Carnegie Mellon University 2010. Or 2011 if I get my BS and MBA in 5 years.

Ambitious, yes, I know. Well, I'm hardworking and usually reach my goals :) so hopefully this will be the same. I'm excited. I finally decided and sent in the money today. All this hard work in high school paid off. I'll carry my work ethic with me... along with fond (and not so fond) memories of Georgia! :)

Funny. I was born in Pittsburgh, and now I'm going back!

I don't know if $100,000+ is worth it for an undergraduate education.

My cheapest options right now are public schools- Georgia Tech and UGA. Good schools but I do have acceptances to UNC-Chapel Hill, Case Western, UCLA, and Carnegie Mellon. However they will cost at least $100,000 from the pocket of my parents (I have financial aid, well, except from UCLA, in the form of grants, scholarships, and the lovable fake money called loans). I think that no matter what major/careers I end up choosing, graduate school is a must. But that means more money.

Education is expensive. Well I know that having no education will ultimately make people poorer. Do I just have a too-narrow-minded viewpoint on this?

I hear about the Chinese kids in my community who were here 10 years ago. Not many of them stayed instate. A lot of them (including my own boyfriend) went to prestigious schools like UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, Berkeley, etc. for their undergraduate educations. Then you focus on today's community (the one I grew up with) - they're brilliant yes but they all seemed to have stayed here in Georgia. Interesting trend... I don't know, sometimes I feel like I should break the mold. I also feel like I didn't work my butt off only to end up at UGA. UGA is not a bad school, especially with Honors program and so on, but it seems like everyone ends up there. If I knew I was going to end up going there, I probably wouldn't have lost all those hours of sleep.

To the person who commented anonymously: I'm more worried about body fat %, I think, more than body weight (like what I see when I step on the scale). I'll always be around 120 pounds (that's healthy for a person of my height/age), but that body fat % I don't like :) especially when it gathers in the waist/thighs/butt. It sucks when all of your friends are rail thin (and some that complain about their weight is even more strange). CURVY BODIES UNITE!

I got accepted to Case Western, where my boyfriend is right now, yay. Well I'm probably not going there unless they throw money at me. Why is college so expensive!

French is fun.

I got waitlisted from Washington University in St. Louis... oh well, I hope I get some good news for other schools. To be waitlisted at some of the schools I applied to would be pretty good.

I'm good at maintaining current body weight, but I'm not good at shedding what I don't want. :) It's a matter of moving around a little bit more during the day, but if I really want to get that nice, toned belly, I'd have to exert a little more effort. If it weren't for the constant bombardment of UV rays down here in the South, I would definitely go out more.

I GOT INTO UCLA!!

I didn't think I would get in because I'm out of state, but I did :) Unfortunately, it costs ~40k per year for out of state people. :( Unless I get a great financial aid package and/or I get tons of scholarships, I don't think going to UCLA is a great possibility. UC Berkeley, however, my parents equate the school to, say, Duke (definitely an Asian thing... I mean, Berkeley is 40% Asian).

Ah! So exciting!

What is NOT exciting is that I'm doing Science Olympiad on March 25... I don't want to go, really, because that means I have to study Chemistry/Biology before I go, whoohoo. Also, I have to write an essay about Keats' poem, but don't really feel like doing that, either!

Emily - I tried to leave a comment but it didn't let me through:

hey emily - wow that driving episode is so scary. :( i'm so glad that your bottle didn't get stuck. haha yea don't suddenly brake, i've had too many near-accident experiences w/that. anyway i hope this doesn't happen again! keep those bottles away from you!

:)

Augh, I'm so bad about blogging. Sorry, Emily! (And the others who may just happen to wander here)

Life's been crazy lately. Last week, I went to Savannah, GA, with Sam and Ben (two funny sophomores) for All-State Band. Yes, I was greeted by the Symphonic Band having like, 60% (?) of their band filled with the Atlanta kids. They're so good x_X The music wasn't actually THAT hard. At first glance, I just thought, I canNOT played that, but that soon turned to a I CAN so play that :) Haha, while the other kids were like, I can sightread perfectly 32nd notes, yay. I sat in 7th chair (smack in the middle). Everyone was so good but a little "jiao au" (not correct pinyin)... :/ elitist attitudes, haha. Well, the All-State band is the cream of the crop, I suppose.

The practices were okay. Really long, 4-5 hours at a time. Running around Savannah with goofballs is fun, though. I managed to pig out on potatoes (from Spanky's), eat tons of ice cream (bleh felt sick afterwards... it was all for the sake of bananas), try some Savannah pralines (New Orleans pralines are better), and watch Sam drop his ice cream on River Street. An entire scoop! :) I also bought some cute PJ pants at the mall - they're pink plaid and only $5!

An experience I won't forget. :)

I just realized that I haven't gone to school in like, 3-4 Fridays in a row due to illness and lots of band functions. Lots of 4 day weeks for me. Tomorrow I have District Band all day and next Friday is a school holiday. Isn't that hilarious?

I need to workout to get fit for prom :) well, yes. Prom is overrated, but senior prom, I'm not missing that! Need to look sexy :)

Your Candy Heart Says "Hug Me"

A total sweetheart, you always have a lot of love to give out. Your heart is open to where ever love takes you! Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a surprise romantic evening that you've planned out Your flirting style: lots of listening and talking What turns you off: fighting and conflict Why you're hot: you're fearless about falling in love

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Fearless about falling in love? I'm not sure about that. I'm rather careful with where my heart ends up.

So anyway, here I am on the bed, studying biology. Now that I just realized (yes, I'm slow) that medical school doesn't really need all this information about cnidarians and pseudopods, then maybe I could end up going to medical school after all (all that junk about animals and evolution is the stuff that I don't like studying because there's just so much, and unless you're going to specialize in general biology, I don't see a point for this). Whoohoo. Now, if I have the stamina to pull this through... :)

Some people were naturally a little tough to connect with, but I believe that worsens (worsens? I guess) with time. There are some people I can't really get ahold of anymore, and it makes me sad because back when I could actually find the soft spot, we bonded pretty well. Well, I guess it's partially my fault... I'm not good with keeping in touch, I guess.

I'm so stressed out. I already missed 1 and 1/3 of school this past week. I hate being so ill all the time. Need sleep. For some reason I'm having a hard time falling asleep these days. Something about the fear of not waking up kept me from sleeping one day - I think it was because I was kind of sick and thought that I would stop breathing. Geez, Dani.

I think I've fallen in love with Duke...

I had my interview today (after a silly blunder - at the coffee shop, I totally did not see that Duke shirt on the chair, so I wasted 20 minutes wondering where my interviewer was :O) with a Duke alumnus (singular of alumni, right?). It was very casual, definitely not as intimdating as my Harvard/Tech interviews. I was interviewed by this pretty med. student who went to Duke for undergraduate.

After hearing her testimony and a lot of other people's testimonies (Howard :D haha) as well as my own experience with Duke, I think I've fallen in love with it :) There's not much that I don't like about Duke (well, maybe the tuition), and if I did get bestowed with the honor of being admitted, I would love to enroll and be a Blue Devil! Everyone I know who's a current student, was a student, or was admitted anyway is super smart--most are witty, all are down-to-earth and wonderful people. You really can't get better than that :D

Hm, so I guess my choices for college are...

1. Duke
2. Penn
3. Yale
4. Emory (accepted!)
5. Dartmouth
.
.
.
and 15. UGA :P (accepted)

The other schools I applied to... well, now that I think of it, none of them really strike me as COME HERE! There are things about each school that made me apply, of course, but nothing like the magnetism I got from the other schools. The rest are Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, Case Western, UNC-Chapel Hill, Georgia Tech (accepted), UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Washington University. It'd be great if I could get into some of them (Harvard and Stanford are probably not coming true... neither is Yale and maybe not Penn [for Wharton] :P), but they're not really favorites of mine as much as I like the above 5.

But anyway, I need to have some fun in my life, so I will...oh wait, fun will be put on hold until Bio Test and Senior Project is done :)

I received this super cute bear from my boyfriend in the mail the other day... this bear that held a heart that said "SAN JOSE" (California) ^_^ My mom was like, "Isn't it a little early for Valentine's Day?" Ha, ha, Mom...

I need to stop randomly shoving food in my mouth.

I feel guilty.

Today I ate 1.5 bagel, spicy chicken sandwich, a slice of pizza, and some cake, all within a span of 2-3 hours. I think I've gained around 2-3 pounds this past school year. 2-3 pounds is not THAT noticeable, but my arms aren't as firm as they used to be, my face is a little pudgier, etc. etc. Funny that when you gain weight you gain it everywhere (yuck) yet some weight sticks to certain places easier than others. Argh... yes, I'm talking about my beautiful thighs/butt.

The new issue of 17 has Ashlee Simpson trying to imitate Gwen Stafani's blonde hair, pale skin, and luscious red lips. I think only Gwen can pull it off and look elegant, still.

Today I had my Georgia Tech President's Scholarship interview @ B&N. I was greeted by a sweet young MD-pursing former PS, another MD-pursing former PS named Rusty, and an EE who graduated from Tech in 1980. I was a bit groggy since I woke up less than 30 minutes ago, but that was all right. Once the interview was under way, I sounded semi-awake and perky. 2 points for me.

They asked me questions that I expected them to ask. I hope I made a good impression on them. I talked a lot about flute (band = my life) and I smiled a lot. *yay* We joked around and talked about (well, they did) life @ Tech. Was lovely. "There are three things at Tech: grades, social [life], and sleep. You can only pick two out of the three." And "...I didn't get any sleep." HAHA.

What a life, huh? Watch me end up going there!

The FAFSA is confusing. I do not know how to send to other schools. Any help here?

Wow, look at how old this is! Almost 4 years ago... I was what, 14? This is one of the many picnics that the Chinese community have each year. January 20, 2002. Wow. I'm on the left, attempting to drink but knowing that I will laugh soon, and my friend Robert is on the right, trying to uh, eat me. Not sure. I've know this guy since I was in kindergarten, and he's always been a silly guy who refuses to call me Dani. It's always, "Danielllllleeeee!!!" :)

Oh man, I'm getting old... and getting nostalgic! Unfortunately, that doesn't lead me anywhere. I think that I am still stuck in the past, and I can't put the car on drive and go forward. Maybe I am still 15 at heart (not maybe, I am) but I'm about to face another big transition in my life in a couple of months. I hope I've moved on by then because by then, I'll start another chapter in my grand life. Funny, maybe I've forgotten to write the ending to a chapter? Maybe I'm still writing it?

Hello,

Well, it's Thursday, January 12, and I just wish that it were already May 2006... first semester is over but here's another long uphill. More hell to go through, more laziness to deal with (the so-called "senioritis"), more crap to put up with from people/school/life in general. Of course, I could take this time to grow and mature, but I think I've "grown" into this cynical lady, day by day.

Today at school, I laughed hysterically at some things Shuaib (my friend) said/did ("kInetic")... I haven't laughed like that in so long. There was a note of desperation to my guffaws--yes, what he said/did was funny, and then I realized, oh wait, I haven't really laughed that much in a long time. I remember when I used to be the happiest girl alive, and laughing gaily was a daily thing! No more, as lack of sleep sets in, deadlines loom, and I am left wondering I haven't started yet (a month away = a week away for me, thank you, Dani's mind). When people grow older, do they stop laughing as much?

Whatever. Maybe I need to sleep. Sleep sounds good.

Ohh, the only downside of being in love with someone is that your thoughts are dominated by him/her 24/7. This is not good and clashes with my "I need to work hard!" mentality. :/

Time to go back to studying!

Hello everyone,

Last night was Megha's 16th birthday party. Extravagant. Thanks for inviting me, Shivani. So yea, all the girls wore black (with the exception of a few) and the guys wore tuxes. Mohan looked really nice in a tux, whoohoo. I got to see the inner workings of the kitchen (this party was held at the Boat House, and yes, she catered) and marveled at how much food can be on the table.

Girl traumas in the bathroom - I have discovered that the bathroom is ideal for emergencies and, well, gossip. And complaining. Gotta love having "dos equis" as your chromosome makeup.

So yes, the dance floor. Now that I think of last night, I kind of cringe at the revelry people have on the dance floor. Usually not characteristic of me, I participated in the wild dancing all night long (well until 11:30pm anyway). Danny and I were doing uh, some interesting moves (this is what you get when you're named Dani and the male counterpart is named Danny). "His a** is as big as you!" Someone (cough) shoved me into the dance circle, and I had a hard time getting out. I looked drunk.

But I assure you, I don't drink. I never want to see myself drink, either.

Anyway, so yes, my inner wild child comes out... and I'm a little afraid now. :)

Happy New Year, everyone! Let's welcome in 2006 and hope that it's a good year. I'm hoping that it's my best one yet... it's when I graduate, after all :D

My trip to Orlando was fabulous. Lots of fun in the sun. It's really warm down there, a lot warmer than Georgia (to my surprise). People from all over the world were in Orlando the week after Christmas, though... good grief. Never seen such a fight to get parking spaces at outlet malls! Those darn Japanese/British people :D Well, we managed to find parking spaces at outlet malls, albeit multiple attempts and long waits. Sigh.

Epcot = Amazing. I have always loved the world showcase but now that my geography skills are a little stronger, I love it even more! We visited some countries that we usually don't touch, like France and Morocco. :) I got my oil-blotting sheets from Japan and my dose of Chinese acrobats (very bendy) in China. Oh, and a picture with Mulan and Mushu, yay. I tasted my first crepe (yum) and stuffed my face with (what else) teriyaki chicken.

I bought some clothes at Old Navy... a pink pullover and a red shirt. I like red lately, dunno why. I read somewhere that red is the LOOK AT ME color (no kidding) - am I craving attention? o_O I'm not usually like this.

Oh well. I better go to sleep. I have school. Au revoir, ma cherie.

All I Want for Christmas is You...

Let's see, hmm, I've watched three movies this holiday season so far: Elizabethtown, Narnia, and King Kong. Elizabethtown looked good, but there was no plot... Kirsten Dunst is so annoying in that movie ~_~ well at least for the first half of it. Narnia was sooooooo amazing; it was like Lord of the Rings (although I'm not sure which is better). I felt that it was rather faithful to the book, so that's good. The special effects were really nice; yay Mr. Tumnus. King Kong is... uh... well, really melodramatic. I went into the movie theater not knowing what to expect, but when I saw it, I knew this wasn't what I thought it would be (LOL). King Kong doesn't even make his first apperance until about 1/3 into the movie, and the movie is 3 hours long. Naomi Watts is really pretty, though - I like that hairstyle on her, LOL (she looks eerily similar to Nicole Kidman, except her features aren't as harsh). Jack Black looked ... out of place in such a serious movie, but then again, he was the idiotic guy in the movie.

I think I'm getting sick. My throat is feeling scratchy. :(

I'm leaving for Orlando this Saturday. I'll miss you all :) My non-existent blog audience! Haha. Oh, Howard, if you're reading this, HEY! I'M SO SORRY I MISSED YOUR IM! I HOPE YOU'RE HAVING FUN IN TAIWAN! AND I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M TYPING IN CAPS. :)

Well, I turned 18 on December 13. Another year, another year's worth of friends, advice, love, homework, and who knows what else. Happy birthday to me, and thanks to all those who wished me well. :)

I've learned a lot this year, as always. There has been some heartbreaking moments this year as a 17-year-old but the heartwarming ones may just well outweigh those.

I'll probably write more insights later, maybe when we usher in the new year (2006). Right now, I'm going to bed. Goodnight, my dear.

Wow, I haven't updated this thing in awhile. To think that I was a semi-daily blogger, too... with somewhat real posts filled with substance. Great!

Yesterday I got my Georgia Tech acceptance letter, yay! Today, I also got my University of Georgia acceptance letter, yay! In case everyone rejects me, I have two schools to go to, now... hooray. I hope my scores, ECs, hooks, etc. can convince UPenn and other schools to accept me. Gah. The wait is really agonizing. Actually I need to submit some more college applications come December 14th, if I don't get into UPenn. I have this sinking feeling that I got rejected/deferred.

Man, I look so ugly...I look in the mirror and am not happy with what I see... dark circles, not so great skin due to no sleep. My face looks fuller too - lack of good eating habits?! ... :( I wish I didn't care about my appearance, but I do have to keep face.

Happy belated birthday Todd! You're 18 now! :D

My 18th birthday is next Tuesday. Wish me a good one, would ya? :) By then, I will hopefully be "hen ching song" and not do anything, yea!! I want to go out to eat w/all of my close friends.

I need to go Christmas shopping! Ugh! I bought Jane T. something today (shh) but I have 829374 other people to buy stuff. Well, no, actually around 30... but considering I take forever to shop for people, this might take awhile.

I GOT AN A ON MY SENIOR PROJECT PAPER! Yes, my P.O.S. paper. Even Mr. Owen said my thesis wasn't really that strong, and I totally agree.... o well, I'm happy! Now I just need to present it. I'm thinking of playing my flute in class... (which ties in w/my senior project)

^_^

Hi all,

I just finished reading The Winter Mantle by Elizabeth Chadwick. UGH. This is one of those books tha I have a tendency to pick up and wonder why I even bothered picking them up in the first place! I could NOT put it down in the first 250 pages or so (medieval historical fiction/romance, of course) but after the main character fades away and the new generation, I guess, lives on, there is no plot whatsoever. I'm disappointed because the first half was really good while the other half was an utter waste of time.

Yesterday was our last day of school before we come back next Monday. YES. :) I'd like to say "You're cool!" to Ishita because she's a hilarious, fun girl who I've got to know very well this semester :) through trials and tribulations of school (AP Bio, AP Lit, AP Physics, and sometimes AP Calc when we don't do our homework)! :D Ah. My friends, old and new, never cease to amaze me.

Augh, my monthly friend stopped by. Time for another week of pain and torture -_- My mom said that eating lots of sweets, albeit unhealthy, does ease the pain. I remember last time, I ate all these processed sugary foods right before she dropped by, and the week was nearly pain free. Eh. Little Miss Debbie is my best friend.

Sorry for lack of posts. I've been feeling very down/lazy lately, and nearly all of my journals have been neglected. Apologies (not many people read this anyway, though)...

If you REALLY want to keep up with my life, visit my xanga: http://www.xanga.com/dani1213 and you can see all the idiosyncrasies of Dani! Yes! ... The Xanga is reserved for random ramblings like WTF =\ haha :)

<3 1 year soon