An Honest Account Of My University Experience

In September 2015, I embarked on my university journey.

In high school, people told me my grades would drop. And naïve Herminia believed them. So I prepared myself to not do nearly as well. Somehow I did.

During first year, I didn’t think too much about my GPA. I thought about doing the work and being early to everything.

Come the fall of 2016, I learned that I won two academic scholarships.

Instead of thinking I was stupid, I felt somewhat smart.

In second year, I spent less time studying and more time living. My grades were a little all over the place as a result. I remember countless conversations with my best friend about how terrible I was doing. I joked about dropping out.

So I vowed to do better in third year. My fall semester went smoothly. I had great classes, good professors. I liked my grades. I lived a lot. If I could relive those four months again, I would.

2018 arrived. Second semester in the winter started off just fine. No problem. Smooth sailing. Until February when I got hit by a car while walking home from school.

It took more than a month to recover physically. I’m not sure I’ll ever recover mentally. I’m doing well these days.

I never wanted to make excuses. I didn’t ask for an extension on any assignments.

My grades dropped. But I took care of myself. Being forced to listen to my body made me a better human being.

Regardless of my GPA when all is said and done, I’m proud. I learned to listen to that tiny voice in my head, to the body I used to neglect. That matters more than any number on a piece of paper.

I Need To Stop Procrastinating Right Now

In a perfect world, I wouldn’t procrastinate. But I live in an imperfect world and I’m an imperfect human being.

I delay. I put things off. And when the deadline nears, my stress levels skyrocket.

Even though I’m someone who hates leaving things to the last minute, I don’t always start early enough.

At least when I procrastinate, I try to be somewhat productive. Instead of doing the thing I should, I’ll do something else like clean. It’s not as urgent as an essay due in three days, but I’ll still take cleaning over writing. Or editing. Don’t even get me started on edits.

I find it interesting how much better I’ve gotten at procrastinating over the years. I guess I’ve had a lot of practice. For some reason, I didn’t put things off as much in high school. Then I went to university and everything changed.

I procrastinate with blogging all the time. I can’t help it.

When I was younger, I used to be more of a morning person, so I procrastinated less.

Nowadays, I stay up later and do most of my creative writing later in the day, which means I procrastinate until I can’t.

Thoughts I Have About The First Day Of School

I’m writing this before I go back to school, but by the time I edit and publish it, I’ll probably have survived my first day. Or not. I don’t know. Even though I want to predict the future sometimes, I can’t. Ever.

(I survived.)

While the first class is an easy one in some ways, I’ve never felt great in the days leading up to it. Nervousness and excitement don’t mix well for me. I’m just a ball of stress in the mornings.

Fortunately, university hasn’t been as horrible as high school.

I think I’ve experienced enough first days to know I’ll get through another one without the world crashing down on me.

I’m going into my third year of university. Been there, done that. Twice. So I’m not as nervous or terrified. I think I’m more excited than scared at this point. I just want to make this year the best one yet. At least better than last because second year is not one I want to relive. Thankfully, I don’t have to.

(Now I only have one more first day to go. That’s insane. I can’t wrap my head around it.)

I’m wondering if I was more worried about my first day of work. Technically, first days. I think not. There’s something scarier about school, I guess.

To all the students who have gone back, I hope you had a great one. To all those yet to go back, I wish you the very best. If you already graduated, congrats on making it through.

I don’t really know what else to say, except that I’m looking forward to seeing what this year has in store. I have no idea what to expect, so I’m not expecting much.

I know it won’t be easy. But challenge makes life interesting.

I’ll write about my trials and tribulations, so you can laugh at me as I wallow in my misery.

I like to think whatever happens, happens for a reason. I can’t control everything, but I can control myself.

Over the course of this semester, I will do my best to look after my health (physical and mental). That’s important to me. And my happiness too, of course.

Here’s to an amazing year. May you achieve all your goals, academic or otherwise. I hope 2017-2018 is everything you hoped for and more.

High School Graduation + Tumblr Blog Unveiled

A quick disclaimer before I proceed. I apologize for not replying that quickly today. It’s been a busy day. Also try to forgive the horrendous writing that follows.

My high school graduation finished not too long ago. This justifies the late replying and bad writing, right?

I survived four years of high school. And I lived to tell the tale. I’m done. Finally.

Off to university in September.

Even more crazy than graduating is the fact that my new Tumblr blog, aspiringreader22, is up and running.

Yes, it only has one post. And I may continue to make changes until I’m truly satisfied with how the blog looks, but feel free to follow my baby. Watch it grow into something beautiful.

Let me take this opportunity to extend a warm welcome to all readers and non-readers alike. Check it out even if you don’t have a Tumblr account for reader problems. Of course, feel free to ask me anything.

Don’t be shy. I don’t bite. Or do I? Actually, I used to bite my cousin. Long story. Let me save that for another time.

While we’re still on the topic of Tumblr and blogs, follow my main one at aspiringwriter22 if you haven’t already. It’s been nearly a year of my posting writer problems. I’ve sort of started using blogging milestones as a way to keep track of time. Tell me I’m not the only person who does this.

Thanks once again for the incredible support.

June 2015: What I Love

The 22nd of each month always creeps up on me. Doubly so because of exams this June. But technically I’m done high school now.

So here’s what I’ve been loving this month.

I love me some pens. 24 of them to be exact. There’s nothing to dislike about them.

If the mug looks familiar, it’s because I posted three pictures of two cups last month. And if you haven’t seen those images, you can find them here.

I took way too many photos for this post. And none of them turned out well. These ones are the best of the worst.

Current Life Status

I’m tired of high school and it hasn’t been four years yet.

I’m still excited to write and I’ve been doing that for longer.

At least there are only two more exams to suffer through along with one last paper to submit before high school comes to a close.

Though I hate to say this, a fact is a fact, and the fact of the matter is I’m terribly unprepared for both exams.

Fingers crossed. Toes crossed. Heart crossed.

On the bright side, summer isn’t that far away. More time for blogging, reading, and writing is always a good thing.

Story-time With Herminia Chow

Story-time With Herminia Chow is now officially a title of one of my posts because I think it sounds cool. Even though it probably doesn’t. In all honesty, I have no idea what else to call what I’m about to say.

Today, my history teacher quizzed us.

He told the class beforehand to read the first two chapters in our textbook. I’d be lying if I said I did the readings properly.

Two students had led a seminar and some of the information they presented was, lo and behold, on the quiz. I didn’t participate at all. Plus I know I zoned out a few times as well.

There were also similar questions to a worksheet he assigned the day he wasn’t here. I actually completed this worksheet. But my wonderful brain decides to get these questions and only these questions wrong. Questions I should have known the answers to.

I somehow still managed to get the highest mark. So did everyone else not attempt the readings, not listen to the seminar, and not bother with the worksheet?

For once, my guessing game was strong. Everything I guessed, I got right.

By the way, I wrote a follow-up article on test-taking. The post was published yesterday: Keep Calm and Get Straight A’s: What to Do Before, During and After Every Test.

The irony is not lost on me here.

And you wonder why I don’t study. Or rather why I despise it with a passion.

30 Before 30 Bucket List

I didn’t know I created a 30 before 30 bucket list. But I did. Like five years ago.

1. Start a clothing line.
2. Open a restaurant.
3. Write a travel guide.
4. Publish a book.
5. Purchase a car.
6. Renovate my home.
7. Stay at a luxury hotel.
8. Get married.
9. Appear on a talk show.
10. Run a marathon.
11. Give back to others.
12. Sing well.
13. Act in a movie.
14. Be a leader.
15. Meet the members of Simple Plan.
16. Try an exotic dish.
17. Visit relatives in China.
18. Graduate high school with a 90 percent average.
19. Go to university.
20. Speak at an event.
21. Win a dance competition.
22. Be fluent in 3 languages.
23. Help other teenagers.
24. Sky dive.
25. Volunteer at the library.
26. Cook an entire meal on my own.
27. Love my job.
28. Fund-raise for a charity.
29. Learn to swim well.
30. Coordinate a party.

Most of these are still relevant and applicable today.