Condom Couture 2013

Went to Condom Couture fashion show with my friend, Bre^^ Great night!!

^Free gift bag!!

"Jiro Dreams of Sushi" Review

So I've been feeling pretty good lately, which might explain why I'm posting so much on this blog recently. Things have been quite busy for me, and it'll only get busier. I'm trying to get a headstart on finals and studying for PCAT (taking it this summer) earlier, while raising my GPA and getting the title of Pharmacy Technician (which shouldn't be hard at all). I'm already a Pharm Tech Trainee, I just need to find a decent job or internship to train myself while earning money.

And of course, I need to build up an impressive personal statement and get recommendation letters. Hopefully I'll be successfully admitted to UT Austin's pharmacy school by this time next year!

Got a 95 on my last Biology test, I think my cumulative GPA is definitely going to go up because I'm doing so well in all my classes. I want at least a 3.6, and I know that's realistic enough.

Anyway on to the documentary review.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is an amazing documentary. I would recommend this to food lovers, cultured people, and anybody who has even the slightest bit of ambition. The only people I would probably NOT recommend this to are vegetarians, because there are quite a few painful-looking scenes in which sea animals are being prepared for someone's meal haha.

• Jiro's work ethic and passion is truly inspiring; his simple-minded determination is something very rare indeed.
• I don't necessarily agree with all of his life philosophies, but I can definitely see how his background has influenced such beliefs, and overall he is a hard-working man who deserves all the recognition.
• Beautifully filmed, visuals are amazing. Might make you hungry...

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Transcends Fashion Show etc.

I got to eat lunch with CY, my old calc study buddy, at Tapioca House!! So good to catch up hehe^^ We spent two hours in the restaurant just telling scary stories and laughing at stupid situations.

Then Bre invited me to go to the Transcends fashion show which was super cool! We got reserved front seats since her friend is one of the designers, it was really awesome ooh-ing and aw-ing at the models and the clothes.

Fun night!

LEAP Graduation

What a blast this year has been!! I'm glad to have joined this program :)

Longhorn Run

I was victorious!! Signed up with FRI team and got extra credit for lab~ My time was 20:21, which is pretty pathetic for a 2k haha.

So glad my friend B made it last minute!! We had a lot of fun :D

Undergraduate Research Forum

So I was really completely blown away by all these things that undergrad students were doing. Pretty daunting tasks, but they were up to it and they were proud to present what they had discovered.

Respect. Definitely respect them. I had been inspired a little time ago, by a guy I'll call P (convinced me that Dean's Scholar was one of the best programs ever invented in the UT system and gave me a new choice to consider for the future), and this acted as another inspiration.

I don't know... I get super happy around really smart and hard-working people. It makes me want to be one of them one day, and have other people respect me.

Go go Bioprospecting! I really liked this stream, even though I'm pretty sure research is not the right path for me (not long-term anyway). I still want to be a Pharmacist more than anything, but I definitely want to look into alternative or oriental medicine as well, and maybe I can do some research on that in the future.

Anyway... my professor from last semester offered me an opportunity to work as his undergraduate TA next semester, which is quite exciting. We get paid, I get to stay in the lab environment (while not being completely immersed in a white lab coat), and this is quality experience really.

I know it might sound really naive of me, but... I really believe it all starts here. In college. As students, we do have the power to change the world. Especially UT Longhorns, with our extensive networking and renowned undergrad research. So if I can help others decide, having once been in their place, I would love to help train some kickass undergrad researchers. We can really change the world - success all depends on opportunity, after all.

This week has been going super well. Got a 100 on the Chem quiz (class average is a 73 for that quiz) - this boosts my quiz average up to a 97.5, which makes me pretty happy. Went to a birthday party, got plenty of free food, and caught up with a few old friends as well.

Of course, it's been super busy as well, but I know it'll all be worth it.

"Mickey Mouse Monopoly" Review

So recently, our dorm screened a documentary called "Mickey Mouse Monopoly," which was pretty much a criticism of Disney films. My thoughts on it:

• While it brought up some interesting points, most of it seemed wayward and biased. The critics bring in all of these arguments about how certain periods in history should have been reflected instead - but come on!! These movies are targeting kids, most of whom will not be able to understand these details and complexities. Just leave it be - they decided to alter the story to fit the demographic audience, and that's fine. Kids will figure out later on their own that Pocahontas does not end up with John Smith or that Imperial China did not have matchmaker interviews as shown in Mulan.
• Sexuality - I am, by no means, a hardcore feminist. But of course I think we girls are capable of doing whatever guys can do, and sometimes we're even better at it than they are. Disney princesses are always portrayed with the perfect hourglass body and long eyelashes, but personally I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I understand that it's portraying the ideal girl and that we should learn to love our bodies, but think about this - what little girl wants to see a physically out-of-shape woman as a Disney princess?? And what sort of example would that show to our already-fat society? I do, however, agree with this film in that I think Disney should show more kickass girls who don't need to depend on a man.
• Targeting Latinos - I did have to agree with this point. Hispanics are always portrayed in the form of a chihuahua, which is really annoying, but then again, look at Taco Bell advertisements. It's not just a Disney problem, it's in a lot of our mass media.
• Targeting black people - Well, this documentary was released before The Frog Prince came out, and I have to agree that there were a lot of subtle messages about black people, most of them pretty negative. But I remembered them showing a clip of some movie from 1930-50 (might've been Jungle Book), and I was just thinking, "Really. It's the 1930's, of course it's going to be racist, what do you expect." I'm not saying it was right for them to portray black people that way, but we can look back at these films to see the historical value and learn from history's mistakes. As for showing your kids these films, that's one's personal decision as a parent, but it's a little silly to criticize Disney for something they made so long ago.
• Targeting Asians - Yes, the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp were certainly a demonstration of racism, but again, this movie was made in the 1950's, so what can you expect? I think Mulan was certainly a big improvement, though I'm not fond of how they portrayed the Mongols... 
• Targeting Native Americans - When it comes to this part of history, I always get super passionate, so I'll try to refrain from writing a lot... But the Europeans were total dicks to the Native Americans. The Native Americans, of course, are not helpless beings, but most of them had no choice against guns and germs and steel. The film Pocahontas never bothered me, but when they started showing little 8 or 9 year-old kids talking about their interpretation of that part of history, I just wanted to scream at the screen. I had never noticed before how WRONG the entire background was. NO, the Europeans did not return back to Europe because Pocahontas had saved John Smith, and NO, the Europeans and the Native Americans were not really friends. And it's sad, because it's a huge part of our American history that deserves recognition for how atrocious the widespread genocide was, but of course nobody ever likes to acknowledge that their ancestors had killed and massacred so many people just because they were a different type of people. Just sad.
• Overall though, if your kid is well-exposed and integrated into society, then he or she won't take Disney too seriously and associate all black people with orangutans and Latinos with chihuahuas. If he or she does, then there is a bigger issue at hand honestly.

I would give the documentary a 2/5 stars for educational value, and a 3.5/5 for entertainment value.