One Year Later

It's been a year since our production of The Laramie Project went onstage at The Agassiz. I was going over my notes and our DVD, and I have to admit that I became very nostalgic over the memories that overcame me. One year later, those of us involved with the production have moved on in our own separate ways: either getting into the meat of our college careers, applying for jobs, writing theses, continuing our involvement in theater, or what have you. Most of us don't even talk with each other anymore.

But, I know that personally, the people that I worked with almost full-time for an entire semester I will never forget. We poured our hearts and souls into this beautiful play, and came out with a wonderful project. I'll fondly remember our last minute haste to pull things together, painting the backdrop and building the set, just as much as I'll treasure singing "Piano Man" before our first live production as a team. Thank you also to everyone who don't even know how much they contributed to our show, from friends to strangers.

I don't know if I blogged that day, but about a month after our production, Rulon Stacey visited Harvard to see some of us and speak with us about his experiences and also hear about ours. We had a 2 to 3 hour talk that night, and Dr. Stacey showed us some of the letters he received from all over the world. I'll never forget the hate letter he showed us. "Do you cry like a baby for all your patients or just the faggots?" Just having physically seen and touched that letter was a profound experience for me, since I had been seeing it in the script for so long.

In any case, this just got me in a reflecting mood. Thank you Matthew, for giving me such a life-shaping experience as one I'll never forget.

Michael Jackson and Beijing

I know this post is one of a bajillion that talks about Michael Jackson, but writing from Beijing, it's interesting to note how even here, in China, his death is being mourned/recognized. Riding the cab today, Michael Jackson's songs were being played at almost every station, including the news stations. What really made me think about him, however, was when I went to a famous club in Beijing (because two of my male compadres wanted to go), and Michael Jackson was being played even in their halls, unexpectedly. I couldn't imagine a better memorium for Michael Jackson than having a thriving, dancing, joyous international group of young adults, clubbing to his songs. Even though he stands accused of some questionable acts, I felt a deep sense of sorrow. It really hit me that he won't be able to enjoy the fruits of life anymore, just like so many others that we know and don't know of.

Partially why I felt so much sorrow was because my life has been completely, utterly, unexpectedly wonderful lately. I have never been this fortunate in my life, in terms of financial security; and more importantly, relationships with other people. My skeptical half keeps dreading the moment where all my good fortune runs out. But hopefully, it won't. We'll see.

Free Bird(s)

The best times for blogging sincerely must be between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. in the morning, when hardly anyone else is up and there's nothing going on except the plethora of thoughts and memories running through your head.  Good music going through iTunes too :-), I must add (thanks Lynyrd.)  

What a year this year has been.  I'm working on the editorial for Kartika, and I can't seem to get the reflective and excited tones right, although only I know how hard I've been trying :-).  Well, perhaps now you do too.

But, it's crazy to me how much stuff has gone on this year, on a personal and global scale.  I'm really astounded by the experience that 2008 has offered us: hope, inspiration, tragedy, community, challenge, memories.  

As 2008 winds down to a close, I hope you will reflect with me what has happened.  I would be really sad if I didn't let myself soak in what's happened, good and bad.

We are, at once, free birds and wandering souls.  

End of Sophomore Year

Wow, I cannot believe that I'm already half way through college. It's been both a frighteningly fast and yet exhilarating time. I love it here. Despite the trials and tribulations, I find school to be extremely challenging, rewarding, exciting, and special. I'm really looking forward to next semester's production of The Laramie Project. I had my last final today, and I stayed up until 4 a.m. because I couldn't go to sleep! I was going through every scene in my head, and also coming up with exciting ideas for publicity, outreach, recruitment, and what have you. If you can make it, I really think it'll be worth it, definitely! We're going to work very, very hard to make this production very, very special.

Coming to Harvard, I never thought I'd be so involved in theater. I thought initially that I couldn't go back, because high school was a very special place for me, and in college I'd just study the "practical" things. Well, I've learned that if I'm not happy with the things I'm doing, I should evaluate my activities, and if I'm not happy that means there are some drastic changes that need to be in order. I'm really glad that I've determined that this semester. Teaching and Theater, I think, are things that I expect to be very challenging and yet so rewarding in the upcoming junior year.

I can't believe sophomore year is over!! I need to pack things now, and empty out my room and all its modern art posters, and ... I'm getting pretty sad just thinking about it. Just 7 hours ago, I couldn't wait to be done with my last final. Now I really want to enjoy myself before I leave. I'm sad to go.

I've learned so much these past two years!! Except right now, I've done so much work these past three weeks, with final papers, oral presentations, interviews, organizing, etc. etc. I can think of nothing better to do right now than to waste all my evening playing computer games. I don't expect these posts to be read, but if you're interested, I've posted most of my final papers and presentations that have taken up so much of my life these past few weeks. Maybe someone will learn something that took me hours and hours to write. If any of these topics interest you, I'd love to hear what you have to say! I really do.

One complaint that I know I have is that I wish I had more time to work on these papers. I think that they're good, but I know that I can make them even better if I just had 1) fewer things to do in so short a time frame and/or 2) more time in which to do the things I had to do.

Anyways, here they are, in no particular order:

Social Studies Paper on Minorities in Today's Society using Beauvoir, Freud, and Foucault as a basis for discussion.

New York City Department of Education from 2002 to 2008 School Reform Analysis. This was a group project, so both the presentation and paper are jointly authored by Sarah Kasok, Jon Sproul, and Jason Wong.

Los Angeles Unified School District Urban Education Reform up to 2008 Analysis.

Statistical Analysis on Home Environment and Income on School Behavior.

P.S. We broke 3000 hits!