Tag Archives: thoughts

Special

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These past few weeks, I’ve read and seen various incarnations of a concept that is best summed up in an article I read in early September from the Huffington Post. The article’s subject – Why Generation Y Yuppies are Unhappy – mainly focuses on our generation’s unhappiness in the workplace, and is delved into throughout the proceeding paragraphs, formulas, and diagrams. Ultimately, it concludes that my generation is unhappy (referred to as GYPSYs, or Gen Y Protagonists & Special Yuppies) because we’ve been raised to believe that we are spectacularly special by our Baby Boomer parents. Problems arise when we get out into the “real world”, entering it with “a sense of optimism and unbounded possibility” as a result of our childhoods. One might ask: isn’t an optimistic attitude a good thing in the world? Well, in this case, that optimism supposedly sets us GYPSYs up for colossal disappointment. Because, when our new jobs end up being less fulfilling than we expected, or we end up not snagging the title of “standout co-worker” in the office (namely, we end up being much less “special” than we were led to believe as children), we become unhappy with the reality of our lives falling much shorter than our expectations. To make it worse, that unhappiness can be compounded with the comparisons our generation tends to make between ourselves and acquaintances’ fabricated lives on social media.

Though the author hits upon multiple other points, the unhappiness-in-the-job-market angle stood out the most to me. Now, at first I was slight angry; I mean, what kind of article was this to tell me that I wasn’t special?

“I certainly am one of the few that are actually special,” I grumbled to myself while reading the article. I instantly wanted to write down all the indignant thoughts flowing through my head. But then I decided to take a step back, and spend some moments pointedly thinking on what the article was professing. After objectively looking at the article’s points, I had to say that I did agree with some of them – truthfully, it can be detrimental to compare one’s activities to those seen on social media, because comparisons lead to discontent; and I did agree with the admonition near the end of the article that our generation should never lose our ambition in our life’s pursuits. Continue reading →

The Wait

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Our generation is not about the wait. Many would say, why wait? Instant gratification is everywhere – with food, technology, even relationships.

As customers, we want to be served faster, quicker, now.

People who take their time in certain situations are seen as slackers or less motivated than others.

And when it comes down to it, it seems that speed is even written into the world’s framework, with the seasons sprinting by – a fact brought all too easily to my attention as I’m (already) enjoying the beautiful fall weather during my lunch breaks.

And so I’m left to wonder, what’s the essence of waiting?

For myself, so many things in the world interest me, and I get quite antsy being in the same place for awhile – whether mentally or physically. Sometimes, I find myself wanting to learn so much in so little time because I want to advance to a next stage that I’ll find more interesting that the whole ordeal becomes overwhelming (example: learning Spanish). Continue reading →

The Art of Describing Yourself

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In the midst of med school apps a couple weeks ago, I ran across these essays in the NY Times last week. They were a part of this main article that discussed a “new” type of college essays that are emerging, ones where the writers take huge risks in relation to what one usually thinks of concerning typical admissions essays. It got me thinking about my own applications, since the all important personal statement is a large part of the process. Reading the four essays, they were certainly different from what I’d seen before. Sometimes I found myself going, “What are they even talking about?” while reading the essays. But in the end, the essays were fantastic, and they ultimately painted a unique picture of each applicant’s personality and style.

A few days ago, I was reading and came across an artist named Leonid Afremov mentioned in the book. I (naturally) looked him up because the book mentioned his paintings of Paris vignettes; it turns out he’s a Russian-Israeli modern impressionist. He likes to paint things that allow the viewer to see the subject through his point of view. His style reminded me of neo-Impressionism (aka, Pointillism, which is my favorite art period) a bit, so I was instantly drawn to his works. The reason I was so drawn to his paintings isn’t just because they are so colorful. Mainly, I love that the colors, though not necessarily blended, come together to paint a complex picture of Paris: the light radiating off of the Eiffel Tower at night or off of Notre Dame in the afternoon, or reflecting in the cafe windows in early morning aren’t just a spectacular yellow-orange color. The light also returns to the eye as blues, greens, and reds as it works to highlight the rest of the surrounding scenery in each painting – the deep blue skies, the well-manicured trees, the autumn leaves and blaring shop signs.

And I was drawn to his paintings because this is exactly how I want to come across while writing all those answers in the med school secondaries I’m now doing: I want to paint a picture of myself, with specific descriptions and attributes, yet I want all of those values to come together and make a beautiful picture, subtly reflecting and highlighting other areas of my life in the undertones.

Guess I better get to work.

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*All photos attributed to leonidafremov.deviantart.com and redbubble.com

Last Day

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Undergraduate years are (basically) officially over. This feels weird. No one really talks about how it feels to finish university after 16 years of the same schedule.

I can’t thank God, my family, and my friends enough for helping to get me through these past 4 years though. Rice is the only educational institution I’ve been to for 4 years (I switched high schools after sophomore year so that I could participate in the International Baccalaureate program – and it was a superb blessing to do so! I’m really thankful for that time in my life.), and it is as difficult as universities come. The professors and peers (rightly) expect a lot from the students here, and it is definitely grueling – mentally, physically, and emotionally. All in all, the hard work over these past years, no matter what the outcome of my classes have been, has been completely worth it. I’m so blessed to have had the opportunity to spend my college years at a place like Rice, where I’ve met lifelong friends and learned lifelong things that I can carry with me for… well, a lifetime. So thank you, Rice, because even when it was an excruciatingly difficult experience, I still came away from the situation having learned so very much.

Happy last day of classes to all my Rice friends! Hopefully there has been some light and joy in the midst of this week for everyone.

Head vs. Heart

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There’s a phrase that many people use when they are extremely happy. They say, “That person is high on life!” In the past couple of months, I’ve experienced that feeling. The exceedingly joyous one, where I can’t keep a smile off my face as I think of the great things God’s allowed me to experience these past few months. The first time was after 100 Days (an event my university holds to commemorate 100 days to graduation for the seniors), and the second time was this past weekend, getting to experience Soul Night for the first time, and as a performer. I’ve always heard and talked jokingly about being extremely content with how situations turn out in life, yet it sure was different – and so much more fulfilling – to actually encounter those emotions in a concentrated and impacting way after the events took place in my life.

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