workspaces

mine right now. FML.

9 AND A HALF HOURS TILL DOOM

WHAT IS THIS. I JUST ATE MY LAST MEAL TREMBLING.

IVY LEAGUES, I HOPE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING TO US.

Colleges.

This is probably as personal as I'm ever going to get here.  But I had to give it a post before I erupt out of excitement.  I can't waaiitt to get out of here and go to college.

So far (in the US), I've got NYU, Boston College and Amherst in the bag.  Williams waitlisted me, but whatever (what does that mean?  Not literally, but what does that imply?  That they want me, kind-of-don't-want-me, think-that-I-don't-want-them, what?)

I will have to choose one of these (and out of hopefully more, come Wednesday).  Some stats:

Amherst College

Location: Massachusetts, USA

Campus: Suburban

Colors: Purple and white

Mascott: Lord Jeffrey Amherst

Endowment: $1.7 billion USD

Financial Aid to Intl Students: YES

US News and Report World Ranking: #1 for Liberal Arts

Boston College

Location: Massachusetts, USA (???)

Campus: Suburban

Colors: Maroon and gold

Mascott: Baldwin the Eagle

Endowment: #1.63 billion USD

Financial Aid to Intl Students: NO (and it costs some $52,000 to go there)

US News and Report World Ranking: 34th

New York University

Location: New York, USA

Campus: Urban (it doesn't have a campus...)
Colors: Violet and White

Mascott: Bobcat

Endowment: $2.5 billion USD (woah) (I just realized that the IVY league endowments are like... 17 billion each or something, with exception to monster-rich Harvard).

Financial Aid to Intl Students: Probably, but I didn't apply :(

US News and Report World Rankings: 33rd

So...  What now?

Was sadly wait-listed from Williams, though.

YOUTUBE WITHDRAWAL: Day 1

10 minutes ago, I deleted my Youtube account and vowed to embark on a journey of soul-cleansing and re-self-discovery.

Let me tell you this - for 2 years, I have been a faithful Youtube user. It all started when Jobo sent me a Naruto episode via MSN (when I was addicted to chatting, of course) and I was struck by the wonders of the Internet. I looked up Kenshin and had 96 episodes of beauty open up to me. My "total number of videos watched" count climbed up to 3,500 in my first few months.

I was 14.

This is totally not to something written to be funny. Of course, a lot of people could be reading this and laughing their heads off, but it's been really difficult. Already, I'm regretting my decision. People don't realize how hard it is to be working and resist the urge to take a 5 minute break to watch a little video.... and then that 5 minutes turns into 30, and then an hour, and then 2 and then 6.

Only today, I was chatting with a friend, who wrote, "Since when have you become a fan girl?" And then I had an epiphany - I was a fan girl. What were my hobbies? When was the last time I hung out with anyone? I've realized how much of my academic life was wasted away, and I've decided to do something about it. I could very well be sleeping at 10, or using those hours wasted and still sleep at 3/4 but be productive enough to use my good brain.

So begins day 1 of my withdrawal, and the beginning of my "Overcoming an Addiction" series of this blog. Believe me, I am not being melodramatic. My friends will know how serious I am about this.

Falling Off the Earth

"Falling Off The Earth"

It's funny how adamant I was about the BT not publishing my sister's essay because I felt that, once it was out, the entire High School (not just the ones who have already known me and my tragic background) would know that I was the younger sister of an insanely good writer soon to be graduating Yale in the spring of next year. I still feel the same way, and I know that once the name gets out, everything I do will be in the shadow of her undeniable reputation. Just like applying to the damned school... I get in, it's goes unnoticed, like something long predicted. I get rejected, and it's almost atrocious (on my part). Either way, comparisons are going to be made...

This piece had to coincide with my sister's application essay, "WHY I WRITE: A fear of falling off the Earth", which talks about how she writes to preserve things past and try, feebly, to hold her footing in an Earth that spins uncontrollably fast.

I wish I could write like that. We're all very much lost in space and trying to bring ourselves back to reality holding on is ultimately life's greatest challenge... All the escapists of the world should be given a little bubble to access and live in for a given amount of time. Of course, this is now called video gaming and virtual reality. :)