RAYS OF SUNSHINE.

me with the stata sign in 2014 So, let's recap on where I was last on this blog: hopeful, going into my interview, which went incredibly well last Wednesday. Now, in the interim, my temp agency got me a short-term, data-entry gig at no other place than   MIT Admissions . me in 2010, pre-graduation from Burlington High School I feel like I am living in a sitcom right now. How can I portray HOW ridiculously full circle this opportunity was? My tenuous, pre-frosh connections to MIT include: my dance teacher who worked here for about 6 years her kids are alumni ( '10. '13 ) now, and were the accomplished family friends to whom my parents always looked to for inspiration and comparison signing up, and never making it to Splash! after CTY every summer… sorry, MIT!  MIT SAT prep classes performing/practicing at Kresge multiple times volunteering for MITHAS  OBSESSING over MIT blogs, especially Mollie  & Jess Kim  circa 2006-2008 h...

In so many ways, I have reached an impasse in my life. It is an easy thing to be frank or honest with your friends, even easier to tear up a family member because they can take what you have dealt them all these years in fits and identity crises, but it is an entirely different challenge to be true, just, fair, open, trusting, and HONEST with your own self. When Aesop and the Bible and Hammurabi said those things about the Golden Rule, and "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", they did not factor into account that oftentimes we treat others with much more kindness and generosity than we ever treat ourselves. I know that in every hard and stressful situation, I put my blinders on not unlike the horses in Montreal. I can only go charging full speed ahead, eating from my trough and occasionally taking a break to take inventory of my hardware and my bodily functions. It becomes hard to not only see the light and smell the roses, but I am so consumed by the apparen...

so it's september 11th. a day that now is recognized in history books. a date that is older than all elementary school children. a date filled with dread for those capable of remembering, and a date forever filled with guarded urgency, felt alongside utter patriotism and gratitude for humanity. i remember reflecting on 9/11, as it is now called, and thinking that no other date in human history is filled with so many different projected emotions. for south asians, it is the day where we took the place of our japanese brethren and had finally experienced that rite of passage that is true blue collar hatred and racism. the problematic nature of classist society--the lack of education-- causing our families to be targeted in any and every capacity. temples and gatherings were secretly or openly watched. students couldn't engage in cultural discussions for fear of being thought of as extremists. and to this day, a gathering of brown students is often seen as having a radi...

I say this yearly now, but my heart can't take it. Every year people honor the victims and heroes of NYC, and while I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment, it ignores an aching sore in the American hear-- what about Balbir Singh Sodhi, an elderly Sikh-American racially targeted the next days after 9/11? What about the thousands of hate crimes and racially charged incidents all over the United States, United Kingdom, and the world over? What about the communalism and divisiveness that has only grown more pointed since 9/11? Last year was the 10th anniversary. One decade. The mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came to USC to make a speech. There were initiatives made, promises whispered, the resounding response seemed like it had a reasonable chance for success. One year later, and we have already grown complacent. We have barely integrated our new charges into those established initiatives. We have barely brought up this national tragedy, relegating it to a generic Facebook post ...

I have decided to post my blogs about my family vacation to Florida from 8/15 to 8/20.  Here's the second one, August 17th: our day at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral!   (These are directly transcribed from my written diary on my iPad.)      At this NASA Center, we first took a lot of pictures, then we checked out the Early Space Exploration exhibit, waiting for the lunch with the astronaut Charlie Walker. He presented about "food in space"while we ate fried ravioli, salad, TANG, and apple pie. Then, I asked a question during the Q&A. We proceeded to take pictures with Charlie Walker and then watched the old IMAX movie about the International Space Center. We continued to check out some of the NASA art before the shuttle and simulator. (I went, the 3 wimps didn't!) Then I went to the Space Store to wait for the Charlie Walker signing, buying some reasonably priced souvenirs for me and Adi. I went to the Hubble 3D at...