Dear President Obama,

Dear President Obama,

Please let me visit the White House this weekend. A month ago I signed up for a trip to go to Washington D.C. with my NYU Residential Hall. They advertised it as a trip to D.C. with a tour of the White House. But the day before we leave, I find out that we will not be going to the White House.

It turns out that after collecting all our personal information and social security numbers, our RA's hadn't realized that all the tours for this weekend were full. I feel like only a VEEP gif can truly explain my annoyance at the people who planned this trip. At least they could have emailed to inform us that we would not be touring the White House. I only found out about the change in plans when I emailed one of the RA's because I didn't see the tour listed on the itinerary.

Of course I'm really excited to just go to D.C., but the tour of the White House was really what I was most looking forward too. If there is any way that that can still be arranged, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Shawn Wu

Apologies to the Person I (Apparently) Almost Killed

Let me explain the situation.

Monday was the Game of Thrones Season 5 Prescreening at NYU. I was super enthusiastic, hyped up, and crazed. Then the people working the event got me even more excited by bringing out my favorite thing: free stuff. Volunteers started launching Snoop Dogg GoT t-shirts into the crowd, and I was ready.

What I thought happened:
Volunteers walked down the aisle and held up the t-shirts. Each volunteer only had one or two, so I didn't expect to get one. I started waving frantically, and then the shirt started sailing through the air. It was going higher up than me, but I reached up and used my height to get a hold on it. At that same moment a person from the balcony above me had reached down to grab it. We both looked awkwardly at each other, and then he gave up and released it. I had won.

What my friends tell me actually happened:
Well, according to my friends, the person above me actually grabbed the shirt first. Then a split second later I grabbed hold of it and pulled down (allegedly). The other guy was already leaning over the edge of the railing, so he had to let go so he wouldn't go over the railing.

What really happened? We will never know.

But I would like to officially apologize to the other person who was holding that shirt. You are a great person for letting me have it.

P.S. The first episode of Game of Thrones season 5 is amazing. Prepare to be amazed. 

Networking?

Over spring break, a random friend of a friend was sitting in my common room, explaining to me the importance of networking. Every opportunity they have received was because of someone they met at their last job. Of course networking is something that I've been told since I got to college, but I never really got it. Not until now. I thought back to two weeks earlier, when a VP of Food Network told my class the same thing. It seems crazy that the world is so small, so connected. People hire people they know and like, and if you don't know anyone it will be hard to get hired. I don't know anyone.

Sure, I've done my best to network. I try to talk to guest speakers after they come to my classes, but I still feel like I'm miles behind everyone else. Other people I know reach out to random people and ask for coffee chats. That just seems so weird. Why would a random person want to interrupt their day and get coffee to talk with me? I don't think I would want to have coffee with a random college kid if I was a working professional ...And yet this awkward networking seems to be the only way to get somewhere in this world. People only talk to people to get something out of them, and that sucks.

My ounce of hope lies in the fact that everyone says you only need to get started. Once you've got one good job you can start forming the relationships with people at that job who will help you move onwards. Maybe I'll get lucky somehow. Maybe someone in the Entertainment industry will be searching how to make sweet tea and will accidentally come across my blog and give me that chance.

All I can do is hope, right?


P.S. Completely unrelated but don't want to create a whole new post about it.
I've noticed that I only use the left shift key on my keyboard. For all the years I've been typing I missed out on the whole right shift key, and I never even noticed it. I wonder if I could type faster if I taught myself to use both shift keys. They're certainly there for a reason. I pride myself on typing reasonably fast, so maybe I should refine my keyboarding. However, I've been typing this way as long as I can remember, so it might be nearly impossible to retrain my brain.

My Strange Addiction: Candy Crush Soda Saga

Soda is already a very addictive substance. My mom was addicted to Dr. Pepper for many years, and her struggle to wean herself off of it was difficult and similar to the efforts of someone quitting cigarettes. But I am not addicted to soda, I am addicted to Candy Crush Soda Saga.

Hopefully acknowledging my Soda Crush addiction will be the first in many steps to beating it. To be honest, I don't even really enjoy playing Soda Crush, but for the past week, I go to sleep thinking about those tiny candies and wake up imagining them matching up by color.

A few days ago I told my friends that I was going to quit, but that still hasn't happened. This love of Soda Crush actually scares me. I sit at home during this winter break playing this terrible game when there is so much more I should be doing. These are my last few days before I go back to college, and instead of working on internship applications and seeing friends who I won't see for many months, I am playing a stupid game on my iPod.

I know that sometimes people quit addictions gradually, so my plan is to play a real quick game after I finish this blog post and then to gradually play less until I quit. I hope it works!

Consider Rose

In Titanic, Rose Dawson remarks, "I saw my whole life as if I'd already lived it. An endless parade of parties and cotillions, yachts and polo matches."

But is all life just endless repetition?

In high school, I thought (and everyone told me) I could just work hard to get into a good college and then I could relax. Well not really relax, but you get the sense that things will be less stressful.

These days I'm applying to internship positions and it eerily mimics college apps. There are the reaches and the good fits (unfortunately there aren't any safeties). It's slightly different from college apps, but it's the same stress…the same dreadful sense that your future happiness hangs in the balance.

After college it will be job applications. And a job is your career - the launch of your adult life. Work experience seems even more significant to your future than internships and education.

And after your in a job, you'll probably be trying to find a better job, or a promotion in the job you're in. Always trying to climb the mandatory ladder of life.

I see my whole life as if I've already lived it. An endless parade of applications, stress, grey hairs, and unattainable fulfillment.

I don't really see what's wrong with the parties and yachts.




P.S. All of this thought comes from a smaller instance of repetition. I am on winter break from college, and I have a set routine that starts at night: I watch HBO Go and play Trivia Crack until 2A.M. when I go to sleep. I set a slew of alarms from 10A.M. to 12P.M. because otherwise I wouldn't ever wake up. I then slowly make the transition to the shower and the TV downstairs and spend the rest of my day applying for internships and seeking out some form of a meal.
This lengthy winter break is torturously monotonous, and it leaves my brain mountains of time to overthink life...