The End of the Infamous College Application Process

Well it is over guys. The infamous stressful and nerve-wrecking college application process for me is over. It has been a very difficult and anxious time for me. All in all, I can honestly say that..I am not happy about my college options. ALTHOUGH people can say that I have good options (UCSD, UCI, Cal Poly SLO), they could have been better. I am not a person to take denial very well.

HOWEVER, I've learned from this whole process a very important lesson about life. I've learned that it is not about the effort that is important, but rather, the product. Nobody cares how hard you worked to achieve that A in APUSH, but they do care that if you successfully obtained that A. If one tries hard in something, but ultimately fails, people don't celebrate that hard work. They only celebrate the success of the product. SO HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO COLLEGE? Well, nobody cares what one did to get into UCLA, UCB, or whatever college. They only care and admire that you actually got into that college. There is no IF's, AND's, or BUT's in an admission acceptance or rejection. There's no gray matter (except UCB's appeal process).

Now, I'm going to concentrate more on producing a successful finished product rather than just merely "working hard". There are plenty of times where we all work really hard, but just come out short of being successful. TAKE FOR EXAMPLE, I worked super hard in swimming, by swimming on both Trident and High School. HOWEVER, a loss is a loss. A win is a win. It doesn't matter how hard one tries, but the true victory.

Well, no matter if I like it or not, I have to accept my college options. I have to weigh my options and consider ALL possible factors. I'm teetering on the edge between UCSD, UCI, and Community College. Even though San Luis Obispo is probably the hardest school that I got into, it is just really inconvenient to go there. I would be isolated like crazy. At least if I went to cc, UCI, or UCSD I would be in touch with a few of my friends and be remotely able to visit Susan. If I went to Cal Poly, I don't know how I would survive. I'm sure I can get a good education while being close to the things that I love the most.

UCSD is just really far (around 150 miles) from Rowland Heights. If I went there, I would have to dorm or rent a room in the nearby neighborhood. However, apparently their engineering program is top ranked in the nation. Plus, I would be at a pretty prestigious school where I think I would enjoy the extra-curriculars on campus, what with a division 2 swim team and the number one surf team in the nation. I think I have grown accustomed to being around water from swimming all 4 years of high school. Also, that is probably why I got accepted into UCSD in the first place.

DOWNSIDES: UCSD is far. I won't be able to visit Susan everyday, but I think I might be able to visit her every weekend if I drive early in the morning to avoid traffic. It really hurts to be away from home and Susan though. I can't imagine doing so. That is a BIG factor that is deterring me from UCSD.

UCI: Apparently, people have been telling me that it is a great school, but I don't like the fact that almost half of the school is enrolled in computer science and that almost 90% of the school is asian. I will not appreciate having more than 30 people in my junior and senior classes. Nor will I appreciate all of the competition from the overachieving asians at Irvine. Definitely not an enjoyable environment. HOWEVER, UCI is close and far enough so that I can enjoy life on my own. UCI is a good school. I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter what college you go to, but it is what you make out of the college.

For example, I went to John A. Rowland High School, which I am not the most proud of. It is not a great school, it is not a bad school. But, I managed to make the most out of my experience at Rowland by taking AP and Honors classes while enrolling in the extra-curricular activities (Swim and Water Polo) offered as well as extra-extra curriculars such as a Swim Club. Now, I am blessed to be even offered admission to UC's. Especially with my situation. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that I wouldn't like going to a good college because it still would be nice to have the resources that an IVY league has. Plus, bragging rights is always a plus that boosts any man's ego.

Gah, my eyes hurt. I will write more later. I love you Susan :). I'm glad I went to your Temecula Drumline Competition today :). Good Job!

Super Recap

Whats up peeps? I'm terribly sorry that I have not been updating in this for a while now. Life has been incredibly busy, but don't think that I forgot about all of blogspot. After all, I need to make sure that I will be able to reflect back on this blog twenty years from now and relive my days when I was 18.

I will just touch on some main points that happened these couple of weeks.

Kyle's Birthday - was pretty interesting and we all went to John's Incredible Pizza which was INCREDIBLE! I loved their pizza and their games. It is like Chuck E Cheeses times 20. The place was really big and they gave out free tickets every couple of hours or so. We played musical chairs and limbo with Kyle. Dang, I really missed those games when I was little. I drove there with Susan so that was a first too. I'm still here aren't I?

Swim Season 2009 - Swim has been alright so far. I have a bad habit of showing up to practice late. Sometimes it is not my fault and sometimes it is. I have to go after 7th period and I have to drop off Susan and her brother so I get back to school at 3:30 or so and practice starts at 3:00. So far, I can make my 100yd butterfly on the 1:02. However, I need a :55 in order to qualify for CIF. Will I make CIF this year? I sure hope so.

College Acceptance Letters - This is a biggie for me because this has been the source of my angst and my anxiety ever since I submitted my applications back in November. To recap, I applied to CSU: Fullerton, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Claremont Mckenna College, Yale College, Pomona College, UCSD, UCLA, UCI, UCB and Mt. Sac for good measures. So far, I have been accepted into CSU: Fullerton, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UCI, and UCSD. I should know where I stand by the beginning of April. That leaves me with approximately 1 month to decide where I want to spend the next 4 years of my life. God help me to make the right decision.

Susan's Drumline Competitions - Well I've been going to Susan's drumline competitions for mostly every weekend now. They have been pretty cool because I get to spend time with my lovely girlfriend while watching intense drumline performances at the same time. It would be one time to accompany my girlfriend to something like a book club or something boring like that. But it is exciting and fun each time I go on a drumline competition with her :). It makes me feel like when I was in 8th grade. Good stuff.

Tuesday, (March 17, 2009) is me and Susan's 51 monthiversary :). I hope she asks me to Sadies and I hope that we get to do prom fashion show together and I hope I don't suck at it. Well I love her so much and I am prepared to support and be there for her every step of the way.

I will try to update more, but that is all for now folks.