October 28, 2007

• running on empty

  FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA | CASTAWAY COVE, 1F è

  perhaps ten years ago, that was the name of my small group at a church retreat.  adopted from one of the first sermons, the idea was that God would always carry us through and be the source of our strength even when we were “running on empty.”  it also describes how i’ve been feeling for the past, oh, eight weeks.

  ever since school (re)started, i’ve been ridiculously busy.  never before have i felt so behind, so not on top of things, so overwhelmed, making so many tradeoffs.  when folks describe first quarter as trying to drink from a firehose, they are not joking.  this has been one of the craziest experiences of my life to date.

  having said that, man, has it been ridiculous fun.  if anything’s redeeming it’s absolutely the people.  i’ve met some fantastic individuals with whom i’m very happy to be spending the next two plus years with.  i might be getting an average of 3-4 hours of sleep every night, but at least i’m making good friends in the process.

  so it is here in southern california, in the stark middle of the night, the weekend before midterms (gasp!) that i wanted to freeze time and take a moment to take stock and share a brief update on life.  here is a list of developments slash observations:

  • i’m taking five classes this quarter, and believe it or not, my favorite happens to be managerial finance.  since i don’t have a strong quant background, i’m finding this class the most helpful.  plus, there’s something about NPVs and portfolio returns that is just inherently interesting.  i’ve always wanted to be a more sophisticated investor, so getting the theory is definitely a plus.
  • my winter and spring break travel plans are shaping up.  i’m departing december 14th for a flight to london, spending a few nights there to see yune and co, then flying on the 17th onward to accra, ghana where i’ll be touring west africa.  an official stanford-sponsored study trip begins on the 27th and will go through january 5th.  i’m spending new year’s on the beach along ghana’s southern coast, which will be awesome!  as for spring, there is talk of costa rica or cuba.  i’m inclined to the latter, but–shh!–don’t tell the us government.
  • i’ve committed to a few “learning” goals this year.  the first is golf, which–according to my father–i’m picking up quite well.  i’m borrowing his set of clubs and making a point to practice at the stanford golf course as much as possible.  apparently paul’s a pro (who knew?) so i’m hoping this will become a more regular and lifelong hobby.  the second is skiing, and while i have NO experience whatsoever, i’ve signed up with friends to join a share up in tahoe (crazy!) in the hopes that doing so will force me to learn.  i’m also headed to whistler for the long weekend in january.
  • i’m part of several “sports” teams, and i use the term “sports” loosely.  namely, i’m part of an intramural dodgeball team (0-2-1), our highlights being that tie with the undergraduate freshmen.  because i’m so poor at offense (i throw like a pansy), i’ve instead focused on defense and have won the team a handful of saves.  dude, some people take their dodgeball quite seriously though!  the other team i’m a part of is a beer pong team which is being played tournament style.  we were undefeated until just this past thursday, which sucked.
  • even two months in, i’ve had my fill of theme parties and weekend excursions.  the first major party of the year was an 80s party where i donned a mullet, neon jacket, and eye shadow (see photos for proof).  weekends have been busy, too, with a trip up to tahoe national forest for fly fishing (where i caught two gorgeous rainbow trout!), an mba conference in san francisco, and forty-eight hours in miami courtesy of uncle bain.  probably my most memorable trip was to venice beach in half moon bay with what’s starting to become my “crew”–mostly folks from my outward bound river rafting trip.  one saturday afternoon, we grabbed food, blankets, and a football for a relaxing day away from campus.  it was nice.
  • i met margaret cho in person!!!  and i have the photo to prove it.  man, she’s still hilarious as ever, and i can now die a happy man.

  there’s so much more i’d like to share but alas it’s getting late and i need to get back to studying for midterms.  so until i can write again, i leave you with a photocollage of the past two months, courtesy of slide.

  miss you guys!  and please forgive that i haven’t been better in touch!

  

   

   

  • 7:02 am
  • 4 Comments