Karyo

When I was little, I always assumed that I would be a doctor. It was so engrained into my little Asian kid head, that there didn’t seem to be any other option. The funny thing about this is, at the time, I didn’t mind. I liked science and the thought of rummaging around in another person’s insides was exciting. Of course, when you’re a little kid, you don’t consider the type of hard work and dedication that will be required to reach these kinds of goals. You just think about the fun factor .. which, like I said in my case, was making squishy sounds with other people’s internal organs.

As I grew up, I stayed on the bio track. Biology was even my concentration in high school. And, up until the day when I started my first university application, I just assumed that I would end up in medical school.

It was only when I started to apply to colleges and universities that I considered my future. I didn’t really like biology anymore. I applied to be a history and anthropology major at every school I applied for… except UMBC. Ironically, I won a full scholarship at UMBC which dictated that I pursue a science or technical major.

Oh … shit. :|

With my head hanging a bit low, I sunk back into the biology track I seemed destined for. My first semester revealed to me though, that I couldn’t force myself to like something I just did not like. So… I’m just in a confused jumble right now.

I really enjoy social sciences and the humanities, but they don’t apply to my scholarship and there’s virtually no other way I’d be able to pay for school. Lately, I’ve been thinking about doing an interdisciplinary major.

As much as I despise math and most technical courses, I’ve started to get attached to computer science. It’s hard and frustrating at time, but it’s a lot like cracking a code or solving a puzzle. It gnaws at you and you find yourself dedicated to finding the solution above all. It fits with my scholarship and .. I guess if I work at it, I can see myself really enjoying it.

At the same time, being a social sciences junkie, I’ve also started to latch on to linguistics. Reading about it gets me fired up. I can talk about it for hours and, at the same time, whereas many social sciences can be abstract in their usefulness, linguistics can take on an applied usage that makes it practical in almost every facet of society.

So, how about some computational linguistics? :’D

Sometimes I feel like I’m ridiculously lazy. ...But, this might just be in comparison with my roommate.

We’re both on the same full-tuition scholarship at our school. When I first met her, she was sick. That is, she was actually not feeling well. So, for the first week of our acquaintance, she was tired and not getting too much work done. I empathized a lot with her, but cheered her on through out the summer.

We liked each other, so when fall semester came, we decided to room together. I expected her to be laid back, like me. To my surprise, she would always be up studying. ALL of the time. :O I knew she was a hardworker, but I never expected that she would study day and night, barely ever going to sleep.

It horrifies me sometimes. I’m pretty lax when it comes to studying. I do fine in school (otherwise I’d never have nabbed my scholarship), but I barely study. I’d feel much more confident if I kept a schedule and devoted more time to going over my work, rather than sitting around reading comics and doodling all day. (..Even if the last option is more fun.)

I’ve been dating my boyfriend for over a year and a half now. Our relationship is extremely serious and we’ve discussed our future together—married, comfortable, 2.5 kids, and an adorable doggy. In all seriousness, though, we’ve looked at our educational and financial situations and we’ve thought about all of our possibilities. Staying together for the rest of our lives is definitely a possibility that hangs in the air constantly.

Realistically, we’re still young, so I know that we have a lot of time to go before we can reach this goal. But, I’m still wishing and dreaming for the day when we’ll eventually take the leap together. :D