Columns

As a self-proclaimed Mahjong pro, if you will, it’s not an understatement to say that the game has changed my life. It is the reason I am as close to my extended family as I am now and one of the ways I’ve been able to connect to my culture. 

While I am just a beginner in the investment process, I am excited to play the game of watching where my money will go. Hopefully, over time, I will be able to grow my knowledge — and my bank account — through this process.

If you’re an introvert like me, you might relate to my embrace of loneliness. Even still, the social pressures of college make it difficult to accept our evening rituals of eating dinner, reading a book and watching Netflix alone.

It is also almost impossible to hide what you really look like from your significant other. At some point, you hang out with them so much that they see your bed head, smell your morning breath and choose to kiss you good morning regardless. 

The obsession with “gains” coupled with an unfounded opposition to makeup reveals a deeper cultural issue in the way we segregate genders.

Somewhere along the line, as I matured, I slowly began to realize that there are no “guidelines” as to how to be Asian.

From getting turned away all around Berkeley, I have learned that rejection truly is redirection, and there is a lot of value in being turned down.

At times, it feels like I haven’t grown or made any progress, as if I’m pretending to know what I’m doing as I go through college. That’s how bad habits work, but when you can’t break them, you learn to grow around them. The reality is that in a way, I am pretending my way through school, and that’s fine.

When you prioritize yourself and your future above all else — as, in my opinion, all people my age should — you become extremely self-aware of your boundaries regarding love. 

What I didn’t expect to need a college education to learn, however, is that wheat is not a vegetable and jelly is not really a fruit. I guess peanut butter is still protein, so maybe I was on to something there.