Half Empty or Half Full (Written By AmbassadorNique)

One of the hardest parts of staying disciplined is learning to be okay with being selfish. Its hard enough to tell yourself no to certain things, but its even harder to tell the people you hold close that this time you wont be able to come through for them. This is necessary, this is vital and this must happen if I want to make it where I am going. Either separate yourself from what everyone else is doing or live the life that the average person is living.

I cannot honestly say that this week was one of success. I made poor financial decisions, I was not on top of my health, and I did not stay disciplined to working toward my goal of continuing my education. That’s not to say I failed or neglected these things, however just to be honest I could have gone way harder. Seeing the consequences of my behavior will hopefully inspire me. Since I will not be able to hit the gym Monday due to an early morning Orthodontist appointment the goal is to fit that workout in either Sunday or Monday evening. Create a schedule for GRE study time and a budget to SAVE SAVE SAVE! The tickets to Tokyo are currently way to expensive and I can only hope that a deal will appear between now and this summer.

On a brighter note this week wasn’t all bad. I enjoyed good times with some friends at a free luau, and celebrated a birthday with one of my best friends. I also enjoyed the beautiful Jefferson park this morning and wondered why I was paying for a gym when I had such beautiful park less than a mile away (Seattle rain maybe?). There were also tennis courts! I scheduled an appointment with a woman at the University who I hope will lead me in the right direction as far as applying for my Masters is concerned. I’ve also started reading a really good book that I cannot wait to share, and watched a phenomenal documentary about Japanese internment camps called Toyo’s Camera. Overall I have been happy, cooking, and healthy. In life there will always be up’s and downs. Both will continue to inspire me to reach for the stars and both will continue to teach me new lessons. Depending on what angle you look at it, this weak could be considered somewhat of a success.

Is the glass half empty or is it half full? Live long and prosper my friends.

Ambassador

“Nothing easy is ever memorable” (Written By AmbassadorNique)

Happy Monday everyone! What an eventful weekend filled with some test preparation, spending time having meaningful conversations with some college mentors and buddies, and of course the SUPERBOWL! What a game, right? I’ll leave it at that, great performances, an unexplained power outage, some decent and very awkward commercials, (I’m still a bit angry at the dodge “god created farmers” commercial). Nevertheless it was a fun game to watch.

Quick updates on my goals. My commitment to the gym is still going strong. It might be time to kick it up a notch and turn up! Also going well is my soda boycott and vow to cook. I haven’t been doing so well on implementing more fruits and veggies and just okay on the whole eating a salad everyday thing. My budgeting and money management is going well with a few minor surprises here and there. Nevertheless my three goals to stay healthy, stay educated and practice good money management are progressing.

 “Ultimately it was about letting all of you have that space to delve deeper into your souls and learn what is it that makes you tick and hopefully awaken some social responsibility. That is what the college experience is truly about.”

This is a quote from a conversation via text messaging I was having with one of my mentors from college. These thoughts stood out to me in my quest to move forward and continue my education. I am so thankful to have had the chance to get this out of my college experience. Since graduating I am able to speak to individuals and find out quickly who did and did not have this opportunity. There’s nothing wrong with still not understanding the social dynamics that make up our society, however it is unfortunate to see college educated individuals say and believe very stereotypical and socially ignorant comments. To me its not about always being politically correct as much as it is facts verse opinion. That is why I love the quote, “Misinformation is a weapon of mass distruction.”

From my experience I received an understanding of the importance of standing up for justice, speaking up for one’s self, demanding equality, and collaboration. These are things that seem easy but in the face of adversity in a setting where you may be close to the bottom of the totem pole, speaking out can be difficult. I am thankful to have been armed with knowledge, confidence and experiences to fall back on for guidance whenever I seem to get lost. In time I gained the confidence to speak up to discrimination, even if it was being done by people around me, co-workers, family, or my own friends. More importantly I’ve learned to check my own prejudice and accept and change my own ignorance. I am far from perfect and nobody will ever be. I am a work in progress, and a student of life.

While it is important to be able to take care of ourselves financially to me it is more important that we feed our minds. We learn as much as we can, network, speak and share with others, travel, taste and experience what this world has to offer.

“Nothing easy is ever memorable”

My goal is to climb Mt. Fuji this August and it will not be easy. I was told “nothing easy is ever memorable.” This was another quote from my conversation this weekend. After hearing it I thought  to myself, that was very simple, however; it made so much since. Those few words in a way, puts everything in perspective. Staying disciplined about my finances, my health, and my education are not easy tasks to commit too. Nevertheless I know for sure that the reward will be the greater than the sacrifice.