BA

Some tangible differences in being a graduate:

1. I now have TWO grad hats that don't fit me at home: the blue one from PMSS, the black one from UBC.
2. I now have TWO graduation pins: the blue, round IB one from PMSS and a UBC alumni one from today.
3. When I get a name card in the future, I would be Kathy Wong BA
4. I am no longer eligible for student rates at the gym, aquarium, etc.
5. I don't have a Upass.

Some intangible differences in being a graduate:

1. I can now officially pretend that I know a lot about International Relations (my major) and History (my minor).
2. I don't know what to refer to myself now since I can't say "student" anymore (I guess the closest term would be 'unemployed')
3. Midterms, finals, quizzes, and GPAs don't apply to me anymore (unless I decide to apply to grad school)


Oh, but one thing that is worth taking note is that I found out today (while reading through my UBC alumni handbook) that as an alumni, I have lifelong access to UBC's libraries. SOO AWESOME!

the beginning of nothing

tomorrow I am going to get a piece of paper that marks the beginning of nothing. good job.

what the hell is wrong with me?

i'm an oldie

another good one.

Idiot

i'm an idiot. my graduation date is Thursday the 27th not Wednesday the 26th. See? this shows exactly how much I care about that piece of paper.

If...

If you've never been to UBC or
if you've got nothing better to do next Wednesday or
if you want a mini-vacation to a faraway land or
if you want to go to a big forest for a walk or
if you want to visit the place in Greater Vancouver that most resembles Hogwarts or
if you want to take pictures of roses at the UBC Rose Garden or
if you want to spend around 2 hours driving or
if you want to transit for 3 hours or
if you just want to surprise me or
if you want to share a special milestone with me...

then please, come to my graduation and celebrate the end of 19 years of formal education with me.

Date: May 26th, 2010
Time: 12:30pm
Place: Rose Garden, UBC

I will be very grateful and awed because I can't believe that anyone would wanna travel all the way to UBC for me.

PMPG 15th Anniversary

For most people, there are identities that we don't realize until it suddenly hits you.

Today, I realized that I've basically grown up with PMPGMBC. I've been with this church since it first started in 1995 (although I honestly can't remember). I've "experienced" leadership of all the previous lead pastors (although I actually didn't know them personally nor was I on talking terms with them since I was basically a kid until the latter half of Rev. Cheung's time here). I recognize the faces of all the people that have once served in this church. I remember certain events that a lot of people in our church today probably don't know about. I remember being in Pioneer Clubs and Una 姐姐. I remember when Cindy Luu was a Sunday School Teacher, and not yet a missionary. I remember when children's worship (from grade 1-6) was in room in the church basement. I remember the 7th Anniversary celebration at Radisson (now a casino hotel) and how it was the first time we met Rollie. I remember when the room with two doors in the church basement were two separate rooms. I remember that the sanctuary used to have a huge massive wooden cross in the middle of the front wall and how I thought that was so cool.

So today, as the church celebrated its 15th anniversary (and I can finally relax after all the planning and organizing), I finally realized that I am a PG, just as much as I am a Chinese, or a Wong, or a girl, or a UBC graduate, or a black belt. And PG, for the past 15 years of my life, has been my family. And all 500+ people who come to church on Sunday with me, are my family members, not in the sense where the words "brothers and sisters" just seems like a friendlier way to address "fellow Christians", but in the sense that they are my family because I, for the past 15 years, have grown up with them.

Actually, no not anymore.

the other day i was at Lougheed Mall when the following happened:


BMO credit card salesperson guy:
Hey there do you have a minute?

Me with my shopping (oh how i dislike people that try to get me to buy/sign up for things):
no not really.

PERSISTENT BMO credit card salesperson guy:
you are a student, aren't you?

Me with my shopping, paused for a minute:
Actually, no not anymore.

not-so-persistent-after-all BMO credit card salesperson guy turns and goes bug someone else.

I think this is the very first time I am actually kinda happy that I am no longer a student.

And can it be that I should gain

To be very honest (and hopefully not offend anyone out there), it is very difficult to for me to find Christian songs/hymns that I like. It seems like all the ones in Hymns of Life sound the same, all the ones from Streams of Praise sounds the same and all the "contemporary" Cantonese ones sounds the same too. To be fair, I don't listen to "christian" music outside of church either (Chris Tomlin fan? no not really.) I am also kinda picky with "Christian hymns" too because I don't like songs that are "unsingable" and lyrics that are cliches so it's rather annoying.

But occasionally, I do find hymns that I really like: where the melody is comfortable and the lyrics are genuine and true. This song is one of them.

learning to say no

Seems to me a lot of people have trouble learning to say "yes". And because they can't say "yes", they let a lot of opportunities and chances pass them by.

But i think i have trouble saying "no" more. when people come and ask me to help with something or to lead something or to be part of _________ committee, i tend to say yes right away.

It is time to learn to say no.

自我安慰

On days where I feel like there is nothing here for me to look forward to, all I need to do is go here, sign in to my account and see the "confirmed" status. It's reassurance that my getaway is not very far away at all.

public speaking

today i was helping my new grade 5 tutor student prepare her public speaking speech for next Monday when I was suddenly reminded of how I had to write speeches too when I was in elementary school.

I remembered that in grade four, my topic was "overpopulation" (how overpopulation is bad for the Earth and why that is so). In grade five, my topic was "the goods and bads of public speaking". I remembered that my speech won first place in my class and hence I was able to go to the school-wide public speaking competition and compete in front of the whole school with other classes. For some reason, there were two winners - myself and this other kid called Nathan MacDonald. The winner of the school competition was supposed to go to the district-wide competition but unfortunately, only one winner was allowed to go. The principal decided to toss a coin and Nathan ended up being able to go. I remember feeling really disappointed but I tried to be really tough and not cry. I didn't cry until I saw my dad after school. Now that I think about it, I shouldn't have allowed the principal to make a decision like that by tossing a coin. Additionally, Nathan was also the school-wide champion in grade 4 hence he went to the districts before whereas I've never been to them.

In the end, I was allowed to go watch the districts. Nathan lost. And maybe because his mom felt sorry for me, he gave me a pot of flowers at the end of the school year.

In grade 8, I wrote another speech on "Snoring". I managed to win in class but didn't win against other classes in my school.

Most people find public speaking scary, but I think I thrive on it.