My Favorite Month, December

I just came back from my hall meeting. Our RA told us about all the things and procedures we had to do before we left for our winter break. I loved winter breaks since I was very young because there is Christmas. Christmas always gave me that weird feeling. I don’t know what other holidays don’t give me that feeling and I can’t exactly explain what that feeling is like but it’s just like Christmas “butterfly”.

When I think of Christmas, as a Christian, of course I think of the birth of Jesus. That is the religious aspect. From a worldly view, however, I always relate snow to the Christmas. I think of “jingle bells” and all other Christmas Carols I can think of in my head. I think of trees those are covered with snows and there is a full moon in the sky shining down, partially covered with clouds. This Christmas scene was always in my head, and never changed ever since I was young. Even though that perfect scenario never happened in any of the Christmas, I still dreamed about that scene every Decembers, as I am thinking of that scene right now.

But I think one thing definitely changed about me when it comes to Christmas. It’s the Santa Clause issue. I think when I was about 6 and I was naïve, I actually believed in those Santas. Every December, I listened to my parents and acted really well because I believed that Santa Clauses give presents only to the good kids. So I was a very nice boy in the month of December. I did that because there were always presents in the Christmas morning. Now I know that my dad or mom put it there but when my parents told me that it was Santa Clause, when I was young, who left present there, I actually believed them. I don’t know what my parents tried to do but they either wanted to make me really happy or just transform me into a good kid.

I realized one great transformation about myself as I was growing up. I knew that Santa Clause was a fake by the age of 7. I believe that I was so into believing in Santa Clause because I only thought of myself. I only listened to my parents and tried to be a good kid so I can get MY present not because I actually cared about my parents. As I was growing older, I started to think about others when it comes to the Christmas. Of course I still want the scenes I explained above to actually occur during the Christmas but other than that, I don’t care if I get a present or not. I always start to collect money during the month of December so I can get every member of my family a present. I remember one time when I was pretty young, around 9, and I collected money for weeks so I can get a bag of chocolate for my parents. I thought they would like it because I really liked it and they actually did like it. My parents hugged me and kissed me. I was also happy and that was the first time I exactly felt the word “family”.

I think that the time that kids are starting not to believe in Santas are not because there not naïve as a kid anymore but because they are beoming more mature. As we are young, specifically myself, I think we only care and worry about ourselves. But as we are starting not to believe in Santas, we start to think other before ourselves. Consider if there is a loop around you and you only care things in that loop. As we are young, the loop is very tiny and all you care about it you. As we mature, loops also grow larger and we first start to care about family, relatives, friends, and even the “others”. I think my loop only contains up to my friends so far. Christmas is always a good time to calculate the size of your loop because the people you think of during the Christmas season, I believe, are in your caring loop.

That was my transformation story for the Christmas. Of course, after the Christmas, there is always a New Year. New Year is my second most favorite holiday of the year, right after the Christmas. When I was young, I liked New Year because Korean cultures celebrate it by adults giving out money to young children, wishing them good luck for the fresh year. But I like New Year not because of money anymore. I like New Year because it is a fresh start. It sounds very typical but I really like that fresh start feeling. I think I am going to like it even more because I am in college. Unlike high school where the grades are carried out through out whole year, college is divided into two semesters. Luckily New Year is between those two semesters and I can think about what I did, what I did well or bad, and adjust myself for the better year. I can fix myself for the new semester. That’s why I love writing down New Year’s resolution because I can actually carry out what I have to do and forget about what I did wrong in the past. New Year is the big jump I take every end of the year and I try to make that jump productive.

I love month of December because of Christmas and upcoming New Year. Even this final week, I can go through it without much stress because I think of myself relaxing and celebrating Christmas by the end of the December. Without Christmas or New Year, I think I am going to have really hard time going through these final weeks because I get so much stress. Even though my perspective about these to holidays, especially for Christmas, has changed over the years, my unexplainable feeling towards these holidays did not change. I still get excited and was excited for these holidays and I never want to lose them.

Thanksgiving Break

Last Friday, right after my first class which was like 11:00 am, I packed up my stuff to go home for a week of thanksgiving. I was very excited to go back home even though it takes about four hours of driving. At around 3:00 pm I got on back of my friend’s car and got ready to leave. We made sure that we got couple bottles of drinks and some snacks just in case we get hungry inside of the car. Then we got off the campus and got on the highway. It all seemed good for first two hours; everything went smoothly in terms of the traffic. Then, of course, there was traffic, a huge one. We literally took like two hours to drive couple miles which might have been just thirty minutes without all that traffic. My friends and I were pissed while we were in the car. “God damn, the road has so freakin’ few lanes. Why all those Radford, JMU, and other college kids are leaving today”. We just were pissed. Then from the iPod that was connected to the car came out some crazy songs. We just started to follow the beat and soon forgot about the traffic and sang aloud inside the car.

After going through the traffic, we decided to stop by McDonalds and grab some McChickens and McDoubles. Those were yummy. Then we got back in the car and drove for another two hours ‘til we got to our home. It took about extra two hours of driving because of that gay traffic. When I opened up the door of my home, my mom rushed to me and hugged me. She seemed to miss me a lot. On the other hand, my dad doesn’t express his emotions much but I could tell that he was happy that I was home for the break. The dinner was great. My mom made so many dishes of Korean traditional foods, which I missed a lot, and I ate it like there was no tomorrow. After the dinner it was about 10 pm and I was darn tired. I got on my old comfy bed and slept.

Next day, I got with my friends from the morning. I gathered with my old high school friends because many of them go to different college then me and I missed them. Oh yeah, this was Saturday. We went to theatre and watched 2012. It was not as fun as I expected because there was not really a storyline. It was just a bunch of land cracking and oceans gulfing up the land. Then we ate dinner and I got home and went to sleep. On Sunday, I went to my old church. I was glad to see church members and church friends. We had thanksgiving service so it was awfully long but food afterward was great so that made my day. After eating, my church youth group went to play basketball and after the dinner, I got back home and went to sleep.

According to my planned “schedule”, I was suppose to start studying for the final exam on the Monday of the break since I have like three final exams when I come back to VT. Plus, I was planned to go to Niagara Falls in the Canada from Thursday to Saturday of that week. So I had to start working. Apparently, I could not study for the finals because of all the seductions around me. I mean I still wanted to hang with my old friends more before I go back to VT. So on Monday, I wasted my whole day by hanging out with my friends. But I also wanted to spend my time with my family so I came back home before the dinner and went out to eat with my family.

I really had to start study for the finals on Tuesday since I could not start it on the day before. I stayed home all day on Tuesday but I think I only studied about one hour. I don’t remember what I did specifically but it was not worth remembering of. On Wednesday, I was super excited for the Niagara Falls and I packed up my clothes and other things that were necessary for the travel. Then I thought about what I was risking. I was going to Niagara Falls with my cousins and I had to miss the Thanksgiving Day with my family. That was the downside of this travel but I still wanted to go. Then there was a disaster. I checked my passport and the expiration date on the passport was passed. I was doomed. I called my cousin and said I couldn’t go. My cousin said it was fine but I could tell by his voice that he was kinda pissed because he paid for all the tickets, hotels, and everything.

I suddenly had whole time left of my break. According to my planned “schedule” Thursday, Friday, and Saturday was supposed to be filled up with Niagara Falls trip but it was suddenly free. But now that I think about it, I think my not going to the Niagara Falls was more fortunate. My family did not see me for months and having a Thanksgiving dinner with my family was a great choice. Of course, after the thanksgiving, there is Black Friday in which all the stores sell their production by half prices. I didn’t have any electronics to buy but I wanted to buy some clothes. So my friends and I went to the Tyson’s mall at 1:00am on Friday and managed to buy some clothes and shoes and really cheap price.

On Saturday, I finally started to study for the finals seriously. I don’t know why but I cannot concentrate on any of my school materials unless the deadline is within few days (or few hours like this blog). For dinner I went to Chipotle and it was good. I like Chipotle in my town the best because they know the golden ratio of meat, rice, corn, etc. Other Chipotle stores don’t seem to know the ratio. I packed up to leave for VT in Saturday night and went to sleep. On Sunday noon, I said goodbye to my parents and left my home. On the way to VT it took like seven hours because of this car crash that involved more than 10 cars. Now here I am, back to the college trying to catch up things I had to do over the break for the Final week. God, I'm so tired...

Thanksgiving and Chuseok

It’s already a Thanksgiving break. In few days, I am going back to my home in northern Virginia for nearly 10 days. Somehow, before every holiday, I tend to actually “analyze” that specific upcoming holiday such as new years, thanksgivings, Christmas, etc. So thanksgivings coming and I decided to think about that holiday, what it actually means. Obviously, some holidays like Independence Day and Christmas, their meanings are ubiquitous; America gained its Independence and Jesus was born, respectively.

For most of Americans, meaning of thanksgiving is well known because it has been a tradition since forever. For me, not as much, because of Korean tradition that I was so used to for first half of my life. In Korea, there is also a thanksgiving but in totally different sense. It is called Chuseok. It is in August 15th and it is really analogous to the thanksgiving in America. So I just decided to find some facts about the differences between American thanksgivings and Korean Chuseok.

Let’s start with American thanksgivings. It should be boring facts because we have heard about thanksgivings since we were like in elementary school. We have learned that how very first thanksgivings was originated from Plymouth plantation in America and how they were so happy about harvesting and decided to have a feast. It was to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude, mostly religiously, even though it is becoming a secular holiday nowadays. During thanksgivings, we eat turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, stuffing, carrots, and pretty much that is orangish. Then we eat turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, stuffings, carrots, and something orange. Then we gain like ten thousand calories which is like five days worth of eating. When I think of thanksgivings, eating is all I think of. I think that is why sometimes thanksgiving is referred as “turkey day”.

Now, here are some facts about Koran Chuseok. As I said before Chuseok is in August 15th. Korean Chuseok has really long history, perhaps it might have even originated 1000s years ago. Korea, during this holiday, also thanks for the good harvest. However, there is some twist to it. Unlike in America where Christianity was spread and people thanked God for the good harvest, Koreans thank ancestors. Koreans, traditionally, believe that their ancestors are protecting them from harms and unfortunate events and give them a good luck. During Chuseok, Korean families gather and moms make traditional dishes for Chuseok. Many of those dishes contain wheat, rice, fall fruits such as apple and pears. Specifically, there is food called Song-pyun. It is somewhat like dumpling but instead of all the meat and veggies inside it, honey, beans and sesame seeds are in it. Song-pyun is the food that really represents Korean Chuseok, which is somewhat similar to the turkey for the American thanksgiving. Since each song-pyun making is so time taking and needs delicate detail, usually whole family sits around a huge table—including dads, children, and moms – and they all make it together. After preparing all the food, moms lays out all the foods on the plates and lay them neatly down on the table with ancestor’s portrait in the center. Then all of the families bow down to it. It is believed that during the family’s bow, spirits of the ancestors come and “eat” the food. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Koreans wear this traditional dress called hanbok during this holiday. One of the most “horrifying event” during Korean Chuseok is the traffic jam. Majority – like more than 90% of younger generations - of Korean population lives in the urban area and most of seniors live in rural area. During the Chuseok break, around 75% of population in urban area tries to go down to the rural area, to their parents' house. Korea is overpopulated country and it literally takes more than 10 hours of driving that usually takes less than one hour during the regular days. That is why news media refers Chuseok sometimes as “massive population shift”.

There are some pro-founding similarities between Korean Chuseok and American thanksgiving. They both have own distinct traditional foods. Also they are thanking for the good harvest year. And they are both family gathering event and very good at making people fat. However some differences are that during American thanksgiving, God is usually thanked for most of the American families, whereas in Korean Chuseok, ancestors are thanked.

For me, every thanksgiving has been kind of a fusioned holiday, the fusion of American thanksgiving and Korean Chuseok. Since my parents both lived their majority of life in Korea, they are very used to Chuseok. I have few families over here in America and during the thanksgiving, that is 4th Thursday of November, we gather at one place and have a feast and thankings. This is where the fusion comes in. In terms of date we celebrate at, we are celebrating American thanksgiving. But when it comes to food, we celebrate both American thanksgiving and Korean Chuseok. The moms make turkey dinner and some traditional Korean foods. I love it because I both like Korean and American dishes. One thing we absolutely don’t follow from Korean Chuseok is bowing down to the ancestors. My family is super Christians and we believe that bowing down to anything other than God is against the Ten Commandments. But I think we keep two important things from both holidays. That is family gathering and thanking.

I think both the American thanksgiving and Korean Chuseok implies the importance of family knot. Most families don’t see each other because they are so busy during the year but during that day, the Thanksgiving, everyone gathers and have fun with each other. Also, we give thanks for safety throughout the year. Even though we don’t thank for the harvest because we are not farmers, we still thank those hard working farmers who are working really hard to provide us foods. My family and I might be celebrated both holidays in one day. But I think the differences between thanksgiving and Chuseok does not matter. Only thing that matter is their similarities and the importance of them.

Time is Fast

Just today, at Biology Lab class, my teacher told us some announcements and one announcement blew my mind out. She said that we had three weeks of class left, including today’s class and it’s time to eat turkey already. And after that we already are going to have a final exam. I was like what??? It’s already time for the final exam???

I mean it feels like this very first college semester just has started if not two or three weeks. It happens to be other way around. Fall semester of 2009 is already closing to the end. Time does really fly by and I think it goes faster as we grow older. I don’t know why it is have to be that way, but sadly it is. As I grow older, I think of so many more things I want to do and I have to do but time does not seem to understand my feeling.

I remember the first time I went to elementary school and feeling all grown up. From my small home, where I used to stay all day to the big school building kind of gave me the sense of independence. It is really funny when I think about it now because in elementary school, you actually lose independence. Why the hell do you have to ask your teacher to go to the bathroom when you can go to the bathroom anytime you want in your home? Plus, you have to sit on assigned seat everyday and not obeying that “law” will cause you a lunch detention. Wow, eating inside the class instead of in cafeteria, so scary. Oh yeah, never forget about the Principal’s office where all the bad kids go. I think I went there once because I stick a gum on my classmate’s hair. I don’t know why I did that but that kid must have pissed me off first. See, these are just few examples I experienced in elementary school. Not significant. I never wanted or had to do those actions, but somehow I remember those insignificant actions. For me, I think elementary school felt really long at least 10 years, not that I really went elementary school for 10 years…

After graduating elementary school, I went to the middle school. And again, I felt all grown up when I came to middle school. First, you get your own locker; it’s like your own little space. Then also the building is so much bigger compared to that of the elementary school. Still there were some restrictions such as writing passes wherever you go. And even though you have that pass, securities just yell at you, where you going kid??? every time they see you in the hall. You just have to get used to it and learn to ignore it after a while. I think that is all I remember from middle school. Oh year, I forgot about one thing. You actually start to care about the GRADES and it becomes one of your “goals”. Middle school was awfully short. Not only because it’s only two years long but also because you actually get stuffs to do. You actually learn the sense of busy feeling.

Then it was high school, and it was ginormous. People were so much bigger too; some were like two feet taller than me. High school also has that pass thingy like that in middle school, but securities are not that serious about it except for few. I think high school is where you learn all the “bad” stuff. It is the first time you actually get to go parties and drink stuff. Also, it is where you learn how to skip class or classes or whole school day. You just need practice you parent’s signature so you can just make an excuse that you have a doctor’s appointment or sick and get to leave school early without any penalty. First time I showed sectary lady a “fake” excuse letter from my mom (actually from me), I felt really scary and nervous. After a while, it just became my routine. Every time I just felt stressed or had a homework undone or test that was not studied, I just evaded it with my fake pass. Now to some more serious subject. High school is where I started to seek for my passion, which was Biology for me. I started to take elective classes such as human anatomy and AP Biology which fulfilled my willingness to learn. I also got to engage in so many more activities than ever before. There were math team, orchestra practice, science Olympiad club and so much more every after school. I started to spend my free time to fulfill what I want to do. Also the level of the academic demand is so much higher, to the extent that was unimaginable in the middle school. I first engaged in all nighter and it was awful. High school was really busy for me all those activities and more. Especially, the senior year was like two months long. I prepared for the college application for the first half of the senior year. Then for the rest half, I don’t why I went to school because all I did in the class was nothing. I literally didn’t care about my grades because only grades up to first senior year are used during college acceptance process. High school felt little longer than the middle school did, but definitely not two years longer.

This end of August, I came to Virginia Tech and it is already a beginning of a November. Every day was very busy for me since I moved into Tech. The homeworks, exams, and quizzes that were demanded by college-level course made me very occupied. Plus, the activities I do in in-campus church and sports I do with my friends make my time flow by. I think time goes faster as I grow up not because it doesn't understand my feeling but because I actually get busier. When I find myself focused and entertained onto one thing, I find that minutes turning into seconds and hours turning into minutes, just like writing this 1000 word essay feel like seconds. As I go through my sophomore year, junior year and senior year at Tech, I think I am gonna find time go much faster than it is now and I am scared but also excited because it means that I am gonna be more into my passion and focused for my future path.

Picture of thousand of words

This weekend, as I was thinking about another topic for this long, arduous 1000-word essay, I suddenly thought of an idea, a clever idea. I thought of the phrase “a picture is worth thousands of words”. I was thinking of just posting a huge picture on the blog post and just put a caption of the bottom of that picture saying “this is worth thousands of word”. But then I thought of the risk of that action. I mean if I was the teacher, I would definitely give this guy a F. So I just decided not to use that tactic and tried to think of a new topic.

I really tried hard to think of an idea. I mean to write a 1000 word essay, you need a darn good idea, something you are willing to write about, or else it takes hours. I thought about writing about my recent personal experience but failed to find an inspiring or even entertaining event. I saw that many kids have written about their parents coming over this weekend but I couldn’t because my parents didn’t come over. So I was thinking about it again, about the topic. I decided to go on to the Scholars and read the “blogging” on the assignments to refresh my mind with what kinds of ideas are acceptable. It was pretty much limitless but the part where it said our blog can be something we talked about in class, I thought about analyzing. We pretty much only worked on some kind of analyzing skills in class lately.

As I was thinking about something to analyze, somehow, the phrase about a picture being worth thousands of words kept popped out of my head. That phrase definitely had some controversial matter in it. I decided to analyze that phrase just like how we are doing bunch of analysis in English class lately. First I questioned that phrase. Is picture really worth thousands of words? Yes but only to certain perspective. For the criteria of description I think picture is far better than words are. In fact in this case, picture can even worth millions of words. For example, you can just show other people how your new car looks like by picture rather than saying, “my car has two head lights that has straight bottom and curves up forty degrees and another twenty degrees …”. In that case I think unless that other person knows the brand and the car type, it is almost impossible for one to describe what his car looks like without using a picture. But I don’t think picture is always worth thousands of words, at least in the right sense.

I think with words, something that can be represented that the picture cannot. Personally, I hate writing and it is really hard for me to support what writing can do. But this I know for sure that sometimes, few words can be more powerful and understandable than a picture, which is supposed to be worth thousands of words, can be. Picture is just a picture and it leaves for each audience to understand in his or her own perspective. Picture sometimes has meaning or message in it but it is not always received by audience in the same way. For example, in our Everything’s an Argument book, we saw an American Flag with company logos instead of stars in the beginning of the semester. That definitely had a meaning to it and whoever made the design should have thought of one meaning, his perspective. However, we had little argument in our class, some people taking it as a negative sign saying that it represents how America is obsessed with products of America rather than the American county itself, while others were saying that design was positive because it represented diversity economic variation in America. Unless the designer intended to sprout a controversy about what he has made, his design did not carry out the job fully because not everyone had same idea about the message of the design. If that design was to be described in words, it would definitely take thousands of words, describing what each logo is and how they look like. However if the meaning of the design was described in words, it should have did so much better job. The pictorial design definitely simplified the thousands of words in simple easy picture but the meaning was not carried out in the right sense. This is what I meant above. Picture is worth thousands of words, but only in terms of describing something physically. Pictures incorporated with meaning cannot be accepted by the audience as the author intended to unless that picture with meaning is dead concrete, which is the rarely the case in my opinion.

Just think about it. I have written few blogs since the beginning of the year and if picture is worth thousands of words, each of my blogs could have been described in one picture. I don’t think that is going to work. Even if I do, not everyone is going to accept the meaning in a way I intended to do because everyone has his or her unique perspective. Unlike picture, which leaves the audience to view in their own perspective, words can guide the audience in the writer’s perspective. Writings can guide audience in one, straight way, because author talks his way through with explanations and evidences, unless the writings of the author is very broad. So, again, if I was the teacher, if a student sends a picture instead of 1000 word essay, I would give him F. It is not because he didn’t fulfill the requirement – thousand words- but because that essay wouldn’t have any focus that is straight. I think point of this blogging is to express our thought and unless we were expert at expressing message with a picture, the point would not carry out clearly. I believe that picture is worth thousands of words in describing only physical matters.

Technology Doom?

Technology is rapidly developing as the time goes by. Just about few decades ago, electricity along with other technologies such as telephone was invented. Now, technology has developed up to the point that probably was not imaginable in the time when electricity was developed. We sure get a lot of comfortableness and pleasure from such development. We have television, refrigerator, computer, dish washer, etc. We have everything and that everything tends to do everything for us.

Because of our huge dependence on technology, some critics are saying that people are becoming “stupid”. They say that we cannot do anything without technology, that we are becoming incapable. I do feel that sometimes, too. I find myself using computer every day, seriously every single day. Through computer, we communicate, research, entertain, and much more. Also, I find that people nowadays cannot live without cell phone. Cell phone kinds of became one of people’s “cloth”; people have to “wear” it every time they leave home.

In Korea, calculators are not allowed in schools. Everything is done by your hand. Those calculations include from the range of simple addition and subtraction to multiplications, divisions of seven digits numbers. In high school when students are starting to learn derivatives and further calculus, calculators are not even allowed then. It takes pages of work to solve one problem. Few months ago, I noticed about myself something unbelievable. I was in American since fifth grade and all the math classes I took were allowed to use calculators. I did not use calculator when I was in fifth grade because I was used to not using calculators in Korea. Arithmetic that involved more than three digits naturally made other students to take out their calculators and punch in the numbers. For me, it was far more comfortable to write down on piece of paper including my mental math skill that I acquired over the years through practices and practices. It is in my high school senior calculus BC class that I found something out about myself. I found that myself using calculator for simplest math as far as something like 4+3. That was really weird. Of course I could do those kinds of arithmetic in my head and with accuracy but I did not feel comfortable with the answer. I only felt comfortable and secured only and only if the calculator specifically said 7 on its screen.

That was when I really thought of power of technology, how it is replacing our natural skills. But despite many criticisms and my own pro founding experience, I am actually not against rapid technology development. As the time goes by more technology will be developed and we will be depended on it. But why are people thinking about our lack of skills and incapability of us without the use of technology? I know that use humans are never going to be separated from the use of technology and our skills is measured by our own natural skills combined with help of technology. Even though I found myself incapable of doing math without the aid of calculator, I only found it surprising and only surprising, not despaired. I was surprised that how much I relied on small technology but not despaired because even though I noticed my incapability, technology is always going to be there to support it.

That is why I am not really worried about our dependence on technology. We humans led up to this point and those technologies all sprouted from human mind. Why can’t human freely be using the technology that was invented by their own? Technology was designed to help and aid humans and makes them more comfortable, and therefore we should not care about us becoming incapable or “stupid”. Say that after few centuries, we become totally incapable; I mean we cannot literally do anything without technology. It does not matter. We should have become incapable because there was technology that replaced such human skills. Just like we cannot understand how past people lived without refrigerator, phones, or electricity, the future people would not understand how people of in this century lived without technology that is going to be developed in the future.

My only concern about technology is alien invasions. That might sound childish but it really isn’t. Aliens with highly developed electromagnetic pulse or EMP might stop the humanity. EMP is pulse that disrupts and stops current and voltage flow. If the humanity is almost hundred depended on technology, therefore electricity, such alien invasion with EMP is going to destroy the humanity in seconds. I do not believe that aliens exist but who knows. A space is considered infinity and aliens are might be few light years away right now, ready to invade the earth. Few centuries later, they might be arriving in earth with much more developed technology than we humans will have.

Again, I do not stand against human dependency on technology. But I think no progress in technology won’t harm the humans. I believe that our comfortableness will always stay constant whether or not technology is developed. Our own nature skill plus skills of technology will equal constant comfortableness. For example, people in 1700s felt same satisfaction from their compared to us right now. Even though people of 1700s did not have our technology, they had more natural skills to replace it. On the other hand, even though our natural skills are decreased now, technology skill is replacing the gap. For those of critics who are saying technology development is bad, I want to say to them to think again because technologies were indeed invented from our own natural skills in the beginning.

Rhetorical Analysis about an Article

As I was checking my mails from hotmail.com I checked out some Today’s news. There was a lot of news. There was something about Obama’s health care plan, something about man getting arrested because of crime, etc. But one topic really interested me and made me laugh. The title of the article was “Man who killed ex’s fish gets probation”. From the title, I had a sense of what the story was going to be like.
“A Portland man who attacked his ex-girlfriend and impaled her pet fish this summer has been sentenced to two years probation, a psychological evaluation and community service.
Donald Earl Fite III, 27, pleaded guilty Tuesday to animal abuse and domestic violence assault.
According to court records, Sarah Harris had broken up with Fite but returned to her Portland apartment July 25 to find him lying on her bed, saying he wanted to get back together.
Donald Earl Fite quoted that, ‘If she can’t have me, she can’t have the fish’ to the police.”
This was basically the whole article, not even 100 words long and yet I though this article would a great source to analyze rhetorically. This article concluded that killing of a fish was an animal abuse and Donald Earl deserved the punishment for it. I would say that a lot of people would oppose such judgment yet other people might agree to it. Personally I think the punishment was bit little harsh. When I think of animal abuse and domestic violence assault, I usually think of abusing mammals, such as dogs, cats, or as far as reptiles. But a fish? I do understand that fish can be a pet but for one thing it does not have “brains” like dogs and cats do. Dogs and cats recognize their owners but fish never do. Only thing that fish recognize is fish food.
I think the way the author approached this crime shows that author also tried to say this situation was bit odd. I mean if it was some serious issue, the author would have not used that tone. The tone of this article tells me that author is sort of playing around. For example, other than killing fish the main reason for such a harsh punishment was maybe because Donald attacked his girlfriend physically. But the author does not emphasize on that idea, rather he focuses metaphorically how Ronald stabbed the fish as if fish is some kind of mammal or a human, and focuses on animal abuse. The way that the author just briefly talks about Ronald attacking his girlfriend might show that his girlfriend was not really attacked after all. If she was attacked and hurt badly, the main focus would be on the girl not on the fish. The way that Ronal just invaded his girlfriend’s house was wrong and it is considered domestic violence. Still, punishment is little too harsh.
I also think that this article brings up the argument about whether or not fish is a pet. I believe fish is a pet but not dog and cat like pets. One should not be accused of animal abuse just because he/she killed a fish. Pouring a toxic into a lake and killing a thousands of fish is a definitely a crime because it actually impacts that population. Killing a pet fish also can be a crime in this case because fish was other people’s property. But I think unless Ronald killed large number of fish, he should have been accused for destroying other people’s property rather than animal abuse. I mean, we could accidently kill some fish while we fish but we do not get punishment for that. On the other hand, if we accidently kill dog or cat we get fined or even jailed because that is an animal abuse. Both fish and dogs or cats are pets but not to the same degree.
This article also brings up the idea about how crazy and psychotic some people actually can be. I mean who actually thinks like if she can’t have me she can’t have the fish. The quote from Ronald gave me laughter. He actually broke into his ex’s house and killed a fish just because he thought his ex does not deserved to have fish if she did not have him. In this sense, Ronald definitely deserves psychological evaluation because Ronald may commit a bigger crime when his ex dates a new guy and Ronald might actually try to “stab” him too.
By reading this article I do agree with the author and this crime to a certain point but some things just does not make sense. I think author also tried to mock this situation by his word choice such as “stabbing” the fish. I, too, think that this article deserved to be mocked because it is not that of a serious crime to be up in the news, I mean killing a fish? Really? But I also think that author tried to tell us that this world is very funny and there are people who are just unthinkable. Or maybe author just tried to give us laughter by posting a comical situation.

Procrastination

I think I am addicted. I am really addicted that I could not get out of this since I was in middle school. I do this because it is really comfortable but it has really bad side effect. It is procrastination and I can’t stop myself from doing it. I do not remember when I started procrastinated. I think I never procrastinated in elementary school because there was never a single homework. Even if there was one, I think I never did them.
Anyway, my addiction to the procrastination started in middle school. Middle school is where everything begins for us students. Seriously, elementary school was a joke. All we did during the elementary school was learning how to wash hands, how to make friends, simple math and when the Independent day was. But in middle school, I actually started to make choices and had to work for that choice. In the beginning of the year, I got to actually sign up for classes that I want to take. Of course, there are some required classes but at least for electives, I could choose something. Also, in middle school, such things as “honors” class are there. It is a class that is much more difficult than that of the regular class. Having typical Asian parents, I was sort of forced to take challenging class.
It was those honors class which gave out tons of homework every day. At least back then, it felt a lot. I started on my homework as soon as I came back from the school for the first few weeks because my parents told me so. Plus, I felt like I had to do all my homework first in order for me to play comfortably. Then after few weeks, I got sick of school. I could not wait until the school to be over every day. Every minute of last five minutes of school felt like an hour. The eager to play sort of built in me as somewhat like a potential energy. Every minute I felt bored in the school added energy to my stress potential energy. The end of the school bell was only thing that could release the energy. As soon as the school bell rang, I stormed out of the class and got on the bus. In the bus, I was so excited; excited to get home and do whatever I wanted to do. As soon as I got home, I just threw my backpack on the floor, forgetting what I am supposed to do before anything else. I threw in a frozen from the fridge into the microwave and turned on my computer. After the microwave finished warming up my food, I grabbed it and sat in front of my computer. I ate my food as I played games on my computer. Hours passed by and it was few minutes before mom was supposed to come back from the work. It is then I actually started on my homework so my mom won’t see me playing on computer without ever finishing up my work.
That was pretty much the schedule for my middle school years. But I never had severe side effect of the procrastination until the high school. In high school not only there is tons of homework but there are projects and tests from seven different classes. I think I never started on my homework until like 10 pm every night. I slept at like 1 am and felt really tired every day during the school. That is probably the main reason why I slept in my first period class. Procrastinating homework is only has small, weak side effect. I just feel little tired the next day. Sometimes I just do not have any homework so I just sleep at 10pm. Tests are the killers. I never, literally never (until I came to college where I am trying to learn time management) started studying for the tests until the right before the test day. I know all of you can understand this, pulling off the all nighters. It is really painful. I usually go to sleep at 5am when I pulled all nighters and when I try to wake up in the morning for the school bus, it feels like crap. I cannot describe how I feel and what I go through to wake up from such a short sweet sleep. Somehow when I am taking the test, I do not feel any tiredness, I guess it is because of focus and nervousness. It is when test is over I go to sleep without my will. I just put my head on my desk and sleep. This goes same for projects, essay, etc. Procrastination always was part of my life.
I really cannot understand why I procrastinated so much; I mean it has so many side effects. But I never could start on my homework or study for the test on the day when I assigned to it. There are just so many things to do right after the school such as hanging out with friends. And I think that is the most major reason that I procrastinate, there are just too many things to do in the afternoon. But also another reason why I procrastinated so much is because of such a strict nature of middle school and high school. Securities ask for passes why you are in the hall way. You cannot be late or leave early from the classes unless the bells ring. Teachers also check your homework and give you assigned seats. That is why I got so much stress from since I go to school and I leave school. That is way as soon as I get out of school, I play and relax to relieve those stress. But in college, with so much more freedom and not strict environment, I do not procrastinate much. I do not need to. Even if I do, I cannot survive the academic requirement of the college. Procrastinate was a bitter-sweet thing to do in my life. I was so addicted to it but starting to get out of that addiction since I came to Virginia Tech. I think the time I don’t procrastinate anymore is the time I truly learn the time management and succeed in college.

The Repitition

Monday, 11:30 am
“beep beep, beep beep”
My alarm rings like crazy. I'm waking up on Monday morning. It is already an 11:00 o'clock; still, I am struggling to get off of my bed. I think I slept passed 4:00 am yesterday because it was a Sunday night and I was having too much fun with my friends. After alarm clock rings for about a minute, I finally kick my blanket off of me. I am frustrated. I climb down by bed and walk toward the alarm clock which is on my desk under my bed. I hit really hard on the snooze button. Finally there is a silent. I grab my underwear, towel and bath basket, containing shampoo, body wash, etc. and heads toward the bathroom. I feel refreshed after taking shower. After I get dressed up I have to go to Surge building because that is where my first class is at. And Surge is really far away. It feels like a mile when I am walking in the morning, especially when I skip my breakfast to get some more sleep. I come back to my dorm after getting some “brunch” because I have to finish my English reading before 2:20. After English Class is over, I exercise and eat dinner and finally start working at about 8:00pm. I go to sleep at about 2:00am. I don’t know what I did until this late. I definitely did not study for six hours but I did something that entertained me and time flowed by. Right before I go to sleep I set my alarm clock to 7:00 am for my 8 o’clock class tomorrow.

Tuesday, 7:00 am
“beep, beep, beep”
“…” Don’t even want to talk abojut how I feel this morning. I don’t think I even take shower Tuesday morning.
I eat dinner and do homework for Wednesday class. I set my alarm for 9:00 am and go to sleep. I actually go to sleep really early on Tuesday because I just feel like it.

Wednesday, 9:00 am
“beep, beep, beep”
This is one of those days I wake up without little, if not any, struggling. I think sleeping early and waking up early really works. So I can remember everything I did this morning. I wake up, putting aside my blanket gently with my hands. I climb down the bed and tap the snooze button of the alarm. I grab my underwear, blanket, and bath basket and heads to the bathroom. As I am coming back from shower, I think about what I am going to wear this morning. Then I pack up my bag pack and go to the Hokie Grills with my roommate since we both have class with same time on Wednesday morning. I usually get Chick-fil-a sandwich with juice but when I feel particularly hungry, I grab an extra sandwich. I head to Derrings which is behind Pamplin building after I finish my sandwiches. Though Derrings is only little closer than where Surge building is, it does not feel like it is mile away. But that first class is where the frustration begins. My first class is Chemistry Lab and it is 2 hours longs. As soon as Chemistry Lab is over, I have to walk to Surge building as soon as possible because I only have 20 minutes before Economics class begins. It is after Economic class is over I finally get one hour break since the breakfast meal. After my last class in Wednesday, I go exercise, eat dinner, than relax with my friends. I do not have class until 12:30 the next day so I just play until 10 o’clock and start studying. I go to sleep at 3:00 am. I learned this morning that sleeping early and waking up early starts a happy day, but I always seem to forget to carry it out.

Thursday 11:30am
I don’t even need to use alarm clock this morning because my roommate leaves the room at 11:30 am and wakes me up on the way out. Even though I am waking up much later time than I did yesterday, I feel bad. I think it is because I went to sleep really late last night. But that tiredness and frustration goes away about the time I finish taking a shower. My first class starts at 12:30pm but I stay in my room until 12:25pm because first class is at Graduate Life Center which is like 2 minutes away from Barringer Hall. After my first class I have 3 hour break. This is when I come back to my dorm and usually take an “early nap”. I sleep for about 2 hours and grab a brunch with my friend because that is the time when he comes back from his first class. After the second and final class, which is long Chemistry class, I chill. Then I chill until like 6:00 pm and start working. Then at 10:00 pm I just surf through internet, facebook, etc. and goes to sleep at 1:00 pm. I set my alarm clock on 9:00 am.

Friday 9:00am
“Beep, beep, beep”
Finally, it is Friday. I thought pleasure of Friday would end at high school since college is much more free and there are only 15 hours of school in college compare to like 40 hours of school in high school. After last class of Friday, I feel really happy, the happiest moment in this week. I usually relax and play through all Friday because I believe I have enough time in weekend to finish all my work and study for the test, so I just play. Of course, there is no alarm clock set this day because I can just wake up any time on Saturday.

Saturday 12:00pm-3:00pm
I wake up because I can’t sleep anymore. I had enough sleep. When I wake up on Saturday noon, I say to myself to finish all my work today so I can have more flexible time on Sunday. However, I do barely any work on Saturday because I believe Sunday is the true work-day.

Sunday
I wake up to go to the Church. After I come back from church, I finish all my work. Then, I play, play, and play until 4:00 am.

Monday, 11:30am
"beep, beep, beep"
Here is goes again...

My Dorm

It already has been almost a month since I moved into Virginia Tech. And I cannot express how much I was excited on the moving in day. I have been waiting for that day since the orientation of Virginia Tech. I loved everything I saw and experienced about Virginia Tech at orientation. All these cool buildings made out of hokie stones were fascinating. All the information about the excellence of Virginia Tech amused me. And the lane stadium excited me, too. But only one thing was an issue, my dorm.

Few weeks prior to my move in date, I was assigned with my roommate at Barringer Hall. At that moment I was relieved because Slusher Hall, which I stayed at during the orientation, was really unpleasant. I was happy at that moment for at least not getting assigned to Slusher Hall. Then, I doubted about Barringer, too. I went to Virginia Tech homepage where all the listed of dorm halls came up. I clicked the history of Barringer hall and it was built in 1962. I was kind of depressed thinking that I was going to be staying at 47 years old building for at least a year. What made me be depressed even more is when I looked at the built date for Slusher Hall; it was 1972. I thought Slusher hall was old and bad all this long, but the place where I was actually going to move in was 10 years older.

On August 21, I packed all my belongings- including clothes, laptop, clothes, clothes, etc. I left my house with my parents the next day at 7 am. That was when it really hit me. I have lived in this huge (compared to my dorm) single house for more than 4 years. I was leaving my fresh sweet home to the old Barringer Hall. Still, I was part excited to live in Virginia Tech campus. I arrived at approximately 12 pm. I had no idea where the Barringer Hall was so I asked one of those move in day helpers. This is what they said, “it’s all the way down the street, man, it like off the campus”. “%#@$”. My mindset collapsed. On top of being old, older than Slusher hall, it’s almost off campus? I was disappointed.

Still, it was my dorm so I tried to think positively. I mean that is where I was going to stay for two semesters and I had to take advantage of that. Before we unpacked my luggage, my parents and I decided to look for the room first. It was second floor and my door was already open. My roommate already was moving in. I stepped into the room and I could not believe what I was seeing. Oh man, that guy took one and only bed near the window. I always wanted my desk and bed by the window because I feel refresh when I look out the window, the open spot. Okay, on top of being old and off-campus, I lost my window spot.

That is the consequence of being late. All I can take from my dorm was leftovers- leftover bed, desk, closet, etc. I checked out my desk and it was fine, but I think that was the only fine thing. By closet was scratched up like the shape of animal claws. By chair had spots all over the place and I did not like my mattress. Mattress is same for all VT dorm students but still I did not like it. I might sound somewhat picky and stubborn but I had some image of what my college dorm is going to be like and the reality was way off the track. My parents and I unpacked all of my stuff and after the last dinner with my family (for a long time), they left.

It was a day before my first class of first day at college. Fire alarm rang at like 3 am. It took me and my roommate like 30 minutes to evacuate my dorm. And you know what? We both forgot to bring our room keys and were locked out on very second day. RA opened our door with masterkey and told us to be more careful next time after checking our student IDs. I just went back to sleep cursing that whoever rang that alarm.

The next day I went to my very first class. As both classes of my first day was nearing an end, I felt excited, to go back home, and to lie down on the bed as I did when I was living in my old home. I opened my dorm door but my bed was all the way at the top. I was too lazy to climb up the bed and relax. I just decided to sit down on my chair and take a break. I sort of missed my real home. I could have just laid down on the bed without climbing up. I woke up during that night because I had to go to the bathroom. My room was almost the furthest way from the bathroom compared to other rooms and that night, it felt even longer. Also, I hated the concept of locking and unlocking door every time I entered the room and I left the room. It was just too annoying.

It already has been a month since the move in day. I love my sweet home. Yeah, I am talking about the Barringer Hall. Every time the class is over, I have relaxing time with my hallmates. High bed is not an issue; it only takes like 2 steps to climb up there now. Bathroom is not far away anymore. It’s just few steps away. And after visiting few dorms of my friend from other halls, I noticed that my dorm is actually bigger and nicer than most of my friend’s. Plus, Barringer Hall is not that off-campus; all it needs it few good exercises everyday to make it to the classes. My dorm is not an issue anymore. It has all the food in its mini refrigerator, all the clothes right in my closet, and a sink right beside the closet. It has everything. Barringer Hall really became a comfortable and relaxing place now. It feels like my home.

Creative Advertisement

Creative Ads.

Well, I not a kind of a person who is creative or who is interested in any genre of advertisements. I only get things that I want to get. TV ads never played a big role of convincing me to buy a particular item in my life. However, as I was surfing through the internet this other day, I found this interesting websites which displayed thirteen most interesting and creative advertisements, according to the opinion of the author. And the advertisements that the author gathered surprised me. Of course I still was not convinced purchase those items or services. What surprised my from those advertisements was people’s creativity. What is the limit of people’s creativity?
Here is one of the advertisements that popped out of other advertisements. This is advertisement that was proposed by Denver Water. It somewhat looks incomplete advertisement or completed without any effort, right? People also might be able to think that the company only used the portion of advertisement board. But, as soon as anyone reads that what that advertisement actually says, the message of this whole advertisement would be delivered powerfully and quickly. It says “USE ONLY WHAT YOU NEED” –Denver Water-. Yeah, this is pretty self-explanatory. City of Denver tried to persuade residents to save water and use it wisely. Even though amount of the water that are used by consumers are reflected through their water bills, Denver Water is emphasizing that an excess usage of water is pointless and waster of natural resource. This advertisement actually depicted whole concept of “saving water” into one picture. As large proportion of this English class is focused on the concept of arguments, I think an argument can be brought up against this advertisement. Denver Water could have used the whole advertisement board and enlarged the text, so people in much more distances also can see the message. Instead, Denver Water chose to impact a smaller area of people with definite effect than to impact a larger area of people with lesser effect.

Here is another example of advertisement that manipulated the usage of usual advertisement board. This also is pretty much a self-explanatory advertisement as soon as you notice what is this advertisement is for. I mean, if advertisement is not self-explanatory, what is the purpose of it. I think these creative advertisements actually draw attention by unusual depiction, on top of being self-explanatory. Such creative advertisements are favorable in this society by many companies because it not only draws attention of the consumers but also persuade them to purchase this product, often through sarcastic depiction. In this toothpaste advertisement, it is obvious that it builds strong teeth, really strong teeth. This toothpaste model probably acquired those terrifying teeth strength after using “Formula” toothpaste. This advertisement got inside me really fast and well. If I see any of the “Formula” toothpaste in stores, that advertisement is probably come up in my head and I know for sure that “Formula” toothpaste is for teeth strengthening. Creativity is really an important aspect of marketing system in this society.

This example is really also clever. This one is not on a huge advertisement board where you can only usually see it during the drive in highways. This advertisement is on the street, actually ON THE street. This is a common cross walk which hundreds of people use it every day to across a street. These cross walks probably was painted long time I go as far as decades ago. Over long period of usage, everything get old- including the cross walk. If you still did not notice (it is really hard not to notice it) one stripe of this cross walk is really clean, just like it was painted few days ago. It was not the city or the government who repainted that stripe of the cross walks; it was Mr. Clean! This advertisement emphasizes how Mr. Clean can whiten any old, dirty surfaces. The stripe with Mr. Clean stands out so clearly from other stripes. This kind of advertisement definitely draws attention. The real genius of this advertisement is how Mr. Clean only “whitened” one of the stripes. It is not that Mr. Clean was lazy. Mr. Clean used marketing strategy. Mr. Clean is, too, profit seeking company and I think Mr. Clean only cleaned one of the stripes to provide people with sample. By showing tiny sample of their product, Mr. Clean can actually convince consumers to purchase their product, thus profiting from them. I think these kinds of advertisements have some limits, though. First, it is on the cross walk, so people other than who actually walks on the cross walk and not jay-walk or drive cannot see this advertisement. Also this product is household item. Most likely moms would be attracted to such powerful cleaning detergent. This advertisement, then, might be only effective in an area where moms prefer to walk rather than drive and who are willing to keep the house clean.

This advertisement is very similar to the first example. The Eskom electricity company is insisting people to save the energy. Energy required carbon fuels and excess use of energy is harmful to the environment. Out of this huge advertisement board, Eskom Electricity Company also decided to create picture slash word message. By only using one fourth of the light to shine upon the message, the advertisement is showing the audiences example of saving electricity. If all fours lights were to be turned on, the text could have been larger. Instead, Eskom decided to make a meaning message that can give a creative memory to whoever sees this advertisement.

As I said in the beginning, I am not creative or marketing kind of person. However, these creativities of some marketers are fantastic. It might look simple or easy to think of. The best advertisement, in my opinion, are ones that when people who does not even know what the product is about understands the message and are convinced to but that particular product. Though I am very impressed with these advertisements, I am still not convinced to save water and electricity, or to buy “Formula” and Mr. Clean. I just buy and do what I want to buy and do.


Citation of Pictures of all four pictures: http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2008/06/04/14-creative-advertisements-part-2/

Juan's Busy Life

Well, Juan is one of those children with “military mom or dad”. Large part of Juan Montolin’s life was full of traveling around the countries. Although he is Puerto Rican, Juan was born in Germany due to his mom’s military occupancy. Juan’s life in Germany was pretty brief. Most of his childhood was settled back and forth between America and Puerto Rico. Every time Juan altered place of his living he faced many issues a child might consider quiet a burden. Juan had to get used to new surrounding every other few years. Not only that, Juan also had to constantly making new friends, go to a lot of different schools, and most importantly, get used to the new cultures alternatively. “All the traveling Juan had to do constantly changed his life dramatically. He had to get used to the idea of not being with his mother, he had to leave his friends and he had to get used to switching between speaking Spanish and English every time he moved” says Juan’s mom.

Though it might sound very unfortunate that one had to keep move, Juan used that situation as an advantage and built his character. Juan is very fluent and speaking both Spanish and English, which will definitely help him with interactions with many people now that large population of America is Spanish-speaking. Not only that, but traveling and living in so many different places taught Juan to appreciate history. “I truly believe he has a real passion and interest for [history]” quoted Juan’s mom. Even Juan himself says, “I am great at history”. Juan especially has interest in World War II time period, from beginning to the end. He loves to read about World War II, and loves to play video games or board games that are related to World War II. Being so interested in such particular event, Juan is able to identify all the weapons that are used during World War II, including how they worked, who invented them, and so on. Juan’s mom believes that that is where Juan really became interested in Mechanical Engineering. “The stuff [weapons] just fascinates him” says Juan’s mom. The constant travel, which most people find very difficult, surly made Juan discover his interest in history, and through such interest, Juan was able to set up road to his future.

For many people, one passion is enough to make their life excited yet busy, but not for Juan. Juan also is a great musician. He loves listening to modern music but also has passion for classical side of the music. He has played violin since seventh grade and it already have been seven years since Juan started playing violin. While Juan was living in Texas, he played in a Mariachi group during middle school years. Mariachi is a musical group that was developed in Spanish-cultured countries. Obviously, Juan’s familiarity of Spanish culture aided him in joining such musical group. However, if it wasn’t for Juan’s talent and interest in playing violin, he could not have been engaged in such effort and skill taking musical group the year he first started violin. When Juan finally moved to Alexandria, Virginia (this is where he lived before attending Virginia Tech), he did not stop his passion for the music. Juan was invited to play in Chamber Orchestra during his high school years, which is one of the highest-leveled orchestra in high school. One of the most interesting events in Juan’s life was when he went to New York to listen to the NYC Philharmonic in 2007. Juan believes such musical experience is the memory that he’s never going to forget. After observing numerous years of Juan participating in many musical activities, Juan’s mom stated, “Juan has an ear and talent for the music, his is really passionate”. She really means it.

Though Juan sounds very busy with all those interests and hobbies, he is just like every other college student. Right after the school classes, Juan loves to play football, ultimate frisbee, listen to music and play video games (probably World War II related). On top of all those outside activities Juan enjoys, he is really a good family member. Juan is a great brother as quoted by his mother. Juan and his brother have never been separated before. Despite some common sibling animosity, they get along really well. Juan’s mom really gets pleasure seeing those two brothers playing games and laughing together. Even though Juan has many different sides from his brother in characteristic wise, Juan is very respectful, responsible, and loyal and he expects for his acquaintance to be the same, to have those lawful characteristics. Ironically, Juan said “I think my brother is 16, no, no, I mean 17, I am sure his either 16 or 17”. Being a thoughtful, caring brother as he is, Juan must have some issues when it comes to the numbers.

The most important aspects of Juan’s life, as Juan believes, are family and education. Family has been a supporter but also his friend for past 18 years. Without family, especially, without such a supportive, appreciative mom, Juan could not have come this far. “Juan being a VT student is something I am very proud of. It is his dream to attain a degree from VT and I fully support anything that makes him happy” stated Juan’s mom. Juan wanted to major in mechanical engineering but currently enrolled with University Studies. But Juan does not worry, because University Studies is one of the most common majors that freshmen take. Juan is willing to work really hard and transfer to mechanical engineering major in incoming semester. He is currently driving himself to achieve his dream, dream that sparkled from interest in guns from World War II, World War II that became one of his favorite topics in history, history that Juan became to appreciate throughout constant travel and travel that was necessary because of his mom’s job. All those events just did not happen randomly. It was a long, arduous process of life that Juan had to go through to find his dream and to know who he really is. Juan will do whatever he can do to be successful here at Virginia Tech.