

Just because business executives get into a big mess they can just easily get out of it, but say if we as a nation got into a mess that we could not escape, it would be on us to get out.

I have never really been much into politics or protests, but this protest has me very interested to see on where this can lead. Us as a nation, we can only hope for the best. Like I said before, if we work hard as a nation to get a message across, big things can happen.

Like an old friend of mine once said, “Keep your coins, I want to see change.”

Throughout this protest, it is not only affecting the wealthy and the working class but it is also affecting every community out there as well.

It is almost like taking candy from a baby. Big businesses do not have to worry about anything that can mess up for them, but yet the working class has to work extra hard if they get themselves into trouble.

Having lack of a voice and lack of being heard is like being invisible. No matter how much you try to get a message across it sometimes does not work the first time around.

I am very interested to see more about the protest and to see and to feel the change.