Time

Pink Floyd - Time
is an epic song btw

Since graduation, everything has been pretty much the same. alcohol, alcohol, and more alcohol. I think I am an alcoholic. I mean really, I do. Reminds me, I still have bicardi limon and remy in my car lol.

I recently went to John and Tam's wedding and I was very happy to see them so happy together!

I chatted with my friend the other day and she brought up something interesting, she said she was in a pre-life crisis. It made me laugh. But then when I thought about it I think I'm also in the same place. Time is catching up to me man and I feel hella old. Ok, I'm not that old and I know that, but aging towards my prime make me realize the mortality in all of us, and that scares me like no other and seeing your friends getting married and your friends' younger siblings graduate highschool doesn't help either. It's like, damn I was just there 4 years ago!

I recently went to EDC, the largest rave ever. period. haha. it was epic.
Alcohol and raves tend to make me go crazy haha. EDC was awesome, to say the least. But I think I'm gonna throw in the towel and call it quits on raves for a long while.

Now the world is yours to discover and explore . . .

So I did it. I effing graduated with a bachelors of science in Biology and a bachelors of arts in Anthropology!! Four years, just like that. How we've all grown! I used to be a boy who would dwell on his misfortunes. Now I'm a man who counts his blessings, and strives to move forward, every single day. I would like to thank all my friends and family that couldn't make it (b/c i didn't have enough tickets, so I decided the only fair way is to not invite anybody :(). I know I have their unconditional love and support. I've mentioned in previous posts that I only managed to meet a handful of people at UCI. However, this handful more than made up for those I did not have the fortune of meeting. Here they are.

This is Valerie and Michelle, my besties at Irvine. I met them late freshmen year and they're simply amazing people. They are very different from what I'm used to but fun and awesome in their own way. I hope to keep in touch with them for the rest of my life! I believe michelle wants to be a dermatologist and valerie a pharmacist <3>

This is Ramzi. I met him in chemistry lab back in freshmen year. We weren't even partners but he's a chill guy and it's been a pleasure knowing him and he loves my midori ek :].

Boo orlando!!! ITS ALL ABOUT THE LAKESHOWWWW. Valerie is a big Lakers fan and a bigger Ariza fan haha.

Fucking Andrew Luu, the biggest douche in the world. He's a whitewashed vietnamese kid who thinks hes black. I met him in bio 100LW lab. Our lab group really clicked!!

Ryan was also in the bio 100lw lab group with andrew, me and diana
I took a picture with D but freaking house doesn't know how to use a fucking camera so it didn't save. arg.

I was in chem lab with Jenny. We went to the same middle school but never really talked, until college haha.

Rancho kids!!!!

Physio lab group!! I met Joseph this past Fall

My parents and brother. If you have been following this blog, I need to say nothing more.

My room. This is what I wake up to everyday, as motivation and inspiration.

My dad gave this card (along with money :]) and it really means alot to me. I know I am so far off from what I set off to do, but my parents support me every step of the way and I'm very thankful for them seeing this imperfect son, perfectly.

I would like to end this post with this metaphor Mrs. Stepanski sent me through the mail. I believe it applies to everything we do in life. Despite what field you end up working in or how much money you make, always remember to be the best you can. I will always strive to make a difference and be a difference to the people in my life. That is my way of repaying, giving back, and loving. Keep following me and make sure I live up to this!

Best,
Brandon Nguyen

of particular relevancy to blogger

ANN UH: reading your blog makes me peaceful ... and makes me really proud of you (:

ANN UH: its like through the struggles you go through... your still standing on your two feet and graduating with a degree that many can't

ANN UH: or many refuse to because they would give up on life..


Annuh is1/2 of my favorite couple b/c they ALWAYS take care of me when I need it. <3>

I can't think of a witty title for this post.

My final lab was turned in on tuesday and I took a final on Wednesday which I started studying for the night before. Tsk Tsk. Thursday I went to the pub with the dudes to watch the lakers omgwtfpwnt orlando in the face. That night we went to V2O lol but it was short lived for me cuz the babies couldn't get in. Oh, welcome home Caroline! She gave me victoria secret's "Very Sexy for him" cologne for my bday which i thought was very appropriate. Thanks dear!

Today was my last day at fieldwork day and it was a very sad day. I tried to play it off cool until the very end haha but I was really sad inside because I really got to know the kids and Mrs. Stepanski. The kids mostly had testing and also did an estimation exercise. I told Mrs. Stepanski that she should never hesitate to contact me if she ever needs extra help around. Before I left, the kids surprised me with a going away poster they made! I have that hung up in my room right now as motivation :].

I was very touched and happy to know that I've made a difference, however slight. This was what was missing in my life the past few years. I lost the belief that I can make a difference and it took a group of very charming fourth graders to remind me that I can. Thanks guys! These are a couple of other pictures from my last day. The first one is one of the estimation stations involving volume. Mrs. Stepanski told me to pose for a picture haha. I jokingly said and "pretend" to work? She said "you've done more than enough to just pretend this one time" and that made me smile.

This is the math team for Math Field Day 2009. They are the top math students in their class. These kids are truly bright. Its a GATE class so everyone of them are already top notch students. I never had the test scores to get into GATE! These are the top of top :). I had a personal attachment to tutoring these kids for the competition on June 6 (today! goodluck guys!) i wish I could go but I have so much stuff to get done. Math field day is a competition for 4-5th graders from schools all over orange county. I had a personal attachment to these kids because I was also in the math field day team at gilbert about 12 years ago and won third place in construction derby. From left to right: Mary, Ulises, Eric, Daniel, Kevin, Stephanie. These kids have taught me as much, if not more, than I taught them. Can you guess who's in the other picture? haha.

Yes its me. :) I'm gonna show them this picture when I visit them!

I plan on visiting the kids again on their last day of school on June 18th. Help me think of a surprise for them! (that doesn't cost money lol).

Today, Bruce and Trinh also came down from Vegas and we went bowling. It was pretty much low key. I also got sufficient studying done. I'm no where near done though.

Anyways, I have a number of friends who got into pharmacy school and medical school. Congrats! I see nothing but a bright future for you guys. Let this be an attestment to your hardwork. continue to move forward!

Oh the unexpected surprises in life!

First and foremost, today is Benjamin's bday. Happy bday Ben!

I was planning to hold out blogging until after finals and graduation but I have been deeply moved tonight and I'd like to share it with you! :)

Tonight was the Cal Teach end of the year reception. In my first post in this blog, I mentioned that I decided to participate in Cal Teach in my last quarter at UCI because I've felt that I've missed so many opportunities to give back to the community. I was assigned to Karen Stepanski's fourth grade gate class. Mrs. Stepanski is such an amazing teacher and a wonderful person. I've been so blessed to have had her for a mentor teacher and I can say that although it has been only one short month, its an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that everyone in that program is an amazing teacher but Mrs. Stepanski is truly exceptional and I will truly miss her and her class after my fieldwork is done this friday.

The reception was awesome. Amidst finals and the end of the year I'm truly thankful that many people found the time to come out to join us. Even the deans of Bio Sci were there! We lit candles to signify the passion of teaching and the mentor teachers got gift card. Mrs. Stepanski got me a twenty dollar gift card to the bookstore at UCI, something she didn't have to do at all. I'll be using that giftcard to buy an alumni license plate frame! I can't come close to my gratitude towards her.

I told her about my plans to apply as an RA and asked for her reference and she was simply glad to do it. She told me that if I ever needed a recommendation letter she would be happy to do that also. That means I have at least 3 recommendations for grad school!!! yay!!!!

So that was that. I'm so very sad to come to fieldwork this friday; its my last day :(.

I'm gonna mention briefly about my 22nd bday. I have the best friends in the world! My bday spanned an entire week and I'm so very thankful for everything <3. I personally hate it when my bday comes around because I hate making plans and have them fall through. I've had bad past experiences. My friends, however, are awesome and they made my 22nd bday unforgettable. They got together and got me a canon sd780is for my bday just for my blog. Thank you guys. Believe it when I say that I cannot express my love and thanks to you guys in words. Just know that I'll always be here for you as you have been for me.

I'll post bday pics and stuff up in about 2 weeks. and by that time there'll be more pics to celebrate GRADUATION WOOOOO!!!

I'm so SCARED but equally EXCITED ABOUT THE FUTURE!

Futurama

So graduation is getting closer and I still can't believe it! Four years really just flew by, man. I remember the first time I got lost at UCI's Bio Sci parking lot lol . . . and how I didn't know the campus was just one big circle that you can cut across. Well its here. My last quarter at Irvine!

When I first applied as a Bio Major at UCI, I never had the intent of being a doctor or dentist or anything that requires touching people lol. I hate blood and seeing people in physical pain so I can't ever do anything like that. I was really considering pharmacy. It's a stable job and great pay. I was never really a fan of what they do but the money was appealing! But boy does four years of biology change you. I hated chemistry! to the max! I can't imagine spending more years in pharmacy school learning more chemicals. eff that sht man. But man, is it good money! I guess i'll jus be leeching off Caroline until she gets married lol.

I didn't get to meet many people at UCI, but I did get to meet Michelle and Valerie. They've been amazing friends to me since sophomore year and I'm very thankful that I've had the privilege of knowing them through the years. Dear Michelle and Val, you guys have truly been a great part of my college career and I'll miss you dearly. I'm sure that you both will move on to such great heights after this and I can't wait until you get there because I bet the view from the top will truly be amazing! Valerie and Michelle reminds me of Leo and me in highschool. Goodtimes. Sepaking of Leo, that fool recently got his once a year haircut at my mom's place. That fool looked like a caveman lol.

So the question arises . . . Brandon, so what are you going to do after graduation. Clearly you must have some sort of plan. This is the part that really scares me. Well first thing's first. I need a job to support my daily spendings so I'm gonna look for one. I was hoping to use my Cal Teach program to get my Cbest test paid for so I can go be a substitute teacher! I haven't really looked for a job but I really need the money now.

I applied to the Speech Pathology program at Cal State Long Beach awhile back. Since I didn't major in Speech Pathology in my undergrad, I need to take the deficiencies in order to apply for the masters program and become a licensed Speech Pathologist. A couple of weeks ago I received a letter saying I was waitlisted. I was actually waiting for this letter for awhile. They said it would come 4-6 weeks after the March 1st deadline. I was getting paranoid because my aunt and uncle changed mine and my mom's address when they moved out along with theirs so my mail was getting forwarded there. Anyways I got it all sorted out and the letter came on May 3rd or 4th right after I got home from San Fran. I was a little disappointed. Last Friday, I got a letter saying that I got in the waitlist but the program isn't state funded and is through their extensions program. The cost of tuition is going to turn out to be around 3000 a semester and I'm taking three semesters so that's 9000. That isn't that bad, considering the cost of the state funded program is about the same price. I'm jus not use to not getting financial aid! I guess the state abandons you after you get your bachelors lol. Anyways I'm gonna be at CSULB this Fall and I really need to find a job ASAP to pay for this shit. After my stay at CSULB I'm still gonna have to apply to a master's program and Speech Language Pathology (SLP) is really competitive, apparently. Anyways, I'm really thankful and I consider this my second, no, third chance. I'm gonna give it my all!

This past week has been bittersweet. Good because I got in the graduate program. Bad because I got my lab back and didn't do as well as I hoped for. I'm over it though. I also did crappy on my neuro midterm so I have to rock the final, which I plan to.

Friday
Beer Pong at the Tran's. This night was particularly epic. I knocked out around 3 am on the couch and woke up around 6 am and they were STILL drinking. OMFG. wtf. anyways here are some pics. Like usual, we took like a thousand pictures but I'm trying to limit the amount of pictures I post.

Saturday: It was a really low key day. I was recovering and today was David's brother's wedding so everyone was busy. I spent my day sleeping. Woke up, and rode to the district and spectrum with steve, sonny, and tony. We met up with daniel and ended up chilling sonny's shop waiting for steve to dyno his bike. Freaking steve got a full on exhaust system for his bike now. wat a baller man. Sonny's shop is like the perfect party place. It's in the middle of a business place so there's not neighbors around. I wish i had that kind of money haha. His Datsun 510 is also a beast. Take a look! Anyways, we still need a good picture with the entire crew. Look for it in a future favorite.

Sunday: Today was suppose to be my ultra low key day. I ended the day at the gym until Briant texted me and guess what I ended up doing, drunken bowling lol. Sal went crazy that night. I never saw that fool like that before. Shit. Bao had to pick us up because none of us could drive. We ended up eating tofu house and watching Sal puke to the max. I drove home around 4 and was still buzzed :(.

So that's it for now. I just finished my lab stuff and decided to blog. Till next time, stay fly.

Weekly Circular (5/4/2009)

Okay so I'm back sooner than expected.

This past week was pretty busy, but not so much. I had a midterm Weds that I only started studying for the night before. Its partly my fault and partly due to scheduling. Ok, so I DID go to Frisco but it wasn't like I was gonna study while I was at home anyways . . . I was really really burnt out from that lab report. Anyways, I got a B on that thing and I'm not complaining.

On Thursday, I met my mentor teacher and the class I was going to help teach. Karen Stepanski teaches a 4th grade GATE class at John Muir elementary. I tried, but never got into the GATE program as a child. I was nervous but the good kind of nervous, the excited kind. She is a very nice lady and made me felt really comfortable my first day. I was really surprised at how well behaved and respectful the kids were. I mean, I've heard about the good stories from her class but even then, I was amazed. Every single thing I did, I heard a "Thank you Mr. Nguyen." It was addorable. I forgot how fun elementary school actually was. That Thursday I pretty much observed, helped hung stuff up, and was introduced to the group activities I was in charge of.

I had lunch with Natty that afternoon and almost got in a car accident (b/c of my reckless accident). It seems that whenever I see her, we're always at Chick Fil A. We briefly updated each other on our lives. I'm glad that she's well because thats all I would ever wish for her. If you're reading this dear, I'm really glad we still keep in touch and remain close friends.

On Friday, I came back to Mrs. Stepanski's class. This time I helped the kids with math workshops and made a ballot for their voting thing. I worked with group 4. I'm trying really really hard to remember everyones' names. I seem to remember best the super duper smart kids and the kids who are behind. I really enjoy seeing her class. It was work, but it was fun. I cannot stress how well behaved these kids were, every single one of them. I just know each of them will grow up to be among greatness. I was really impressed by how each recess, Stepanski had a group of 2-3 pick up trash. This really sets the kids up for being good citizens and doing community service as they get older. The stuff I do there may seem trivial, but what I get to observe is priceless. I didn't go out that night. David went to the club but I seriously can't hang. Instead, me and steve went to the gym. Man, freaking Steve is a monster nomatter how you look at it. He'll work you till you get omgwtf-pleasenomoreletmego-pwnt.

Today, I woke up at 7 and rode to Steve's and met up with Tim and Tony for an Alpinestars tent sale in Torrance. I have to admit, when it comes to gear, I'd rock alpine stars all the effing way, man. There were hella good deals and I shouldn't have spent so much but holy moly I couldn't let the deal pass me by. I bought a few shirts, a pair of shorts, a couple hats, a wallet, a couple of belts, and a couple of backpacks that ended up to be 64 bucks. I wanted to buy gear too but I already had gear so yea. Anyways the line was like 2 hours lol but it was worth it. We ended the day by riding to "Tap-X" where Tim's gf worked and then his brother's motorcycle shop. Seems like our bike crew is getting bigger!!! I'm glad I got a good ride today, it really has been a long time. I'm hoping this summer we can arrange a group ride to somewhere super duper far. Oh I saw an 09 zx6r today for the first time on the streets. It was the blue one. Its not as "beautiful" as the 04-06 models but that thing is a beast. Do not attempt to race that shit, at all costs.

That's pretty much it. I have a midterm weds again and formal lab (again) upcoming. I'm not looking forward to it but I guess I rather be busy than be idle.