Hello World!
I have not been a voluble blogger for a long while. That could be a symptom of my being an "American," [this is where I would say: LOL!]. I realize that I have been living in the US now for 11 years this coming August 2014. Time goes way to swiftly, and if you're not careful, dreams and aspirations could be victims of time too.
Four years ago in 2010, I finally begun a masters program, an item which I've steadfastly pinned on my to-do list since I was in high school. I went through a whole journey of taking classes trying to figure out what I was passionate about, thinking Economics was going to be my niche. And then I decided it did not seem creative enough. In Massachusetts, I realized that Urban Planning clicked for me. Not only did it involve economics and research, it also asked you to think "design."
So started my relationship with San Jose State University. One of the only two institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area offering a masters program in Urban Planning. It only took two classes (taken as electives) for one to be specialized in Urban Design. I have taken both of them. Of course, they were top two of my favorite classes. Everything else was, well, just a requirement.
If I stayed on track, I was supposed to have graduated Fall 2013. But I really have been off the program since Spring 2013 (it is already Spring 2014). The year 2013 was filled with family issues, and also unparalleled stress at work. I let both of them take over. In other words, I took a break. Everything else that I've also put on breaks still have been on break, until today. For these years, I have not actively blogged, I have only sporadically taken photographs, have not done any big traveling, and still have a just-"OK" career. I am not satisfied that everything that I have accomplished so far are only the things that were simply "required": hard work, closing out projects, finishing courses.
I have only my masters thesis left to do, and it has been painful for me to start finishing the latter half of it. I really just have to do it, before my commitment of fulfilling my requirements simply fizzles dry. I will be back to announce how I made out with that.
In the meantime, this brings to mind an enduring facet of American life. We all have "requirements." And that is, to work and pay our bills.
Life, my friends, is not just full of requirements. It also presents a lot of opportunities for us to enjoy, dabble, and be passionate about things outside of our boxes. Stretch out the boxes, and burst the bubbles you are living in! The skills we will need a lot of times will come from those "requirements." What to do with those skills, well, the requirements will not teach you that. That is the stuff you just have to figure out on your own. Good luck to you, and good luck to me!
