Reflections and Images

 For the past two years, I have been blogging every so often, but I never asked myself why I blogged. The main reason I blog is to store and organize my thoughts that I keep hearing in my brain. These thoughts range from past memories to feelings of disappointment or anger. By writing my thoughts, I gain some clarity. Also, blogging serves as a form of self-reflection that I need to do on a regular basis or else my brain still acts fuzzy.  Although I write a lot of posts that aren't positive, I have a pretty good life. The reason that I tend to write a lot of negative things about myself on the blog is that if I don't write about bad things, then they keep bothering me. Worse, I may not learn from my mistakes or lessons. Still, I will try to balance out the negative content with some positive content because I want this blog to be useful for others. I don't want a blog where I all I do is criticize myself for failing to live up to my expectations. Instead, I want this websi...

 The greatest irony as a blogger is that I feel scared of what I will share online. As a result, I prevent myself from writing quite a few topics that I should write. One fear is that I don't want potential readers to judge me like my classmates at school. The other concern is that when I end up finding internships in college, I don't want the recruiters to be reading my blog by searching my name on Google. The reason is that I don't want them to know about my weaknesses and bad side of me. However, my fear is irrational because they will probably understand that everyone has weaknesses and will sometimes not live up to their values. Another worry now rises in my head when I think about how my parents will view me differently when they read this blog. I believe that they only read the blog a couple of times.  By having these worries, I cannot be vulnerable on the blogs. By doing so, this prevents me from being a good blogger. In my opinion, the blogs I enjoy the most are on...

My 6th grade friend and I walk to the library after lunch, but two girls stop us in our tracks. I knew one of them disliked my friend and could sense that something bad was going to happen. The first girl taunts my friend, "You like Richard, don't you? You like a dick." I don't believe what I am hearing. "No, I don't. Please stop," says my friend. The situation doesn't get any better. "Your last name is Padhi. Sounds like potty." The second girl laughs with her friend. I am horrified.  How could this be happening in my school that always preached about kindness? I am standing by my 6th grade friend, but I don't tell these bullies to shut up or say how racist they are. I manage to mumble a few words, whispering to my friend, "Let's go."  Although my memory about that incident is not that clear as I don't recall all the details, I will never forget the feelings I experienced. There were two people saying awful things to ...

I feel a bit bad I am writing about MIT  because I don't want to make this blog solely talking about MIT. Sometimes I feel like writing college blog posts will further cultivate the toxic culture that plagues many students: the desire to go to a top college.  I put quotation marks around advice because I am not even a professional college counselor or teacher. I am simply an admitted student who is not even an adult. I am concerned that my ideas or thoughts might misguide students and enter the wrong path.   Without further ado, let's get started!  Cultural Background (Optional):  While the essay is optional, I strongly recommend that you attempt to write that short essay. I think it was easier for me to write that prompt because I lived in Taiwan as a preteen and that helped me understand my Chinese identity. In my essay, I mentioned my appreciation of Chinese culture and described the changes I experienced over time, specifically how I learned more about ...

Note: I am sorry that I am writing this during a time when a lot of people got rejected from their dream schools while I am here talking about a good thing that happened to me. For those that are rejected, understand that you will find a better school that fits you in the coming months! For those deferred, understand that there are so many options out there, and do not limit yourself to one school.  Today MIT's early action results came out at 3:14 PM Eastern Time (pi=3.14, get it). I live in California, so it came out at 12:14 PM. The hours leading up to 12:14 PM were excruciating. I spent hours thinking about the fact that my rejection was going to happen, yet one part of my mind kept telling me, "What if you got in?" I felt like my heart was about to burst any minute. I couldn't focus on anything, which meant I couldn't even study Chemistry Olympiad. I hated myself for doing nothing in the entire morning. I feel silly to exaggerate the waiting period, but for m...

"What would you have said to your 2016 self?"  This college interview question threw me off. Despite spending hours preparing for the interview by reading 160+ questions online, I did not come across this type of question. The first answer that came into my mind wasn't how I would have told my 2016 self to not take things in Taiwan for granted, whether it was the simple pleasures of eating tofu pudding or using public transport to explore the city. Instead, the first thing I told my interview was that "I wished I wasn't so obsessed with vegetarianism." The moment I finished my sentence, I knew this would raise some eyebrows. Worse, what if my interviewer was vegetarian or even vegan? I clarified by saying, "What I meant was that I wished I was more careful about what online sources I read." Unpleasant memories of times I read vegan blogs and activist websites came up.  After the interview, I thought about my response to the question not only becaus...