WHO WANTS TO SEE...

Five for Fighting , Smash Mouth, Gavin DeGraw

FOR FREE?!

Sunday, June 20, noon-4pm- SF Golden Gate Park

There's going to be other activities going on there, too!!!

Dr. Kubasak (LS2 prof) is great.

One regret I have is that I waited until 9th week to visit him in office hours.

I went home this weekend for a surprise visit for my mum and dad. My mum cried when she saw me, and so did I. It was a very special moment that I will not forget.

So the weekend was filled with LOTS of quality time with my parents, especially with my mum since my dad was quite busy. We did lots of simple things like talking, hiking, driving around and checking out the beautiful homes of Los Altos hills, going to San Francisco, Japantown, and Union Square, watching movies, looking at pictures, and packing (since we're moving apartments on June 14... remind me to give you the address to my family's new apartment... the new apt will be in San Jose, close to Branham high school).

The weekend was so nice. Going back allowed me to be reminded of how selfless and loving my parents are. I want to make them feel more appreciated.

Krystal also organized a get-together for those of us who came back home for Memorial weekend... there were about 10 of us there, and it was SO nice to see good HS friends again  and to catch up with them. I really am so grateful to have gotten to know such AMAZING people at Tino.

Unfortunately, at the end of my visit, I got into a "dispute" with my dad... and I had to leave for LA before we were able to resolve the dispute. I want to talk to my dad soon though and resolve things because I understand where he is coming from and I want him to know that I understand where he is coming from yet at the same time I want him to understand where I come from too. I'll call him tomorrow.

A big thank-you also goes to Wes for driving me up north, I am very grateful for your kindness. I also enjoyed our chats and GOOD conversations. I hope I didn't scare you too much on the 5, haha.

Oh yesterday during my tour, as I was walking backwards, I walked into the first step of the stairs that lead from B to A level of Ackerman, fell backwards, then jammed my butt into the edge of the stairs. My tour group was so shocked, and then they felt bad because they didn't warn me about the step... haha, it was actually quite funny to see the expression on their faces. But at the same time, though I laughed it off, I was simultaneously experiencing such immense pain. It really is a funny sensation to laugh while experiencing physical hurt. I now have a black and blue puffy bruise that hurts whenever I sit on it.

SHA banquet took place yesterday. I really AM going to miss the SHA program next year. It was such a wonderful experience- so many laughs and emotions. All of the other SHAs are definitely QUALITY people who I have grown to love. Tim made such a sweet and touching speech at banquet. Tim, if you're reading this... thank-you so much for your kind words.

Here's a poem I shared at banquet (FYI: it contains some inside jokes):

SHA LUV

By Amy Wong

From Baby SHA welcome meeting I remember

The boundless energy of each SHA member.

From that moment, I already felt

A SHA luv so warm, it’d make one melt.

CHS Ninety-one

Was a class that’s always tons of fun!

Nutrition, drugs, and counseling techniques

Are some things we learned for ten incredible weeks.

We learned how to use the thermometer

And, as Albert says, the“sphyg-mem-an-om-me-meter,”

But SHA class would not be so nice,

If not for Albert’s ice breakers- used to break the ice!

The school year got off to a great start,

Until we heard news that broke my heart:

Sharee announced, “The SHA bear is gone!”

It was a tragedy… But we moved on.

The memories and times we share

Are moments for which I truly care.

From scavenger hunts and meetings on Tuesday,

To all-SHA programs that make my day!

Throughout the year, SHAs have had

The chance to help those who feel bad or sad.

As SHAs we’ve been able to reach out,

To so many people, without a doubt.

I admire SHAs for their heart,

And their desire to change lives from the start.

For this reason I will truly miss

Being a part of this SHA bliss.

One more thing I’d like to add

Is that Raxon- you really are rad.

Thanks for making the journey worthwhile.

Thanks for the kindness and for making me smile.

To all the SHAs, you mean a lot to me,

Thanks for making me so happy.

SHA LUV!

By the way, poem writing isn't really my forte.

The tour guide banquet was also yesterday... unfortunately I could not get there until pretty late and I missed most of the banquet.. but, the short time that I was there was still wonderful! It is always so uplifting and refreshing to be around such an uplifting and upbeat group of people. It will be sad to see the senior tour guides/coordinators leave next year.

Well, based upon my xanga updating trends for the past few months, I may or may not be updating this xanga regularly within the next one or two months. So here's what I'll be up to over summer:

June 21-Aug 22: counselor at SuperCamp at Stanford

Aug22-Aug28: UniCamp at Camp River Glen!!! [You want to support me? See my xanga entry below for more info!]

Aug 29-Sept. 10/11: HOME TIME

Sept. 11/12- back to UCLA for RA training and floor preparations (yea, Rieber 3N!)

well, I'm off to bed now ! All the best to you as you study for finals/enjoy your summer break!

Hey all! If you get a chance, please read the following because it is about something I care about very much....  

As you may or may not know, I will be a volunteer counselor/program specialist at UCLA UniCamp this year. Each summer, UniCamp inspires nearly 1,000 children, from low-income families, to envision brighter futures by sending them to Camp River Glen.

This summer, I hope to inspire at-risk youth to live better lives. I hope to
encourage youth to reach their full potential by building their self-esteem
and by promoting the value of education. I seek to serve as a positive role
model who positively changes a child’s outlook on life. If you could help
me in my effort to change someone’s life by sponsoring me, I will be very
grateful.

        UniCamp allows campers to spend a week at camp for a very small fee. As a result, all UniCamp volunteers are asked to raise money in order to make the camp affordable to the Los Angeles community. Thus, if you are willing, I ask that you help support me. If you feel like you are unable to support me financially, please know that I understand (I understand that some of you are already trying to raise money for missions as well as other
things). However, if you can support me, you can follow this link (copy and
paste)

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=51977&lis=1&kntae51977=DF4926C503D3466EA94B50739AB0E105&supId=42414623

 to sponsor me through credit card. It’s really simple!  After you enter
your payment information, you will be given the option of providing your
name to me. In this way, I will be able to see how each one of you have
supported me. If you prefer to donate by check or cash, e-mail me back at
amywong@ucla.edu so that we can arrange a way for me to obtain your
donation (whether it be through mail or by meeting up somewhere at UCLA).


Your donation is greatly appreciated by me as well as by the children of
UniCamp! Thank-you for taking the time to read about something that I
really care about.

Sincerely,

Amy Wong

Hello! I am just in a very good mood for some reason, which is quite funny because I have a chem 14D midterm tomorrow and I am not prepared for it! 

Guess what, I'm going to be a UCLA campus tour guide! well, that's kind of old news, but I don't really update this xanga much so I guess it is news after all.    so excited!

I guess this ends my sporadic xanga update. I shall write more later when I have time!

David, a 6th grader who I tutor from Marina Del Rey Middle School, is so special to me! Today, he did not need any help on homework; so he asked me if we could talk instead of doing hw! Because I trusted my tutee when he said he didn't have any hw questions, i said, "YEA! Let's talk!"

I had such a great conversation (for about 1 hour, before we made valentines cards) with David! First of all, Marina Del Rey Middle school is in a poor neighbourhood in the LA area, and many of the kids end up in gangs, or they end up not pursuing education past the high school level. So with that in mind, you can hopefully understand why the following convo i had with David was so encouraging!

David told me, "I think I want to go to Harvard! But isn't that for people who are really really smart?"

I encouraged him and told him that he was smart and can do well if he works hard! David smiled and then asked me, "Where's Harvard?"

 I told him that it was in Boston.

He replied, "Oh. That's too far away. I think i want to go to UCLA then!"

David then proceeded to ask me numerous questions! Like: "Is UCLA hard?" "Do you have to take math?" "Is there a place at UCLA where you can by chips?" "What is a dorm?"

At the end of the convo, David seemed so excited about the idea of going to UCLA! He made me so excited, too!

David also asked me about Hitler and specifics about what he did. I asked him if he understood what 'discrimination' meant, and he said, "No. What's that?" So we then delved into this deep convo about what discrimination means, and about judging people based solely on outward appearance, nationality, gender, etc.We talked a lot about how to treat people who are different from ourselves. It was such a good conversation!

It gets even better.

We were talking about the subject of history and somehow came upon the subject of creation of man. He asked me what I believed, and I got to share my faith with Him! He asked me about heaven and hell. And whether or not God loves people who are mean. I told him that God loves everyone and that He forgives us because He loves us more than we can even imagine! After I said that, he smiled at me and told me, "THAT'S REALLY COOL."

How great is that. I'm so glad that I could talk to David today, I really feel like we connected today. It makes me smile.

What a great day. My day was totally made. PTL!

PS- A lot of people asked about why i was so happy in the previous entry so i guess i'll briefly write about it now. I got the Team Leader (counselor) job at SuperCamp at Stanford! I would work there from June 21-Aug 22 (overnight camp for 10 days per session; 5 sessions total) and encourage youth to reach their potential by overcoming barriers and by helping to teach them both life skills and learning skills. It seems like a great way for me to reach out to people, and a great learning and growing experience. I really really want to impact people... so I am totally excited about this opportunity.! However, I still have my Orientation Counselor interview on Feb. 18, and I wouldn't know about whether or not i'd get the job until the second week of March.

SuperCamp already sent me their contract, so i basically need to decide in about a week the following:  

if, IN THE CASE that i get both jobs, which one would I choose?

If I choose SuperCamp, i'll go ahead and send in my contract to the SuperCamp director. If I choose OC, I would have to contact the camp director and let her know that I'm waiting on another job decision. I really don't want to do that though because the director was so nice to me and made sacrifices for me... and I don't want to inconvenience her nor do i want to give her the impression that I don't want to work at SuperCamp because I really do want to! But as an OC, I can build relationships with people who I go to school with, and I can encourage and help students in numerous ways. Anyway, please pray for my decision, i'll be making it within a week! thanks!