Time flys whether or not you're having fun. Today I was lounging around my grandma's apartment with Chris and Daria. We had just finished our dinner, and my grandma was in the process of peeling apples for my siblings.
We started talking, as usual, about random things. Somehow age was brought up, but it was not on how old we each are. It was about where the time went, and how we each spent the years that have gone by. My youngest sister, Daria, told me something that shocked me. She said that I had been gone from her life since she was in third grade. It wasn't until recently did we bond together. She's right. We are 9 years apart. When I went away to college, 3 years ago, she was in third grade. She was only in third grade, and already I was disappearing from her life.
She also kindly reminded me that it wasn't the first time. You see, I went away for two years during my high school career. Freshmen and Sophomore year were the two best years of my high school experience. I was living with my grandparents on my mom's side. I went to a high school that was about half an hour away by car from my parents. It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. It was the greatest thing that happened to me until I realized that this meant that out of the 12 years of my little sister's life, I have been gone for 5 of them.
That's scary. It's scary to think that I will soon graduate and move out and perhaps find it hard to make time to see her later on. So in all of her life, I have only been fully, physically there for her for only 5 years. Whether or not I was actually present for her is a whole other story. Now, I realize that those 5 years that I spent with her may be the only 5 years in my lifetime that I could have been fully, physically, and mentally there for her. I regret not trying harder to be a better sister. I regret not telling her things I should have let her know instead of having her learn the hard way. I wish I could have seen this day coming 5 years ago, so I would have made choices to spend my time with her rather than to do my own thing and go my own way.
The fact of the matter is, this is not the first time I had this conversation with one of my siblings. Belinda and I had a deep conversation for the first time about the exact same topic. Age is not what separated us, time and our decision of what to do with our time did. Belinda and I are 3 years apart. When I went away for high school for the first 2 years, she was only 13 years old, just starting middle school.
What surprised me when we had our conversation was her truthful explanation of why she couldn't count on me and why she felt it was hard to trust that I would understand her. She asked me if I know where I was when she needed me the most throughout middle school. I was away, having the best time of my life and barely thinking about what was going on at home. I was away from the mess my family is, but she was stuck suffering every day without anyone to talk to or be with. I was absent in her life for those two critical years, and when I came back for the last two years of high school, I was not mentally or physically there for her either.
Then, I went to college. It's been another three years, and now I wonder why Belinda and I have not been better friends and sisters to each others while we were growing up. Now I know- I was simply not there for her. But I asked her too, where was she when I needed her? Where was she, when I needed my little sister to comfort me or to share my joys? Neither one of us could bear it any more. We realized we missed a large chunk of time to be with each other.
I told her I didn't realize the problem until now. I told her that I would try my best to be the good sister she deserves. I made my intentions clear to her, but she was skeptical. I couldn't blame her. I would have been skeptical too if someone that hasn't been in my life all of a sudden said she wanted in again. I would have felt hurt and disgusted and angry and sad. A little more than disappointed and a little more than hopeful from the conversation, I began to act differently. I am intentionally being a sister- a good sister. I am trying to be the person I know I could have been and the person I know I can be for Belinda and Chris and Daria.
It doesn't stop there. I am trying to be a better sister to Judy, a better daughter to my parents, a better grandaughter to my grandparents, a better niece to my aunts and uncles, and even a better friend to my friends. My heart is changing. I can feel it. And I thank God for changing my heart to one that is intentionally loving. Like being humble, loving is an action that requires effort. Loving is not passive; it is not unseen or unheard. Loving is active. And I am more than ready to start acting out my love now.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Types of Economic Recovery
Our economy has been doing poorly (to say the least) for the past 2 years, and quite frankly, I'm getting tired of it. But I shouldn't be complaining, and neither should anyone else, because the Fed has already done what they were supposed to- stabilize the economy by preventing our financial structures from crumbling into pieces. Had the Fed not taken on so much debt and bought out everything from GM to mortgages in order to save our economy, it would have deteriorated. Our economy could have crumbled to the point of having semblances of a "new" economy- which has volatile prices and high uncertainty.
Yes, we are in a whole lot of debt- about $3 trillion. Yes, we have a national unemployment rate of 10%- and still some states have higher unemployment rates than others. Yes, there is slight inflation (0.1%) in December and slight decrease in capacity utilization- but, there is still hope for recovery because the Fed is starting to feel safe enough to stop buying up mortgages and throwing out stimulus packages. Even though the Federal Funds Rate may not be increasing for the next few months, the slowing down of government intervention is a sign of the economy stabilizing and possibly even beginning to recover.
Now the big question is: What will our recovery look like?
By picturing our economic growth as a function of time, our recovery may look like 4 different shapes:
1. V
The V-shaped recovery is the ideal recovery mode, because it shows that although the economy tanked very quickly, it will also rebound very quickly. In order for our economy to recover in this "V" shape, we will need to see at least 6%-7% growth asap, which is highly unlikely seeing that our economy has only been stabilized recently and is barely experiencing any growth.
2. U
Now that we've hit the bottom (*fingers crossed), we might just stay here for a while. The economy might like to plateau on us for a while, take a break from production, and then come back up to where it was before the recession. Since the Fed has basically done all that it could to stimulate the economy, and no additional plans have yet been made, it seems like the U-shaped recovery might be our best bet. Essentially, the U-shape recovery will require us to just wait it out.
3. W
Although, another likely way the economy may form is in a W-shape. When people stop being frugal and start living again, we may see some initial growth. However, this will take time, and since our capacity utilization has been decreasing, a grow in demand may create a bottleneck effect, caused by a delay in hiring, a delay in production, and etc. As quickly as our economy may recover, the bottleneck created by today's layoffs may bring us back down until businesses have shaken off worries of low sales and begin producing more again- hence the second part of growth on the W.
4. L
The L-shaped recovery is the scariest mode our economy may enter. Let us all pray that we do not enter this state, because I hardly consider it a recovery. Basically, the economy has fallen into a recession, but who is to say that (God forbid) it won't stay that way. In the L-shaped recovery, our current economic state will become the "new normal." Instead of 4%, our "natural rate of unemployment" may become 10%. Our country may experience low production, high inflation, and high deficits for many years to come. This type of economy is synonymous to underdeveloped countries, which means our standard of living may substantially decrease.
I daresay that our government would not let this happen to us, but the Fed can not make the economy recover alone. Our country needs the help of business and consumers alike to start trusting that the economy will pick up. Now, I don't mean start spending like crazy and get yourself into a lot of debt. What I'm trying to say is, now is the time for us to start supporting our country's approach to recovery rather than bashing the Fed for every other thing that we may not agree with. There is no better time to get your voice heard.
As Maya Angelou said,
“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”
Don't complain.
Yes, we are in a whole lot of debt- about $3 trillion. Yes, we have a national unemployment rate of 10%- and still some states have higher unemployment rates than others. Yes, there is slight inflation (0.1%) in December and slight decrease in capacity utilization- but, there is still hope for recovery because the Fed is starting to feel safe enough to stop buying up mortgages and throwing out stimulus packages. Even though the Federal Funds Rate may not be increasing for the next few months, the slowing down of government intervention is a sign of the economy stabilizing and possibly even beginning to recover.
Now the big question is: What will our recovery look like?
By picturing our economic growth as a function of time, our recovery may look like 4 different shapes:
1. V
The V-shaped recovery is the ideal recovery mode, because it shows that although the economy tanked very quickly, it will also rebound very quickly. In order for our economy to recover in this "V" shape, we will need to see at least 6%-7% growth asap, which is highly unlikely seeing that our economy has only been stabilized recently and is barely experiencing any growth.
2. U
Now that we've hit the bottom (*fingers crossed), we might just stay here for a while. The economy might like to plateau on us for a while, take a break from production, and then come back up to where it was before the recession. Since the Fed has basically done all that it could to stimulate the economy, and no additional plans have yet been made, it seems like the U-shaped recovery might be our best bet. Essentially, the U-shape recovery will require us to just wait it out.
3. W
Although, another likely way the economy may form is in a W-shape. When people stop being frugal and start living again, we may see some initial growth. However, this will take time, and since our capacity utilization has been decreasing, a grow in demand may create a bottleneck effect, caused by a delay in hiring, a delay in production, and etc. As quickly as our economy may recover, the bottleneck created by today's layoffs may bring us back down until businesses have shaken off worries of low sales and begin producing more again- hence the second part of growth on the W.
4. L
The L-shaped recovery is the scariest mode our economy may enter. Let us all pray that we do not enter this state, because I hardly consider it a recovery. Basically, the economy has fallen into a recession, but who is to say that (God forbid) it won't stay that way. In the L-shaped recovery, our current economic state will become the "new normal." Instead of 4%, our "natural rate of unemployment" may become 10%. Our country may experience low production, high inflation, and high deficits for many years to come. This type of economy is synonymous to underdeveloped countries, which means our standard of living may substantially decrease.
I daresay that our government would not let this happen to us, but the Fed can not make the economy recover alone. Our country needs the help of business and consumers alike to start trusting that the economy will pick up. Now, I don't mean start spending like crazy and get yourself into a lot of debt. What I'm trying to say is, now is the time for us to start supporting our country's approach to recovery rather than bashing the Fed for every other thing that we may not agree with. There is no better time to get your voice heard.
As Maya Angelou said,
“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”
Don't complain.
Friday, January 15, 2010
The Spirit of Student Leadership
This is my award winning essay on student leadership. Enjoy!
In this world, people can be differentiated by many characteristics. One way to differentiate a person is by how he or she addresses change. There are some people who are afraid of change and try their best to cling to familiarity. Then there are those who try their best to adapt to change. However, as a student leader, I am neither a person who is afraid of change nor am I one who simply adheres to change. I am a student leader who creates change. In everything that I pursue, I share my passion, motivate others, and create lasting transformations throughout my campus and local community.
As Secretary of the Undergraduate Leadership Council (ULEAD), I was able to combine my interest of working with children with helping the community where help is most needed. By initiating a service project that engages our club’s members in the Amherst Leisure Center’s Annual Halloween Fest and Carnival, I was able to encourage our members to set up and run the whole Halloween Carnival for many children and families in Amherst. In the first year alone, we served over 50 children and their families to games and activities throughout the night. Since then, our members have helped organize this event for 3 consecutive years to provide a safe and fun-filled Halloween event for the city of Amherst.
My enthusiasm for serving the community has enabled us to provide affordable leisure to Amherst families and to prevent the influence of underage drinking on the growing number of students who volunteered during this event and opted out of the party scene. An increasing number of ULEAD members, and members of other campus organizations, are volunteering at this annual event since my initial outreach to the Amherst Leisure Center. My leadership has created innovation, collaboration, and integrity for both this campus and community.
Under my leadership, students are motivated to become involved on this campus. I worked my way up as Academic Committee Co-Chair to Treasurer and ultimately to Co-President for Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD), a national honor society. Throughout the two and a half years that I served on the Executive Board of ALD, I inspired members to change their attitude towards ALD. This honor society was simply inactive, so by asking members what they wanted to see happen, rather than planning events that they were uninterested in, I was able to engage our members. The outcome of my communication with our members was the launch of the first "Spring into ALD" social during the week after the 2009 Induction Ceremony. Before the launch of this first annual social, only a handful of members came to the general chapter meetings. However, after over 60 people showed up for the social, the chapter meetings began to increase in numbers. To this day, the number of members who actually attend the general chapter meetings remain consistently high.
Our members also expressed interest in holding a video game tournament to benefit the children's literacy program at our local library. I supported their interest by working with the new committee co-chairs to make this charity event happen within a month's time. Even though the event was during the last week of school amidst final exams, our members and non-members alike showed their support by participating in the video game tournament, and we were able to raise over $300 for our local library. Raising such a large donation during a one day event that took less than a month to plan was the result of my engaging leadership that changed our members’ attitudes toward being involved in ALD.
When members lack motivation, I took leadership in building passion and transforming attitudes. It did not take me long to learn that Golden Key (GK) members were passionate about serving the community while maintaining high academic achievements. As I thought about how I could take one step further to celebrate the importance of community relationships and individual achievements, I created the first and only campus-wide mentoring program. As an honor society, the treasure of our organization lies in the diversity of our members. I wanted to give our members the opportunity to share our treasures with the campus by creating this mentoring program that brings together not only the diversity in majors of our members, but also the diversity of ages, which is often left unaddressed. The upperclassmen members who elect to participate in this program are matched with underclassmen from Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD).
The purpose of the mentoring program is to build strong relationships between the different age groups on campus and to foster respect and appreciation for the diversity of our campus community. Mentors and mentees are matched based on their individual requests for certain criteria such as personal interests, job or internship experiences, personality, major or minor, and more. Further, mixer activities and events that bring mentors and mentees together are organized to help these relationships flourish. Through this collaboration, young ALD members, who usually join GK when they become eligible, will have exposure to the excellence in GK members to inspire their future involvement with GK.
Throughout my college career, I have used my leadership abilities to create changes in various organizations and this community. The way in which I lead embodies the GK values of integrity, collaboration, innovation, respect, diversity, excellence, and engagement. In everything that I pursue, I share my passion, motivate others, and create lasting transformations throughout my campus and local community.
In this world, people can be differentiated by many characteristics. One way to differentiate a person is by how he or she addresses change. There are some people who are afraid of change and try their best to cling to familiarity. Then there are those who try their best to adapt to change. However, as a student leader, I am neither a person who is afraid of change nor am I one who simply adheres to change. I am a student leader who creates change. In everything that I pursue, I share my passion, motivate others, and create lasting transformations throughout my campus and local community.
As Secretary of the Undergraduate Leadership Council (ULEAD), I was able to combine my interest of working with children with helping the community where help is most needed. By initiating a service project that engages our club’s members in the Amherst Leisure Center’s Annual Halloween Fest and Carnival, I was able to encourage our members to set up and run the whole Halloween Carnival for many children and families in Amherst. In the first year alone, we served over 50 children and their families to games and activities throughout the night. Since then, our members have helped organize this event for 3 consecutive years to provide a safe and fun-filled Halloween event for the city of Amherst.
My enthusiasm for serving the community has enabled us to provide affordable leisure to Amherst families and to prevent the influence of underage drinking on the growing number of students who volunteered during this event and opted out of the party scene. An increasing number of ULEAD members, and members of other campus organizations, are volunteering at this annual event since my initial outreach to the Amherst Leisure Center. My leadership has created innovation, collaboration, and integrity for both this campus and community.
Under my leadership, students are motivated to become involved on this campus. I worked my way up as Academic Committee Co-Chair to Treasurer and ultimately to Co-President for Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD), a national honor society. Throughout the two and a half years that I served on the Executive Board of ALD, I inspired members to change their attitude towards ALD. This honor society was simply inactive, so by asking members what they wanted to see happen, rather than planning events that they were uninterested in, I was able to engage our members. The outcome of my communication with our members was the launch of the first "Spring into ALD" social during the week after the 2009 Induction Ceremony. Before the launch of this first annual social, only a handful of members came to the general chapter meetings. However, after over 60 people showed up for the social, the chapter meetings began to increase in numbers. To this day, the number of members who actually attend the general chapter meetings remain consistently high.
Our members also expressed interest in holding a video game tournament to benefit the children's literacy program at our local library. I supported their interest by working with the new committee co-chairs to make this charity event happen within a month's time. Even though the event was during the last week of school amidst final exams, our members and non-members alike showed their support by participating in the video game tournament, and we were able to raise over $300 for our local library. Raising such a large donation during a one day event that took less than a month to plan was the result of my engaging leadership that changed our members’ attitudes toward being involved in ALD.
When members lack motivation, I took leadership in building passion and transforming attitudes. It did not take me long to learn that Golden Key (GK) members were passionate about serving the community while maintaining high academic achievements. As I thought about how I could take one step further to celebrate the importance of community relationships and individual achievements, I created the first and only campus-wide mentoring program. As an honor society, the treasure of our organization lies in the diversity of our members. I wanted to give our members the opportunity to share our treasures with the campus by creating this mentoring program that brings together not only the diversity in majors of our members, but also the diversity of ages, which is often left unaddressed. The upperclassmen members who elect to participate in this program are matched with underclassmen from Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD).
The purpose of the mentoring program is to build strong relationships between the different age groups on campus and to foster respect and appreciation for the diversity of our campus community. Mentors and mentees are matched based on their individual requests for certain criteria such as personal interests, job or internship experiences, personality, major or minor, and more. Further, mixer activities and events that bring mentors and mentees together are organized to help these relationships flourish. Through this collaboration, young ALD members, who usually join GK when they become eligible, will have exposure to the excellence in GK members to inspire their future involvement with GK.
Throughout my college career, I have used my leadership abilities to create changes in various organizations and this community. The way in which I lead embodies the GK values of integrity, collaboration, innovation, respect, diversity, excellence, and engagement. In everything that I pursue, I share my passion, motivate others, and create lasting transformations throughout my campus and local community.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
My Personal Mission Statement
Always leave my doors open for those in need
Embrace life in every way through continuous change and adaptation
Impact society and humanity, whether it is through simple, every day actions, or through elaborate initiatives on a global scale
Maintain a balance in family, friends, health, work, education, faith, and fun
Face all life challenges with optimism
Build a family of strong values, but even more importantly, to enjoy being with my family
Build a career that provides a vast network of intellectually diverse groups of people
Aid in the cause to end poverty
Find enjoyment, accomplishment, and satisfaction in life
Embrace life in every way through continuous change and adaptation
Impact society and humanity, whether it is through simple, every day actions, or through elaborate initiatives on a global scale
Maintain a balance in family, friends, health, work, education, faith, and fun
Face all life challenges with optimism
Build a family of strong values, but even more importantly, to enjoy being with my family
Build a career that provides a vast network of intellectually diverse groups of people
Aid in the cause to end poverty
Find enjoyment, accomplishment, and satisfaction in life
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