Things I learned in College : Lesson 7.

Don't lose your phone.
(Lesson by Ottoban, transcribed by me)

This goes without saying... but there is something more to it than just the financial burden of losing a phone and the personal disadvantage of losing your contacts. With the advent of technology and the greatness of connectivity, people losing their phones and getting contacts again has suddenly seemed easier. Well guess what, you and your "I lost my phone & I need your number" Facebook group/event/fan page suck. And here's why (like i even have to explain):

1. C'mon! take care of your phone. I excuse you if you really actually "Got Mugged, and So did my Phone" but the "I dropped it in the toilet, i need your numbers" and the "Oops! Lost it at the club last night, give me digits." no, you don't fly. which leads me to..

2. Your clever invite names are about as far as I will go. If you got a really funny title, maybe i'll consider giving you my number again.. but the "Lost Phone" and "Hey, So sorry! I lost my phone!" and the "Omg, i know you hate this! SO SORRY! I LOST MY PHONE" ... ignore, click.

3. I'm sorry who are you? - don't select all 1000+ friends to give you their numbers if you don't give a shit about 990 of them. What about a friendly personal message instead... nobody do those anymore?

Ok! That leads me to one solution...

BACK UP YOUR PHONE. if you're on any legitimate carrier (boost mobile.. do you do this??) you should be able to back up your contacts. Do it please.. now. for the sake, of the rest of your friends. In fact, i'm going to go do that right now... because knowing me and bad karma... i'm going to probably lose my phone next week.

(Happy Cinco de Mayo!)

Things I learned in College : Lesson 6.

Start building a personal library.
Professor Bach was my International Studies Advanced/UpperDiv/Kickmyass/MakeYouCry/RatherBeDead writing instructor. And yes, he was incredibly difficult. Professor Bach was one of those men that you just so desperately wanted to make proud and please. I knew he was an intelligent man and I wanted nothing more than to make him just raise an eyebrow at me in ponder and perhaps agreement. In any case, within a quarter of debating about democracies and ethics in international relations I walked away with one valid lesson.

To start building a personal library.

No other professor in the four years i was in college even MENTIONED the idea of building a personal library. They in fact, and rightfully so, encouraged the purchase of books from other students to save our already burned out wallets. Don't get me wrong, I sold books left and right just to get a menial amount of pocket change, which i probably ended up blowing on a pack of gum anyway. I too was one of those people who stupidly sold $40 for a cool $1.50 because it was paperback (assholes). Granted if you were a student of biology, econ, IT and your textbooks were $200+ please yes, sell your books as new editions are issued at what seems to be a bimonthly rate. But i'm talking about all your other classes...

I definitely regret selling back some books and only getting chump change for it. At least if i had kept those books i would have been able to maintain a level of priceless pride for having endured courses in Asian American studies, Art History, Modern Theater, Poetry.. and so on. Instead, i have empty bookshelves with nothing to show.

Of course, people will say that you will never read those books again, but as Professor Bach had reminded us, that's not what matters. It's a measure of boasting to people who haven't read... or something like that.

note: I've received some great feedback about these Lessons and would love for other people to contribute. Please email me or write me a comment and let's talk.

Things I learned in College : Lesson 5.

If there are language courses offered, TAKE THEM.
Ok, so i don't care if you were a biosci major or some crazy IT major with a compsci/engineering double minor... whatever, if your school offered you language courses you should take them.

Let's explain this in a functional manner... here are the excuses people had about language courses.

1. "But you have to go to class everyday then." - Iam Awhiner.
Kiss my ass. You're in school anyway. If you're so bummed about taking a class everyday what else would you be doing with that hour that could be spending at a language course? Going to Jack in the Box? Watching TV? Eating a box of Cheez-its? Probably something that wasn't as productive as you learning a new language, making new friends, and discovering how much we as Americans don't know jack about other countries.

2. "But I don't have room on my schedule." - Winnie the Whiner
Kiss my ass. You're only saying that because you think going to class at 8 or 9 am is feat that can't be tackled. Get over it. Again, rather than sleeping in just so you can go to an 11am class instead, why don't you haul your ass out of bed and actually go to a class that's conducive to exciting your alcohol nuked braincells. If not, stick a little while longer on campus to take a later course!

3. "But I suck at learning new languages." - Wally the Whiner
Well... kiss my.. i'm kidding. I actually suck at learning languages too. But that didn't stop me from taking classes. It's amazing how you may feel like you can't learn a new language and that the challenge is too much to bear... but seriously ... kiss my ass. And then kiss the ass of the white guys in my class trying to learn KOREAN. I'm talking sticks and circles that suddenly had to formulate sentences for them. It's actually kinda embarrassing because these guys had better spelling and grammar than i ever would. Granted that I could listen and speak better... they passed the written tests with FLYING colors.

4. "But I'll never use it outside of school" - Kant Dewitt.
WHO CARES. Life isn't always about living constantly to work towards your future. The song your listening to right now doesn't help you with your future. Think outside of the learning languages only. I managed to stay in my Kclass for 5 quarters (approx 2 years) and yeah, i may not remember how to spell certain words any more but I made some amazing friends and would never had had my amazing teacher. I even took French after my year in England. Now really, when would i ever use French in the States except learning how to pronounce certain foods. So for that, I pat myself on the shoulder for being able to pronounce Nicoise Salad and Bourguignonne. (Thanks Madame Guthrie!)

5. "But I don't want to learn another language." - Ayam Iggnant
Then stay in your hole.

Things I learned in College : Lesson 4.

Appreciate your school gym.
I think that this speaks for anyone who went to a school who had a nice gym. If you went to a crappy school who decided that physical well-being wasn't important then.. i'm sorry, this doesn't pertain to you.

UCI's educational program was great. Great teachers, great science library with a bunch of books I never touched, and a great gym. I'm not kidding you. A REALLY GREAT GYM.

The funny thing with me was that when i had gotten to UCI and witnessed the monstrosity of the ARC, I thought that other gyms like LA fitness, 24, or Bally's was something like this. The arc had state of the art ellipticals, a lifting room that was ergonomically suited for females, too many courts to count, a huge pool, racquetball courts galore, rock climbing wall, and so many more nooks and crannies i probably did not even realize. I mean considering how large the school was i suppose that it was only appropriate to have a gym of such stature, but they didn't need to fill it with such great equipment. But they did, and their stuff got better and better every year. They had no qualms of ridding their old equipment with even better ones. Plus, who could beat gorgeous flatscreen TVs that are able to be plugged into your own machine's headphone jacks. I seriously was so spoiled by this gym that i had almost begun to think that it was a standard for all gyms.

BOY, was I wrong.

A few months after i graduated, I had turned into a lump of lard and decided that it was due time to look for a new gym in the area. Having noticed that a brand new LA Fitness was built down the street, I thought it was about time to join. But i actually joined on a whim at those outside kiosks and did not really take a look inside. The moment i walked in, i felt like i had turned back in time to a crappier freshman year version of the ARC. It's like the thrown out equipment had made its way to this LA Fitness which was barely 2 years old. I thought, wonderful, a swimming pool and then looked in to see a load of old Chinese women wading through the waters. I then sighed... and realized nothing will ever beat the ARC.

Things I learned in College : Lesson 3.

Listen and read the news, but try not to get too emotionally invested.
local news is not included, sorry.
When I got into college and about my Sophomore year, I decided that it was important for me to read, watch and listen to the news. Also being an International Studies major, i guess i figured that it was something I SHOULD do. But eventually this should turned into a major fascination/obsession. My roommate at the time could probably tell you about the times i would bring up anything from CNN I would read. It actually became ritual to my day.

I would click on the headlines, then follow up on any of the past stories i was reading, and then check top stories. If it was something really interesting I would then take the liberty of linking it to friend's Facebook pages and maybe even email it to someone.

But as you know, and anyone does know, the news isn't all filled with bubblegum and flowers and candy. It's really heavy.. and at times I would cave into these deep thoughts about what i had read and feel seriously ill afterward. My desire to read these news articles and be emotionally moved by every single one of them caused me to get sick!

I remember at one point, althought i can't remember precisely what got me, but i had to stop reading the news. So in one whole determined move, i shut myself off from the world. I became happier temporarily... and then i felt empty again of the information i used to steep myself in daily. So i had to get back into it.. but slowly and without so much information.

But ultimately, what reminded me of this lesson was that in the morning i listen to NPR. Yes, i am a nerd. My radio alarm clock goes straight into Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne talking about the daily happenings around the world. But with the recent news of the miners who died because of the explosion, brought me to tears one morning. The thought of these men with families who were waiting for them to come home as usual from a day at work and then receive a phone call to find that they had been involved in an accident was too much to bear. I had forgotten how heart wrenching listening to the news could be again.

But this time, I'm not going to fold back to not listening to the news in the morning... it's more about checking my emotions. Therefore, leaving enough to be involved with the coverage but to stop when it could ruin my day.

Things I learned in College : Lesson 2.

Always stock your pantry with cereal and fridge with milk.

I'm not joking. For me these two combined are like the forces of elements creating this earth. ok, maybe not that monumental but it definitely has always been a part of my daily life.

Granted i ate cereal and milk on a daily basis since I was i don't know how old... it essentially kept me alive all throughout college. the combination of the new are an amazing breakfast but for me i crave it as a treat outside of normal breakfast hours. i could not stop eating this stuff. Ask my roommates! I bought milk on a weekly basis. Would finish the milk on a weekly basis. And could not get enough of my cereals. Even while i was in England, there would always be a box of cereal and those annoying little plastic cartons of milk from Tescos in the hall fridge.

I kinda miss that Winnie the Pooh Stars cereal exclusive to Tescos...

In any case, since my move back home my parents have been generally stellar at buying cereal and milk. My dad for some reason even knew when i was coming home that he would have to hit up Costco to stock up. Literally, he called me before i came back and asked which cereal i preferred to eat (so nice). but like any budding relationship, or one that was rebudding, my dad grew tired of buying me cereal and milk when buying dog food became apparently more important. So, one week, i had no cereal or milk. Devastating. Left me feeling empty.

Physically and emotionally.

... which reminds me... i should probably buy cereal and milk for work now.

Things I learned in College : Lesson 1.

How to write an formal email.
This is a series of lessons i've learned in college... life or whatever.

Whether I was writing to my professors, my PAs or potential employers, formal emails has become a part of my everyday life. But the mundane world of writing, please and thank yous in barf-worthy amounts has made my vocabulary diminish to terms like "barf-worthy."

So what does this lesson help me with other than making me sound like a woman from the the 1940s who worked as a secretary for some masochistic male? Not much else.

But formalities are what i've realized has helped me gain a level of respect and who wants to sound like a 15 yr. old, because otherwise I'd probably be talked to like one.

But I'm surprised that i've survived not typing in a happy face aka :), a "hey! what's up?", or a "dude." Considering my limited linguistic abilities, i've managed to become somewhat considered a grown up with the ability to formulate formal emails.

Obviously someone did not teach me grammar...