Perhaps a final choice.

After six horrible, dreadful months of planning, paying, applying, and waiting for colleges/universities, the hectic yet exhilarating race is over. I still do not understand the whole "Moment of Our Lives: April 1st" kind of gig since I did get my replies from all the universities four days before the actual day. Thank goodness for internet. Maybe they should call it, "Moment of Our Lives: Last weeks of March."

After receiving the results, there's not much to contemplate of which schools I should go to. So I guess I'll just post up the results now...

Accepted: UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, Wellesley, USC, Cal Berkeley
Rejected: Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UCLA

Considering that Cal is the #1 public school in America and it saves alot more money than USC, my parents are pretty sure and psyched that I'm going to Cal. There's not much to say other than that.

Excited? Kind of. Yet intimidated and scared. Hopefully Cal Day will change my mind.

A Sweet Side to everything

This blog originally was created to make describe, comment, and critique on foods. I may be not as pro as most other people on the internet, but I still have a passion for eating. So, I might as well fulfill the purpose the blog once more rather than only rant about ubiquitous high school issues.

In the sunny southern California, many would line up for ice creams or frozen yogurts in those bright, chic stores filled with either barrels of ice cream or chopped, frozen fruits. Taiwan's version of ice cream, shaved ice, is anything but cream, with the exception of the sweet, rich condensed milk that is drizzled all over the ingredients. Simple yet satisfying, I beg to differ that ice cream can make the summer greater than Taiwanese shaved ice. From fruits to grass jelly, shaved ice conquers with its versatility to add virtually anything on top of the ice.

Cheaper than going to Pinkberry and spend money on an overpriced, tiny bowl of freeze dried "yogurt."

this college MAYHEM

Dwelling among affluent families in an affluent neighborhood, I realized that most high school students are very spoiled. Yes, I repeated the word "affluent" just to emphasize really, how spoiled most of us are. We are able to afford many college/SAT institutions in which we high school students attend for our own benefit. We then feel confident that we will do well since we attend to some of the most prestigious (but the most expensive) places to prepare us for the exams. Some of us also follow a legacy of attending to the most outstanding schools in the country. We become so spoiled and over-confident and we lose the sense of reality.

The reality that most of us won't get what we want. However, that's the thing that most teenagers don't understand around here. We don't get what we always want. We can afford the latest technologies and afford the nicest clothing, but we cannot impress the colleges with our fortune.

Some of us add, "Why? Why can't I get into the school that I've been wanting to go to for __ years?" (you can fill that in yourself). We continue to state this rhetorical question and read the rejection letter a few more times, just to make sure that our eyes didn't trick us.

It's amazing how overconfident people can be. The day after the UCLA decisions came in, seniors who applied were either ecstatic or groggy the whole day. Some believed that they should have been accepted and felt degraded that this school, full of glamor and prestige, should accept them as well.

There were times when I would just want to mercilessly smack them across the face. They seriously need a reality check.

Despite the fact that I didn't get into UCLA (oh boo hoo), I was in fact very grateful that I was. Throughout high school, my parents' dreams were for me to get into UCLA. Through all the institutions that I went through to either prepare for the SATs or for colleges, my mother would always come in and tell everything that I wanted to get int UCLA and it was MY dream school.

Oh really now? I could have said that if it was my dream school.

From dinner tables to meeting with college counselors, my mother would always ask questions if I was ever able to make it to my "dream school." Not only was it extremely annoying and embarrassing, but it also made me feel rebellious to whatever my mother said. I asked her, "If I get into LA and into the privates (Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Wellesley, and USC), which ones Too bad I killed her hopes?

Sure, UCLA is a great school. However, I think this whole "OMG, I DIDN'T GET INTO LA" is getting too dry. Maybe people should be grateful of what they got into so far rather than living on the edge of false hope.

Life goes on. There's always transfer or graduate school. Doors are opened to you, it's just the matter if people would walk into those doors.

By the way, if you REALLY want to know what I got into, here it is.

Accepted: UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, and USC
Waiting on: UC Berkeley, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, and Wellesley
Rejected: UCLA

updates of me

March is a very interesting month. Heck, drama here and college acceptances and rejections there, everything is so spontaneous!

I lack creativity everyday.
But attempting to do so and fail, I will make a bullet outline update of some events:

MARCH.
tues. 4 - Got Teddy's vaccinations done. We found out he has a belly button and how much he hates shots.

fri. 7 - Bought some Ten Ren's and cooked dinner with Connie to feed the hungry boys (Jono&Eric). Watched Fiddler on the Roof that night and had some unexpected and disappointing surprises. I'm sure Mandy knows too.

tues. 11 - CAHSEE SUPER LATE START. hung out at Ken's house as they played Brawl. Cooked breakfast at his house and looked after his adorable dog. Met up with Connie and Jessica for brunch and attempted to take pictures at Cue (they were closed though). Came to school at 12:25PM.

wed. 12 - Late start. Went to Maxim Cafe with Connie, Sandra, Clarice, Bella, and Jono.

fri. 14 - Met up at Jono's house to decorate shirts. Ate dinner at Barro's Pizza and bought some more supplies at Joann's. Played BRAWL. Awesome game! Good with Gamecube controllers though.

sat. 15 - Cousin David and Olivia's Wedding! Chased after crab cakes and danced the night off. Got sick :(

shredded from patience and tolerance

"What is tolerance? -- it is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly -- that is the first law of nature." -Voltaire

There are degrees of difficulty in practicing tolerance. I'm sure that many of us have practiced it often and may either succeed or failed. However, there are people that I cannot tolerate at all because they cannot tolerate others.

Does that make sense??

these high school goals

A little 8th grader who was eager to "graduate," I was amazed and inspired by Walnut High, and wanted to be involved in many extra curriculars.

Unfortunately, I accomplished many that I didn't plan for.

Some high school regrets that I wished I was involved in were:
1) Be a part of drumline. Oh gosh, I remember being so speechless during that orientation.
2) Have a part of a play/musical. I should have tried out this year!
3) Be a part of Yearbook. Not sure about that now...

Well.. those were a few of my silly ambitions. I guess there are a couple more that I can fulfill.

1) Be nominated for Prom. That would be pretty cool. Haha, I always daydream being nominated for some type of school dance. It would be nice. I don't even want to win, just being nominated would be nice.

Haha even more of a silly ambition right?

attitude? better zip that mouth up.

Hate or appreciate are the two major thoughts that have been revolving around my tiny head this whole week. However, it's more as though I've received more of hate from others when I wish they would appreciate for what I do.

I'm not the kind of person who seeks drama as if it's something exciting (well, sometimes I do), but more like I try to avoid it as much as possible. Little did I know though I've ran into so much of this cursed high school drama this week that my body is physically and mentally wiped out and my eyes are puffing and burning every moment I blink.

I lost a friend because of his haughty ambitions. I had to confront a friend along with others with the problems that we had. Finally, I feel as though I'm not getting enough appreciation from my twin brothers for the things that I do for them.

Who would have known that these conflicts have fallen into the three catagories that are included in my life everyday: Extra curriculars, friendship, and family.

This week was just perfect. What can get worse?

no, me first!

Those are the only words that can so clearly describe my mother.

As a plan in case my mother refuses to help me purchase a laptop for college purposes, I've decided to save 60% of what I make to that "funding." Though, I may just spontaneously change my mind and fulfill my obsession of getting a new cell phone (Sony Ericsson K660?), so I thought this might just be a "saving" for expensive needs of technology.

After punching some numbers in the calculator, I realized that I may not be able to afford a laptop that I would want. Would want is they key my lovelies. No, I'm not just looking for another Dell or Hewlett-Packard that actually competes against my parents' company. Oh no, I'm looking for hopefully a 1) Sony Vaio or 2) Apple Macbook/Macbook Pro.

An Apple product, Stephanie?! Yes, I am clearly known to dislike Apple products. Especially for its iPods. I find that they overprice their dedicated customers. Last year, I got a Samsung Y9 4GB mp3 player for $20 less than the Apple Nano 4GB, and the Y9 had more features than the Nano. But let me explain here, I would like a laptop that is convenient, reliable, and fast. Owning about three failing laptops featuring Windows, I think I am up for something new. However, the overpriced factor of the Macbook is hindering my decision at the moment. If I end up wanting to purchase one though, it better not be white.

Last resort? Hope I get into a school that my parents want me to get into. I don't want to go to UCLA, but if I end up with a stroke of luck, a strong stroke of luck, then my parents may end up be so happy that they will happily help me buy a laptop. We'll see?