Crash Now, Pay Later

Friday morning, more than 20 of us went go-karting at the Sunway Extreme Park. It was a blast! Even after I sustained heavy injury to my left knee.

To make a not-so-long story short, my car stalled a bit because I made too sharp of a turn. Before I could get going again, my car was unintentionally hit from the side. There's this metal steering wheel thing that bashed into the side of my knee anyway anyway it was enough that I wanted to go to the doctor to check it out.

My contract law lecturer, Ms. Kay Mi, kindly drove me back to Damansara.

So, I'm at the clinic and the young doctor was very attractive and gave me extra strawberry candy as he explained how I had hemotosis, or extreme blood clotting, but no broken bones, Thank God. Now I have a sweet looking x-ray of both my legs and chest to hang up at home!

So I go outside and the front desk woman hands me the bill. RM90. Not anticipating that I would be in the doctor's office, I realized I didn't have enough money to pay! How sad, huh! So, I quickly called my parents - they were a million miles away getting our car fixed. My little brother was MIA.

Then what? The kind woman who had taken my x-ray said, "Don't worry about it dear. You can pay later. We trust you. Here, take your medicine and x-ray."

My jaw seriously dropped to the floor. What? The. What? Could they even do that? 90 ringgits, for all my non-Malaysian readers, is like 90 DOLLARS. Would anywhere in the States let you walk away with a 90 dollar bill?

I thanked her profusely and said that I would write about her in my journal so here I am! I still can't believe it. She could see that I was alone, in pain and could hardly walk, and she chose not to make me even more embarrassed and inconvenienced. Thank you thank you.

If I could ever be happy from getting hurt, she would be my reason!

It's Not Chivalry. It's Just Being Nice!

It was pouring rain and I was late for an appointment. I sprinted out of my apartment without an umbrella because I had no time to turn back. Malaysian raindrops are seriously 40985 times larger than in the US so my top and skirt were turning different shades of blue and grey!

I reached the main street only to see two middle-aged men waiting, also without umbrellas.

I realized they were waiting for taxis.

A taxi stopped, the first man opened the passenger seat door, spoke shortly to the driver, then closed the door. He then looked in my direction, and held his arm in a "please, take this taxi"-type fashion. I couldn't believe it. IT WAS POURING. He had no umbrella!

My heart broke into the biggest smile of the day. I thanked him as sincerely as I could, then jumped into the taxi. We drove for only a minute when the taxi driver said,

"Ah, you know, BIG BIG traffic, lots of waiting time." It was then that I realized he probably wasn't intending on picking up any passengers and that he actually did me a favor by accepting me into the car!

DOUBLE YMMD THANKFULNESS!!!!!!!!!

What a Sari Mess!

My head of department invited me last minute to an Indian Deepavali celebration. People from the entire university would be present, and it would be my chance to meet all the Big Fish. My mom and I hurried downtown the day before the event to purchase an outfit. It was an Indian sari.

An Indian sari is basically a really really long rectangular piece of cloth. It is easily five or six meters long. I went online to search around for some directions of how to put it on myself. I didn't want to trouble any of my Indian friends even though I knew how complicated it could get. After much tugging and pinning and wrapping and adjusting it looked pretty ok! I stuffed myself into the car, got to the event, stepped out of the car and it all started falling apart!

A few girls I had never seen before took pity on me. They took me into a deserted hallway and totally fixed me up for 15-20 MINUTES! They tried wrapping me in at least three styles and then they had to work with all the pathetic little pins I had! The pins were bending from not being able to go through seven layers of wrapping! After much tugging and pinning and wrapping and adjusting, I was brand new!

Those two fabulous ladies from the Economics department saved me!

Hey, I've Been There. Let Me Help You.

I was surfing xangas earlier this week when I came across a particularly sad entry. It was so, so sad... that I refrained from leaving a comment. I rationalized to myself, "oh, [this friend of mine] doesn't want to be lectured by me..."

Yesterday, I went back through my subscriptions to find that someone had left a comment for that sad post. Then the next day, another person left a second one.

Instead of taking the moral high ground, or the "this is what you need to do" approach, these friends offered their empathy. They had felt the same at one point in their life, and they chose to reopen their past vulnerabilities to help out a friend. I can not say if their comments have touched the author of the post, but they really opened my eyes to how to be a better friend.

That made my day.

A YMMD In Disguise

It isn't that people in Malaysia are necessarily un-altruistic, I think I just have to reframe my mind. What does going out of one's way mean in Malaysia and how is this different than in the US?

Yesterday, I caught a glimpse.

There was a little girl sitting by herself at a cafe. One of the waiters was trying to get her off of the chair for some reason and I was somewhat taken aback. I then watched as he took a second chair and stacked it on top of the first - he was making it so she could reach her drink on the table.

Man In Orange, Don't Kill Me

Today I was waiting at what I believed to be a Big Blue bus stop. They've been changing bus #1's route, so the last time I tried to catch the bus home I had to walk three or four blocks to the next stop. This time I was smart and walked backwards (instead of to the next one further up the street). I sat there basking in the sunlight, trying not to breathe in too many fumes. Hanging out right next to the 405 can be so unhealthy!

Anyway, so I'm enjoying my sunlight when I see this middle-aged man stumble up a few feet away from me. At first I thought he was some kind of repairman and possibly drunk. He was wearing a lot of orange is also the color of prison convicts?!

I glanced away as he started to mumble to himself. He kept mumbling and pacing, mumbling and pacing. I strained my neck, looking down the street and LOH and BEHOLD, glistening like a mirage, was the bus. I stood up with my Bruin card and quarter in hand, but the bus seemed to be in a far lane.

The mumbling man in orange perked up! He called out,

"Ooh, are you trying to get on that bus over there?"

"Why yes, I am!"

"They've changed the route - go, go! The new stop is at the Mobil station!"

He smiled and I thanked him gratuitously. I couldn't stop smiling as I scurried to cross the street. This is really something, because I had to wait for two crosswalks but I still caught the bus! Can you imagine? Maybe the bus driver was being nice, and was waiting for me!

Both of them made my day!

So Much Community Service in One Room

Oh, Project W.I.L.D. whenever I am with you life is so good...

(post-edit: 5/20/07)

That night, we had our annual Community Service Commission banquet with all 22 community service projects. Two tables were filled by us alone! Support and energy was high! Project WILD was second runner up to the Project of the Year Award by only one point! Project WILD had never gotten that close to winning the award ever so GREAT JOB WILD!

Farheen, our Commissioner, gave us each a huge hug because she knew how hard we had worked for our kids that year. We all knew that real prize was improving the program for the kids... it's "all for the kids" as we like to say.

But that's not the end!

Somehow, I managed to escape with an award: I was voted as
Most WILD Director!

I was running and dancing up to the stage like a crazy woman! They gave me a certificate and a toy tiger that ROARED when you pressed a button on it's belly. I felt so honored by my co-directors, my friends, to have been voted for the award. Seriously, my heart just about exploded!

The whole night was just an amazing SHAKEDOWN with the entire Community Service Commission. So, much love for the community in one room!

Dinner With 1 Becomes Dinner With 20

SURPRISE!

It is three in the morning and I am still giddy from tonight.
Who knew that dinner with one could turn into dinner with 20?
At my favorite restaurant of all time - Cafe 50's
Celebrating and reminiscing on good times past
and many more to come.

Facebook album of photos with detailed captions now available!


(post-edit: 5/20/2007)

In a breath - Adam (to my right) had been planning this dinner for more than a month! He organized all the people, the restaurant, the balloons, everything without me even having a INKLING of anything suspicious going on! At the party, my dearest clarinet friends presented me with a series of beautiful and personalized gifts... with the crowning glory being a book of personal notes from each of my friends. They wished me a happy birthday and described their favorite band memories with me! I laughed, I cried, I EVERYTHING'ED.

The title of my photo album says it all,

"Not Everyone Knows What Love Is, but I Do."

I LOVE YOU, CLARINETS + Marie!!!!!!

Running for an Invisible Stranger

On Monday, Jim, Tracy and I were running a little late to the Community Service Commission directors-in-transition workshop all the way down in Math Sciences. We threw open the doors of Acacia and walked briskly out of De Neve.

While I was busying myself chatting about the upcoming meeting and scanning the ground for things I could trip on, I spotted someone's Bruin Card on the ground. Someone glanced at their watch, then we glanced at each other.

Without much commotion Jim picked up the card and ran VERY FAST back to Dykstra's front desk and VERY FAST back to where we had been waiting for him. That girl on the card would never know how fast Jim ran, yet he did it anyway.

Community service can be right in our own dorms, right on our own campus. We can go out of our way for one another - - and still make it to our meeting on time ;D

When You Get Kidnapped

...it usually doesn't make your day in a positive way...

But when you get kidnapped by Tracy, Cherry, Jim, Kathy and Lily - - it's different!

The directors-in-transition planned a social for Saturday night. Brandon and I walked to the Bruin Bear together and met with Jim, Cherry and Tracy at 6. Everyone else seemed to be running late or not being able to come. Oh well, WILD times would be had nonetheless, right? So, we start walking down to Westwood besides Ackerman with the precept that Lily and Kathy were going to meet us there when all of a sudden, Tracy, Jim and Cherry led us down into the turnaround. Cherry reached into her handbag and pulled out two brown paper bags - - - THEY HAD FACES DRAWN ON THEM!

This is when I knew we were getting kidnapped! HO YEAH. My mind raced back to Winter Quarter when Jenn and I led Tracy, Jim and Annie around Ackerman and Kerckhoff with similar cartoon-face-bags on their heads. We transported them to my apartment for an intern-appreciation get together. Tonight, we would get a taste of our own medicine.

So I'm laughing and dancing around with my bagged head. Jim, Tracy and Cherry each take turns leading Brandon and me by the hand. We climb into a vehicle and are whisked away. By this time, I am fully disorientated so I had no idea if we were going outside of Westwood or heading up to the apartments. We stopped.

Stairs! We climbed some stairs with much assistance then found ourselves in an elevator. Out of the elevator we were led into a room and were seated. They left us sitting there for what seemed like 5 minutes! I saw flashes of a camera. Brandon and I danced to the music playing in the background. I had no idea who was in the room.

All of a sudden, the bags were pulled off of our heads revealing the three kidnappers plus Kathy our driver and Lily! My eyes saw a table covered in home-cooked food, with a sign hanging above that read "Thanks to AWESOME directors of Project WILD". My eyes traveled around the room. I saw balloons, lights, and one more sign behind me that almost made me cry - "Project WILD is SNAZZTASTIC!" I love to say that!

All the while, Tracy was videoing our responses. Brandon and I just looked at each other and we knew - dude, it was going to get EMO. EVERYONE hugged EVERYONE and we did a GROUP HUG at my request!!!!!!

The food was gorgeous - toasted fish and cheese foccacia sandwiches, Vietnamese-style shrimp handrolls, dumplings, Kathy + Lily signature fried rice, and seriously the most gorgeous tofu, mushroom, vegetable, Chinese sausage soup I had EVER had with hand-rolled flour balls! Another thing that almost tipped me over the edge was the fact that they had made an egg-less fried rice just for me "because they knew". AHH!!!

Lily wrote our names on the cups and put big smiley faces next to them. Now Brandon and I knew why no one wanted to join us for lunch after WILD in the morning - they had to rush back and prepare dinner for us!

Their whole day was spent taking the time and effort to make other people happy - in the morning they had WILD, afternoon cooking, and evening (all the way to 12:30 am playing Texas Hold'em, Mafia and MAHJONG!) we were hanging out. I can not even begin to articulate what they made me feel tonight. I can't even begin.

Just so so so thankful. Just so so so touched.

It is obvious from this story and all my other WILD-related posts, that Project WILD is so much more than a project - like Lily said in her interview, "we are a family." So much new life has been breathed intoWILD this year, so much love, so much time, attention to details, executing grand schemes, exploring themes and dreams... All of this love has been poured into Project WILD!

There's just no getting around the mushiness -

I JUST LOVE YOU WILD!

Everyone's Invited to Grant's Birthday

If you really think of it, birthdays are the ultimate exercise in egocentricity. We throw parties for ourselves and expect people to be nice to us, give us presents, take us out, and so on. Tonight I received an e-mail from Grant, I met him through Project WILD. His birthday is coming up.

Even though many of you do not know who he is, I want to invite you all to his party... It doesn't matter where you are in the world right now. If you can read these words right now, you can attend Grant's birthday.

Please read his message:

To all my friends and family,

In the past I've gone to a club, karaoke, and a comedy club for my birthday. This year, I was going to plan a typical birthday dinner and I had even called around for a place, but I deep down I didn't really want to do that. Instead, I've decided that I'm going to do something much cooler. Yes, that's right- I'm having a virtual birthday party! This is how it works....

Instead of a dinner, where you get fed, I'm asking everyone to my virtual birthday by going to Zoe Children's Home's website. Admission is anything you please.

Zoe's Children's Home in Bangkok is a Christian organization that helps children avoid a life of prostitution by taking them off the street by providing education and housing. So instead of buying expensive alcohol for me, you can help save children in Bangkok. I think that's a good present.

Now the details:

When: April 19 from 8:00pm to 2:00am or whenever we get kicked out...
Where: http://www.zoechildrenshomes.org/ourfight_overview.php
How: You can donate by clicking on the Give Now button to donate through Paypal or you can mail a check the old fashion way.
Why: Cuz its my birthday and human trafficking sucks.
How much is this gonna set me back?: Ladies in free before 10PM... Just kidding. Anything you want.

Feel free to pass the website along to other friends if you like what these people are doing. You know how I like to party, the more the merrier!

SEE YOU THERE! (I won't actually be on AIM if you're wondering)

Feeling old,
Grant

This is seriously the most meaningful birthday party I have ever been invited to. I am just sitting here stunned. Grant has taken the one day where he could legitimately be the most selfish guy on the planet, and turned it into something that is so very much the opposite...

Thank you for making my day, Grant! I will be there on April 19th.

I Could Have Burned Down the Apartment

...but somehow he made it so I didn't feel that bad about it.

I almost burned down James's apartment today before we had the guests over for Easter dinner! I was making Thai green curry and it said "fry" the paste before you mix in the coconut milk right? So the paste hits the hot oil and it starts simmering and splashing and steaming and everything. Never having made curry like this before, I figured it was normal. Meanwhile, I heard James from behind me say,

"Let's add some water to that." I was like,

"Meh" and added some more oil instead, thinking the paste just needed more liquid to dissolve in.

Then I started hearing him cough. I turned around to see James opening up his balcony door - and he looked fuzzy because the room had been filling with smoke! The front door was already open. At that moment, I knew he was being WAY too nice in not telling me I was burning my curry but despite his subtleness I was still very very embarrassed. While I was hiding my horrified face in my hands he washed the pan I had been using so that I could try again.

James taught me a lesson today. Well, other than how to peel shrimp and pick up crabs, there are gracious ways to offer constructive criticism without totally humiliating others!

That made my day! Plus we had an amazing dinner with close friends from Project WILD so goodness gracious the hard work all paid off well with full tummies and big smiles for all!

Kind Motorists: Isn't This Only In Movies?

You only hear about this stuff happening to other people...

My friend Annie and I had just left the Sheraton Hotel after a wonderful night at the Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Student Association's conference banquet. We got into her car and then drove over to pay for our parking. There were to stations where you could pay but it appeared as though the attendant had walked from one station to another just as we were pulling up to the first station. A car blocked us in from behind so we were unable to move.

Annie tried to get the attendant's attention, but at 1:30 in the morning, I think he was out of it. It didn't look like he would move stations. Instead, he came out and motioned for the car behind us to back out. So much effort so he wouldn't have to walk, right?

Anyway, by this time we were slightly irked at the attendant but guess what. The nice person who had been boxing us in - he paid for our parking ticket!

Forget the cranky attendant, all I could think about was how kind the other person was to us.

That made my day!

Cathryn Dhanatya

Cathryn Dhanatya

Southeast Asian Studies 1 T.A.
International Education PhD Candidate
Mentor, Role Model, Survivor
Friend





Thank you.

(edit: 5/19/07)

Cathryn is simply most resilient, dynamic, passionate and intelligent woman I have come across in my life. I kid you not. She is a fighter.

During the final weeks of Southeast Asian Studies class, Cathryn started to get sick. One day in tutorial, she came into class in a beautiful yellow and brown sun dress. She told us that she needed to go for surgery and that she was going to be unavailable to answer our pre-exam questions. She seemed so concerned about missing class, all the rest of us could think about was the surgery! After a little urging, she told us that the surgery was for cancer.

Cancer.

The next week, Cathryn was not in class. I had started to pass colorful pieces of paper around the lecture hall so that all her students could sign and I'd staple it into a card. To my surprise, another classmate of mine, Cliff, had started a money collection to buy Cathryn a gift! After class that day, when usually everyone bolts out the door, students lined up patiently to sign the card and to add more money to the collection. We had an entire book of messages and a sizable amount of money.

In the picture above, you can see that the money went towards a beautiful UCLA cheerleader bear. We were rooting for her with all we had! The card received a beautiful front cover, thanks to Peng, our class's resident artist. Another student brought flowers. I said a few words to express to her just how important she was to us.

Our Cathryn was so happy. That made my day.

Epilogue: Cathryn's surgery went well and she was BACK in our classroom to support us as we took our finals! She had flown to Hawaii, conducted an academic workshop, went CLIFF DIVING and hiking before her return! My jaw drops to the ground at the thought. Her LIFE makes my day. I miss her dearly... She may be finishing up her PhD at UCLA soon, I should find out!

Smile Like You Mean It

This afternoon I went to a series of lectures entitled Peace and War in Africa. After the event had concluded, I approached a man that was selling "Stop Genocide in Sudan" t-shirts and smiled, asking if I could get two. The first thing that he said was that I had a beautiful smile, and he said it with such kindness and sincerity that I was almost taken aback.

Not to trivialize this website, but this really made my day - not then and there when he had said it, but when I came home and looked in the mirror. I had a chunk of food in my teeth!

This man was kind enough to look past the turkey to give a compliment that really did make me feel special. Thank you Zeke.

Thank You, Darfur Action Committee (DAC)

DAC is the uber-model for all student activist groups on campus. They have staged mock-hearings, powerful visual displays, hosted tons of informational presentations, have organized multiple rallies, have directly lobbied the government in both D.C. and Sacramento, have networked with tons of faculty and student orgs, have received tons of media attention AND have come out to our Amnesty events! It is really hard to believe that they are all students just like you and me.

Seeing all the work they have put into their "University of California Divest from Sudan" - or UC Divest for short - come to an apex today was very very moving. Today was the final vote on whether the UC would stop investing money in oil companies that fund genocide in Darfur. We marched, we chanted, we danced, we sang...we even died for Darfur in a mock "die-in" with signs on us reading "I am a victim of Genocide in Darfur". Brandon and I were there for two and a half hours, I am sure that the core of DAC along with other dedicated student activists were there for at least 10!

And you know what?

THEIR ACTIVISM, OUR ACTIVISM PAID OFF!

The University of California has voted unanimously to divest from Sudan.

AND THAT SERIOUSLY MADE MY DAY!

It is through the amazing efforts of the Darfur Action Committee and every single person that attended today and along the way that today ended like it did! When Farheen text'd me the results, I felt this wave of heat flow through me. I WAS ECSTATIC and almost screamed in the middle of south campus! NOTHING could ruin my mood after that

To everyone that has contributed to this campaign and have familiarized themselves with the issues, THANK YOU!

A Taste of Poverty

I know I have no idea what it is like
to be homeless or poor...
but I feel as though I have a better idea of it now.

On Saturday I lost my wallet after going to the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific with Project W.I.L.D. I had not realized that I had lost it until Sunday afternoon. I panicked. I scoured my room twice, thrice over to no avail. I e-mailed the community service commission transportation directors then left them pitiful sounding voicemails the next day. I told everyone I ran into about my situation. It just started to consume me. I found myself thinking, gosh, what do I have left to eat? Can I last until I go home for Spring break? Would I start asking to borrow money from people?

Money, or lack thereof can be so powerful. When you can't get something to eat you start to think differently. I wouldn't advise everyone to go out and lose their wallets, but I feel as though I've changed. So, you must be thinking - - why would losing my wallet make my day? Well... it gave a truckload of people the opportunity to help me get it back!

Here they are:

• Brandon Erickson and Huynh-Nhu Nguyen were the first two I called, each told me where to go and who to talk to

• Kathy Tom, fellow WILD'er and co-Community Service Commission Transportation Director, had already thoroughly searched the vans but she offered to go again this morning! She also made phone calls to the van maintenance company to check if they had found it.Amanda Mull, tracked down the exact van I was in and gave me the contact information for Philipinos for Community Health, the other project that had used that van after us

• Philipinos for Community Health (PCH), read on you'll see

• Anthony Nguyen, ditto

And the people that offered to spot me:

• Megumi Tomatsu
• Jason Kwong
• Annie Chiang
• Laura Kwan
• Huynh-Nhu Nguyen
  

Here is an e-mail that I sent out just this afternoon:

Dearest WILD, I want to share a story with you...

There is nothing quite like the Community Service Commission family! Pilipinos for Community Health used the vans after us and found my wallet, turned in my wallet to Farheen* and then Farheen* put my wallet into the WILD mailbox.

Meanwhile I had been wildly contacting Kathy Tom and Amanda Mull our CSC transportation directors and they were SO helpful in helping to track down the van I was in, all the numbers, and the keys and Kathy was even offering to check the vans for me personally so I ended up in the CSC office talking to Amanda.

Just as I stepped out of her office to call PCH, Anthony, the assistant comissioner was like "HEY your wallet has been in your mailbox for days!"

I wouldn't have even thought to check the mailbox! Goodness gracious. Anyway, I just wanted to share that story with all of you!!!! Trust your CSC family!!!!!!!!!!

Project WILD and CSC Love,
Michelle

*I later found out that it was probably Anthony that put my wallet into the WILD mailbox because Farheen had no idea what I was talking about when I stormed her office to thank her! I am going to thank each of the people that helped me in a special way...


Moral of the story - when things go wrong, take the time to enjoy being helped! Whether you know them personally or not, these people are coming to your rescue, they are looking out for you, and they are going out of their way to help make things better - - for YOU!

Project WILD Has Tamed My Heart

PROJECT W.I.L.D. has made my day:

(click for pictures)

February 11 - Heroes and Villians
February 21 - Intern Appreciation Kidnapping
February 25 - Inspiring Higher Education, Career Day
March 4 - Egg-drop Activity, Shindig at My Place
March 7 - CSC/Oxfam World Hunger Simulation
MARCH 10

• Aquarium Field Trip Prep, Packing Food for the Homeless
  
• Roscoe's Gorgeous Chicken and Waffles
  
• Karaoke Rockstars
  

March 11 - The Aquarium Field Trip with Food Chain Activity


5/19/07 edit: My entire year's worth of Project WILD photos can be found here.

Noelle's Lucky Day

Noelle, my good friend left me a voice message...

Hey Michelle is this Noelle. I had something happen to me today that I think would be good for the Someone Made My Day thing and I thought of you!

I was driving to SF state and I was getting all ready to pay for my toll - and I think then the van in front of me paid my toll and I was like no way!!! so I saved three dollars!

Then, when I got to campus I was a little short on parking money because I had a huge bill that I didn't get change for and this guy gave me money and I only needed 50 cents but he gave me a dollar fifty and told me to pass it on! Today has been a really good day in terms of nice people, so I just wanted to let you know!

Thank you, Noelle!

Thanks for Not Stealing My Sweater

Well, that sounds like an unhappy story, but really I'm REALLY HAPPY. This morning, I grabbed a bag that was too small to fit my hoodie into, so I draped it over my bag as I ran to class. I plopped myself down in my seat and proceeded to catch up with my Game Theory lecture. Once the initial heat rush of running to class subsided, I started to get cold. I reached down only to find my hoodie not there. I sat there imagining all the people walking up and down Bruin Walk. Would someone pick it up? Turn it in? Step on it? TAKE IT?

It was new and it wasn't cheap!

After class, I retraced my steps 2/3 of my way back home with disappointing results. I had two more classes, went to the library a couple more times then headed back home - scanning the ground. It was cold. I was clenching my fists so I could keep my fingers warm.

As I turned the bend at the Pauley driveway, I saw wrinkly blue material draped on a short pillar. It was my HOODIE! It was covered in dead leaf pieces and it looked like it had been run over by a car...or two, but it was still there!!! I quickened my pace and picked it up, snuggling it to keep my hands warm. Thanks for not taking my hoodie away from me, honest people!

Sewing a Quilt or Moving Some Dirt, It Helps!

Favorite community service memories from Eric


x SKIRT x (1:49:08 AM): what's a favorite memory you have of community service?
JazzTrmpt903 (1:50:44 AM): hmmmm
JazzTrmpt903 (1:50:48 AM): tuff
JazzTrmpt903 (1:51:35 AM): i've got lots.....
JazzTrmpt903 (1:51:55 AM): i don't noe whether to pick like some performance i did
JazzTrmpt903 (1:52:03 AM): or maybe a service project or something
JazzTrmpt903 (1:52:14 AM): like, there are ones i had the most fun at
JazzTrmpt903 (1:52:20 AM): but then there are ones i felt were the most rewarding
JazzTrmpt903 (1:52:26 AM): which one?
x SKIRT x (1:53:49 AM): would I be greedy to ask both?
x SKIRT x (1:53:50 AM): :D
JazzTrmpt903 (1:54:06 AM): lol
JazzTrmpt903 (1:54:07 AM): no
x SKIRT x (1:54:36 AM): YAYYYYYYYY
JazzTrmpt903 (1:55:27 AM): umm, most fun would prob be wen i helped make quilts to send to African children, i did it with hundreds of other youth my age, and we had some music playing the whole time, this was at EFY (Especially for Youth, a church program where teenagers spend a week living on a college campus meeting other LDS youth their age and learning the gospel) we just had a good time
x SKIRT x (1:56:10 AM): ahhhhhhhh nice!
JazzTrmpt903 (1:56:26 AM): most rewarding would prob be just last year, wen this older couple needed some dirt moved and some things done in their yard, and neither were able to do the lifting involved
JazzTrmpt903 (1:56:55 AM): so me and some other church youth went over and did it along with tying some wood into bundles, doing some weeding, w/e we could to help
x SKIRT x (1:57:04 AM): awwwwwwwwwwwwwww
x SKIRT x (1:57:15 AM): that is good stuff
x SKIRT x (1:57:19 AM): GOOD STUFF
JazzTrmpt903 (1:57:21 AM): hehe
JazzTrmpt903 (1:59:37 AM): i made Skirt happy


Yes, you did. Now your stories can inspire others!

We Help the Community, We Help One Another

I was in the Community Service Commission office today typing some things up for the upcoming Saturday site visit. Two tutors from Watts Tutorial were working at the computer next to me. They were going over teaching techniques online and had a pile of books next to them. It takes a lot of responsibility to tutor a child, so it was inspiring to see them using as many resources as they could get their hands on!

While we were working, another tutor from Project BRITE came in. She needed to contact the transportation director about van costs but the director wasn't in. The Watt's tutor next to me quickly started typing online to find her contact info. I reached into my bag and pulled out my phone with the director's number. This all happened within a 10 seconds! The tutor from BRITE was very grateful.

Not 15 minutes later, another tutor from CSC couldn't get the copy machine to work so one of the Watts tutors stopped what she was doing and they worked on it together.

Did I mention we were all in the office during lunch time?

Even though we're each from different groups, we can still help one another help others!

40+ People Made My Day

This past Saturday with Project W.I.L.D. easily makes it into my top 10 days of my entire life. First, let me put Project W.I.L.D. into some context - Project Working for Immigrant Literacy is a project sponsored by the Undergraduate Student Association Council and Community Service Commission of UCLA. We specifically target middle school students who are recent immigrants to the United States and we tutor them in English reading comprehension, pronunciation, and grammar. Project WILD understands that over and above the academics, it is critical to build students' self-esteem and to encourage tutors to develop meaningful mentorship relationships with their students.

So, why last Saturday when we have site every Saturday? Well, earlier on in the week three of the Project W.I.L.D. interns - Lily, Tracy and Jim - took an idea and a plan of action, nurtured it and let it fly! Heroes and Villains was BORN.

The activity, involving massive amounts of teamwork, led groups of students through six educational challenges presented by six "villains" - such as Ms. Spelled, B. Adj, Q&A and the PUN in order to rescue their kidnapped teammates (we kidnapped them for real!).

EVERYONE was involved - students, tutors, interns, directors! No one but Tracy, Lily, and Jim really knew what was going on but the tutors listened intently during our briefing sessions, took on their roles, and were AMAZING! They were SO INTO IT! I'll never forget Dr. Mischief hiding behind the bushes and sneaking around like a NINJA and his dramatic defeat and fleeing into the sunset! ...Annie with her evil stares, Mabel in the closet, Kathy resisting her capture... Then the Super Hero team guides, OH GOODNESS they got into it too! I'll never forget Jenn saying to her kids, "shhhhh, be careful, the villain may see us coming!"

The KIDS, the KIDS - they really got into the activity as well! They were running from villain to villain to save their teammates as quickly as possible. They were trying to catch Dr. Mischief in the bushes. They were working together to solve the final sentence scramble - "There is no "I" in team."

After the activity, I talked to some of them and one girl who had been struggling with her pronunciation during curriculum time told me, "I am so so SO SO happy." There were so many smiles and many of the kids wanted to take some of the construction paper costumes home....

Lily, Jim and Tracy had met with me on Wednesday night for 2 1/2 hours to brainstorm this whole activity. Afterwards, they polished out all the rough spots in the plan, made all the name tags for the villains, came up with all the challenges for each of the six villains, bought the "treasure" candy and wrapped it up, and Jim stayed up past 1:30 am on Friday (Saturday) night making individualized accessories for each of the villains and heroes!

Just seeing an idea that Jim, Tracy and Lily had worked on so hard come to life, to have it bring so much joy and create so many memories for so many people - it just made my day. To quote Jenn, "whenever I feel sad or down, I'm going to think of today." I couldn't agree more. Thanks to Farheen, I now have 200 pictures to remember...

Know that putting hard work and a lot of thought into a project can mean making DOZENS of people's day at a time... Just imagine!

You could make today the best day of someone else's life...

The Universal Prayer by Chris

My cousin Chris is in high school and it seems like he's doing even more homework than I am per night. I told him that I would pray for him - but to my surprise, he said that that wouldn't be necessary. I asked, "why?" Then he shared this prayer with me.

He had just written it for a religion class and it really left an impression on me. There are so many types of pain in the world, but each of us can reach out for one another and heal. Hugs go a long way!

The Universal Prayer
by Chris

We need to remember those who are less fortunate than us,
those who live on the streets, or for dinner eat old bread crusts.
Think about the bed we sleep in every night,
while people out there are in alleys, scratching bug bites.
Three square meals, every day,
while some are lucky with a single lunch tray.
Some may make a living with a job and career,
others make a living of begging and beer.

Imagine the women who go through abortions,
or the babies that get thrown in garbage bins.
The boyfriends who abandoned their partner,
at the mere thought of being a father.
Or the women who wish they could undo what they had done,
back before when they had a daughter or son.

Remember our loved ones who fought in wars,
who saw what none should see, those horrors.
To all those lost, missing, or found,
that they find peace, returning to the ground.
Those who have lost a husband, or son,
who cant help but let their endless trail of tears run,

Think of the couples that go through divorce,
the children that must accept this by force.
Growing up alone or rejected,
because of their parents' choice, the child is affected.
Is saying sorry a good enough answer?
Or does it only make the child run faster.

Remember those who are lost, or took their own life,
who lost all hope, or escaped through a knife.
The addicts that are slaves to the demons,
or the cardboard boxes that they live in.
Those that feel life isn't worth living,
thinking every day is a day of suffering.

We need to think less of ourself,
and more of how we can help.
This prayer is for all of the above,
that they may reach out to others,
and be greeted with love.

May I Help You?

Nowadays, it seems like the only time you hear people say those words, it's if you're about to buy something. On Tuesday morning, this was not the case.

I had woken up especially early in order to help put up some new signboards around campus for Project WILD. I jumped in the car and we sped off to the flagpole turaround. I hauled a huge heavy wooden signboard past Kinsey, past Powell, up the stairs to the side of Powell. *klunk* I plopped it down.

I jogged back to the car because there was one left to do. We found a secret alleyway between Franz and CS and a path led uphill towards the main walkway. I didn't want my friend to get a parking ticket, so I just told her I could handle it on my own. Oh dear. I was trudging step by step. This board felt twice as heavy as before.

It must've been time for classes to get out because a small stream of people started exiting from the back of Franz. One girl holding a cup of coffee in her hands looked at me and said,

"Can I help you with that?" I was shocked, bewildered if you may. I must have said,

"Ohhh, no no, it's okay" but then I stopped walking.

"No, no no, let me just find a garbage can for this coffee."

She lifted from the back and I from the front. Her name was Jessica and we carried that sandwich board all the way to the front of CS. I thanked her, saying that she had totally made my day...

No, I Like Sitting On the Recycle Bin

My friend Margaret told me this story just today.

She's in a class where the number of enrolled students exceeds that of the available chairs. If you are two minutes late there are no seats for you.

Usually Margaret isn't late, but today she got tied up and made it to class just after the bell. Finding a seat was going to be futile so she sat herself down on the ground. Not more than 10 minutes later, a classmate, himself perched on top of a recycle bin, walked outside of the class and reappeared with a chair - which he offered to Margaret. Margaret hadn't asked - that was all on his own prerogative.

It made such an impression on Margaret that she told me this story with much energy and enthusiasm. It made my heart smile to see her face light up like that. I hope this story brightened your day, too!

You're So Busy, But You Make Time For Me

Huynh Nhu and Brandon, I love you two. Really, I do. These individuals are two of the most amazing and inspiring people I know - brilliant academics with heavy course loads, full time jobs with long hours of commuting and community service extracurriculars to boot. They don't have "free time".

Lately I've been feeling over-committed and they've helped me, talked me through it. Last night, Huynh Nhu and I had a talk in her car about being good to oneself and not trying to save the world single-handedly. Tonight, I had separate conversations with both of them that helped me come to terms with my feelings. If anyone could understand me right now, it'd be these two.

Their time is so precious, so to have them use it to help me and then on top of that, offer to meet with me more often, means a lot to me and has really made the past two of my days.

*Edit: As a follow-up, the next morning I checked my e-mail and Huynh Nhu and left me a e-mail greeting card that told me to "smile all day." Brandon sent me a text message saying that he hoped I was having a great morning. They made my day three days in a row!

You're Outta This World!

The clarinet section went to Disneyland yesterday. We were outside of Adventure land waiting in line to buy chocolate-covered bananas when a girl came over to us and said, "would you like these?"

She held out four Fast Passes for none other than the coveted (and relatively newly-opened) Space Mountain ride! It was perfect because there were exactly four of us in our small group. We thanked her, stunned and smiling, watching her disappear into the Main St. crowd...

Too Busy to Say Thank You?

I was sitting in Northern Lights by the window enjoying a scrumptious burrito while gazing outside towards the north entrance of Rolfe. It must've been 50 past because students were streaming out of the building. One girl on her cell phone blazed through the door while another guy held it open for her. She was so involved in her conversation that she didn't even glance up at the guy.

Sometimes people do things for strangers without demanding a thank you, and when I see that, it really makes my day.

She Was Sick, but So Was He

Hikari's Story

You know, there's just some people that you can never appreciate enough! Aaron Aoyama learned through me that Hikari was super sick like a dog for the past couple days. That was yesterday night. This afternoon, I came home to find a huge UCLA bag full of saltine crackers as well as various Hawaiian delicacies hanging on our apartment doorknob. The crackers had been especially for Hikari because of her sickness. She hadn't been able to eat anything for the past day and a half. You can't imagine how happy she was!

Aaron had made both her and my day by really going out of his way to take care of others, when he himself was just getting over being sick himself!