Endersession Project

I plan to write a book about the questions I wonder, the stories I have heard about the question and my own theories about it.

Here is an example:
Topic: Wealth=Happiness?
Story: A conversation between a 20 year-old college student and 40 year-old fisherman.
A fisherman always goes home when he catches enough fish to feed his family. One day, he met a young man on his way home.
Student:Why do you go home so early. If you keep fishing for four more hours everyday, it will double your profit.
Fisherman: What should I do after I make more money?
Student: You can buy bigger boats, hire people to work for you and buy a bigger house.
Fisherman: And then what?
Student: So when you get old, you can enjoy your life with your family.
Fisherman: Spending time with my family? That's what I do everyday after work. And we are living happily together now. Why do I have to make more money in order to get what I already have now?
Theory: I have heard so many people saying that they want to be wealthy. But does money really bring happiness? I think that there are so many ways we can feel fulfilled beyond money. Happiness lies in the little things in life, such as a funny joke, a compliment from other people or a gathering with friends. We don't have to be rich to be happy. Instead, when people are wealthy,they have more things to worry about, such as whether others like them for who they are or for their money.

1st Essay & Career Day

We wrote our first in-class essay this week. I finished reading Snow Flower And The Secret Fan during the weekend. This book is very helpful to answer my question. It talks about the friendship between two girls and how their relationship changed over time. This is a fascinating and touching story. The ending is very sad.

For career day, I met some very cool people today. My favorite among them is the screen script writer. He has written about 30 scripts and only about 5 of them were actually made into movies. However, he never give up writing or lose his passion for writing. He focuses on writing comedies. After reading a rather depressing story, I agree with his point that we need more laughters. I think his story that he starts from a college graduate who has no connections to the movie industry and then become a script writer whose movies became big hit is very encouraging.

Emma

The highlight of this week was watching "Emma". At the beginning of the musical, Emma kept persuading her friend Ms. Smith to marry a wealthy man. When it comes down to her own marriage, she thought that Mr. Churchill was a perfect match for her before they met each other. She "loved" Mr. Churchill because he was handsome, charming and wealthy. This reminds me of fairy tales. Romantic stories always give us the idea that everyone would find a soul mate. Not only is he a perfect match, he himself is perfect. But in reality, no one is perfect. Each of us is just a half of a circle, and we need to find the other half and make a perfect circle together. Just like in this musical, Emma realized that her true love is by her side all the time. Even though Mr. Knightley always argues with her and he gets jealous easily, Emma fell in love with him. I really enjoyed the play, especially the ending. It tells us that love has nothing to do with appearance, social status or wealth, it is a feeling from our heart instead.

College Interview

I had a college interview at UCSD today. My interviewer is an alumi of the school I applied to and he is now a professor at UCSD. He is very nice and funny. The interview lasted for an hour but it felt like 15 minutes.
After a couple of interviews, I find that they are really low-key. It has little or even no effect on the chances to get in. It is just a very great opportunity for us to learn more about the school from those who actually attended. And it is a way for the school to know a little more about us beyond those numbers.
I have another interview scheduled tomorrow. Instead of being nervous, I am actually looking forward to it.
So for those of you who are having interviews, just relax and be yourself.

Here are the questions they might ask:

1. What are some extracurricular activities you are involved in? Which ones would you participate in college?
2. What's your favorite subject at school and why?
3. Where do you picture yourself in 10 years?
4. Why ____college?
5. Do you have any questions for me?