A Hui Hou E 2014, Aloha E 2015

While the rest of the world is either celebrating their entrance to the new year or prepping for the Eve’s festivities, I am sitting here on my bed in the early evening having shirked the very productive plan I sent to mother dearest earlier today about organizing the findings of yesterday’s post-grad job hunt. It is the second New Year’s I will have spent alone, and up until about three hours ago, I was perfectly okay with that. And then I saw a friend’s Facebook status stating that no one should be alone on New Year’s and I looked down at my otherwise freshly showered self in a clean pair of pajamas…and I felt incredibly small and pathetic sitting here alone, hardly looking presentable, and ashamed that I have no plans whatsoever for New Year’s Eve. This is what my life has become.

How Do You Know: A Question of Happiness and Taking on the World

I write this post in honor of my friend who is working her way towards her dreams.

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I’ve never seen my story of grad school as one of inspiration or uniqueness. To be fair, I actually see absolutely nothing remotely inspirational in my life story. I mean, as opposed to the lives of other people I know who have actually overcome what the average member of society might see as unfortunate obstacles against all impossible odds, my life has been relatively normal. Sure, I lost both of my biological parents before I even hit double digits and my family’s socioeconomic status won’t be seeing to it that all of you reading will walk away with a new car like we’re on Oprah, but I was privileged enough to go to school. I’ve graduated almost three times now, I’ve consistently landed jobs and opportunities within my field of study since obtaining my Bachelor’s degree in 2013, and I have a roof over my head, food in my kitchen, and nice clothes in my closet. I am blessed, and I know that.

But we never realize how much the stories we are writing with our lives can impact and potentially help others. And today I learned that when my friend messaged me to ask me how I knew I’d be happy going to graduate school in Hawai’i and if I was scared.

This post is a product of that.

Avoiding Cupid’s Arrow: A Nonexistent Love Story

“Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love.” – Charlie Brown

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In the wake of the newest hot topic buzzing its way across social media (catcalling and the idea that it is not, in fact, a welcomed pleasantry), I want to tell you a story. This is the story of a girl who cried a river and drowned the whole world…sorry; I couldn’t resist. Actually, this is the story of a girl who decided that she was tired of being single; and seeing as she was quickly approaching the end of her academic career, it might be time for her to consider what the world of dating might be like. With that notion she opted to take the plunge into the deep-sea of hormones and set up an account on OkCupid which might, in hindsight, have been the dumbest thing she’d ever done. But now she has stories to tell. If you haven’t guessed, that girl is me and this is my story:

The Road to Comps and Other Scary Future Things

Today marked the beginning of the end for me.

10 Books: A Delayed Facebook Challenge

In an attempt to force my mind away from impending doom (disappointment, anxiety, fatigue, stress, a whirlwind of other emotions), I’ve been planning out my winter break activities. One of those activities includes reading for pleasure because it’s something I genuinely enjoy. Losing myself in the pages of a book is one of my favorite things to do; and since I recently purchased Lauren Graham’s (yes, Lorelai Gilmore; my obsession with Gilmore Girls runs deep) debut novel, it made me think about the Facebook challenge my brother sent me a few months ago. I was challenged to do:

Where Do We Go From Here?

To say that today has been an emotional roller coaster is about as much of an understatement as saying that Robin Williams was merely a good comedian. Not much justice is given and everyone knows there’s more to it than that. It’s been years since I’ve last really gotten myself worked up about God knows what, and today I found myself overcome in a frenzy of feelings that I never even knew I was capable of feeling. To be honest, I should have seen it coming. Emotions have been building up for weeks now. Stress from school (both class and otherwise), trying to figure out job things so I can afford to live in Hawai’i for just a few months longer, missing home…all of it has formed this ever-present conglomeration of dark clouds above my head. And I’ve swatted at the flies of emotion whilst telling myself that I don’t have time to feel anything because there’s too much to be done and not enough time to do it. But that might not have been my smartest idea because the flies multiplied, the dark clouds released their rain, and today was the kind of day where all I could do was cry.

In the Eye of the Hurricane

I live. Barely. But I am alive. I am functioning. And I am exhausted. It’s not often that I get to just sit and enjoy not having anything to do. Truthfully, I should probably be doing something productive with my time right now while I wait for this meeting to start in an hour, but I’m not going to do anything productive because I have spent the past week having every minute of my life dictated by obligations. And now that I have three days off, I’m going to do everything in my power to enjoy the freedom.

Adventures in Aloha: Return to the Islands

For those who didn’t know, I am back in Hawai’i. I’ve actually been back for about two weeks now, but between the hustle and bustle of classes starting, evening rehearsals, and trying to be social and catch up with all of my friends, I have felt very little like blogging about being back on-island. But now that I have a free afternoon, I decided to utilize the time (and the excellent breeze blowing through my window) to write about my return.

Summer 2014: Life Update #5

Once upon a time my life was simple. I woke up every morning, got dressed, and went to work ready to tackle the world. And I followed this routine daily. Until yesterday when my life became complicated.

Summer 2014: Life Update #4

I have finally reached the end of my week from hell. It might be a little extreme to call it that, but believe me when I say that I am more than thrilled for this week to be over. Why? Well…