2014 Reflections and 2015 Goals

When I look back on the things that occurred in 2014, I have to say, I truly believe that it was a great year for me. Though we started out the year with sadness, it ended with such great happiness and joy.

2014 Reflections:

JANUARY- Went to Miami, FL with some college buddies and had a blast! Started the third semester of my graduate program.
FEBRUARY- ( I can't recall anything big happening during this month.)
MARCH- My first pub crawl in Milwaukee, WI for St. Patty's day with friends. Went to Ohio for the Midwest Asian American Student Union (MAASU) Spring conference with UWW's SAO. Decided that Long and I wanted to get married :) <3
APRIL- Attended a cultural trip in MN with UWW students. I went to a Buddha temple for my very first time.
MAY- Celebrated Mother's Day, Paxton's Bday, and Mel's Bday
JUNE- Road tripped with my family to Colorado. We camped in the Rocky Mountains for a few nights, spent the day in Denver, CO and ate a Asian Cajun (it was delicious!), drove down and camped out at the Great Sand Dunes for one night. Spent one night in Kansas City, MO on the way back home. Watched the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA broad way show for the very first time. Went with Long to our very first concert at Summerfest watching Bruno Mars. Long started his law enforcement job.
JULY- Spent July 4th up in MN with my sisters and friend.
AUGUST- Moved to our new place. Photo shoot with SMPQ. Started my Career Development internship at BTC.
SEPTEMBER- Started my last semester of graduate school. Went wedding dress shopping with my sisters and BFF and purchased THE DRESS.
OCTOBER- Celebrated my QUARTER of a CENTURY birthday and did our house warming together. Experienced my first time at a strip club. Did another pub crawl for HALLOWEEN.
NOVEMBER- Celebrated a college buddy's birthday in Wis Dells. Spent Thanksgiving in my hometown.
DECEMBER- Finished graduate school!!! Got a job offer at my alma mater! Spent Christmas with both our families.

As I start the new year (2015), there are a few things I want to keep in mind:

1. Be you and do YOU.
2. Forgive and forget. There were some people that used to be in my life that I held a grudge against because of stupid reasons. Well they weren't stupid to me then but now when I think about it, it is pretty darn stupid. They once had a spot in my life, but now they're just like any other person to me. I can't help what happened. Maybe I didn't try hard enough to console or speak up, but what happened, happened. It's done. It's time to move on and stop thinking about it.
3. Choose your friends wisely. This point falls closely with number two. Even though I've lost a few friends who I used to be close with, I found that I was able to gain numerous more. And no it's not because I felt the need to have a big group of friends to make me feel good. But that's what college is all about. Meeting new people and building new relationships. I am so thankful that I was able to meet so many new people and still keep a close connection with those that matter to me. Your friends should be like your family when you're away. They should be your backbone, your biggest supporters, your encouragement, your happiness, etc. By now I know who are genuinely my real friends and who are not. 
4. Pray for your enemies and those who have hurt you. This may be hard for one to do, but it must be done. No matter how much they hurt you or how many times, you should always pray for them. I am going to try hard to do this as much as I can. There's no point in holding grudges or getting revenge. Cast those negative feelings and thoughts aside. There should be no room in your life for all that negativity.

 "Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."

Jesus isn't telling us to forgive our brothers 490 times, or 70 times, or 77 times. He's telling us we should always forgive our brothers when they have sinned against us. God in heaven has forgiven us all of humanity's sins. How wrong it would be for us to deny our brothers and sisters a similar forgiveness for much lesser matters.

5. Always be thankful and give thanks. I am generally really good at this already but in the new year I want to continue doing this because you can never be too thankful for anything.

6. Wedding preparations. It's true. I am getting married this year! August 28 & 29 are the big days! Dress is ordered. Right now I just need to talk to my Pastor then book the hotel. Well there's more preparing to do than this but those are the big ones for now. Oh and we must continue to save, save, save!

7. Stay healthy. By this I do not mean do tons of working out and cutting my diet in half. This just means stop sitting on the couch all day and do at least 30mins of cardio. Also, watch what I'm eating and don't indulge too much (that's so hard though!).

8. LOANS, LOANS, LOANS. Start paying my loans :( I'm hoping this won't hurt as bad as I think it does.

9. Make time for family and friends.

10. Think of babies! 

Best Christmas Present

As I was writing my last post, I received an email from the Director of Advising at my alma mater. I had applied for an emergency hire position as an Academic Advisor a few weeks earlier. She finally replied back and told me that they had already made the offer for that position to someone else. But she wanted to meet with me in person to get to know me a little better. I called her immediately and set up an appointment to meet with her the following Monday.

Monday finally came around. I went in to meet with her after my internship. I got there early and was super tired, so I sat in my car for about 30 minutes before going in.

Long story short, I was offered a different emergency hire position as an Advisor there. The offer was made and accepted that same day. I went in with no intentions of getting an offer whatsoever, but I did and I was so happy and excited!

I couldn't turn down the offer. It was one of the two options I wanted to be after graduate school, a great way to get my foot in the door, plus it was at my alma mater where I already knew how they system works. Everything worked out so well. This was literally the BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT ever!

I start January 5th and am so excited to begin a new journey! Thank you Lord Jesus Christ!

What's Next?

As I finished my very last class and presentation in last night's class, I was so totally geeked out that I am OFFICIALLY done with school and homework FOREVER. Yikes!

But now what do I do? Oh wait, there are a list of things I shall now accomplish!

1. Finish Fated To Love You, then start a new K-Drama. 
2. Find a job in my related field of interest (in the next 3-6 months or less)
3. Start paying off those student loans (Nooooo.....)
4. Get HITCHED. (It's been 10 years. How much longer should we wait?)
5. Start a family. (I feel like I'm on the late wagon compared to my peers who've already started this chapter of their lives.)

Though I am done with school, my learning will still continue each and every day. I plan to learn more about my own culture and traditions. I want to capture more of who I am inside and out. Lastly, I just want to L I V E free and loud!

A Sweet Success

So, I decided to start blogging again. I kept finding inspiration from other people who are blogging about their own personal stories and wanted to do one about mine. Now why???

1. Just because I can.
2. I want to track my life's timeline that includes meeting goals, high achievements, big life happenings, etc...

I don't really know where to start but I guess I can start here:

As of Saturday, December 13th, 2014, I graduated from a university in Wisconsin where I completed my Masters program! The program that I pursued for two more years, upon completion of my undergraduate degree (BBA, Human Resources Management), was Higher Educational Leadership (my PASSION). In my 25 years of living and breathing, never would I have thought that I would continue on with my education after receiving my bachelors degree to pursue something that I was really, truly passionate about. Buuuuuut, I sure am darn glad that I did.

Now a lot of you may ask me, "Exactly, what is higher educational leadership?" And to be honest, there really is no RIGHT definition to for it. But in my own words, I would define it as, "the growth and development of students in a higher education institution in becoming future leaders." Hmm... Not bad, right?

Anyways, I've had my mind set on becoming an Academic Advisor or Career Advisor upon completion of this program. Why? I enjoy working with students, more specifically, working with them one-on-one. I enjoy getting to know them and assisting them with finding the right career path. Throughout my whole entire high school career and onto my college career, I've had so many great mentors who helped me to get where I am. I thought, why not do the same to the students who really actually need the help? It can't be that hard.... (Truthfully, only time will tell about that.)

I also have a great passion for writing and editing student resumes. Although, honestly, at times student grammatical and spelling errors can annoy me, I still LOVE doing it! Something about the resume really drives me and makes me motivated to fix it up, make sure it's in the right format, template, and has all the correct verbiage. Now that's called P A S S I O N period

Back to graduation day. As I woke up early that morning and got myself ready to walk across that stage, I felt proud and a huge sense of accomplishment. Though my brothers and sisters were not able to attend the ceremony, my biggest supporters were there to watch me, MOM & DAD. As I walked across that stage, shook the Chancellors hand, hugged the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and received the empty diploma case, I thought to myself, "Wow, you really did it. You REALLY did." I walked down the stage and looked up to where my parents sat, and as I did that, I put on a huge smile and waved at them thinking how proud they must be that their daughter completed her Masters degree.

Everyone has their own stories about their parents but just knowing that my parents were able to raise 10 kids upon arriving to the United States with no English, it just amazes me how well we were brought up, and how far all of us kids have gone. My parents tell my siblings and me all the time that because they are not smart, they get stuck with the least desired (factory, company, assembly line) jobs . Now, I think the complete opposite of them regardless of what kind of job they hold.

My parents are smart because they knew that they had to go take English language classes to be able to survive in the U.S. Even when they had no babysitter, they took us to class with them (I remembered this because I was one who went with them.). They knew they had to provide food, shelter, and clothing for us so they went out to find work. They knew that if they wanted their children to have better lives, they should give their children an education. Even with 10 kids they were able to make sure we had an enjoyable Christmas, birthday, Halloween, etc.

My parents have got to be something the most inspiring people I have ever met. They raised all of us kids to be hardworking and to work for what we want. They paved the path to success for us. So THANK YOU Mom and Dad for being smart enough to do what you had to for all of us 10 kids and always putting us first.

Lastly, WE DID IT! Thank you for all of your love and support! Ua tsaug kuv Niam thiab kuv Txiv.