My

How I Got Into USC.

For those of you that didn’t know, I was accepted to USC through its School of Architecture. The field of architecture had been of interest to me since the 7th grade. When I heard my highschool, Beverly Hills High, offered Architecture classes, I was enthralled. I took this course my Junior and Senior years, first designing a one-story house, then a two-story house. When I found out USC had a highly respected architecture program, its close location and great prestige made it my top choice for college. I compiled a portfolio with my various projects and photographs and sent it in along with my application.

I still clearly remember the day I received my acceptance letter to USC’s School of Architecture. I was sitting in my room, anxious from the reports of various friends who had already received their USC application. I heard an abnormally loud thud as that day’s mail hit the floor through our mail slot. I ran to the pile of mail and found a promising package with the large inviting letters of USC printed onto it. Happy, excited, thrilled. Jumped around a few times, immediately called parents, couldn’t stop smiling the whole day, and probably the whole week.

So when I decided to drop Architecture after only one semester at USC, you can only imagine the hesitation, doubts, and guilt attached with this decision. But it has been a full three years since I have entered USC, and I’m happy with where I’m at. Sure there are days I look back at my portfolio and regret my decision, miss the structures, crave the creative outlet. But, there are definitely more days where I enjoy the interesting psychological concepts, the challenging philosophical ideas, and the times of relaxation in my apartment outside of the tediously demanding confines of studio. And I’m happy with where I’m at. I don’t know how different my life would be if I had stayed in architecture but I do know for a fact that I would not have met the people I’ve met, had the experiences I’ve had, learned the knowledge I’ve learned, attained the wisdom I’ve attained, if I had continued down the path of architecture. I have thus thoroughly enjoyed my journey here at USC. It’s been three years, only one more to go. Wow, the time…

Well, here’s how I got into USC:

Character.

Too caught up trying to be a personality, that we forget about our character.

Reminder.

Ideal is not reality. Unless, you’re a hardcore delusional idealist.

Distance.

Distance from any goal, vision, dream, invokes two paths: hopeless detachment or patient endurance. I say it’s time for me to develop some patience.

Alien.

So imagine you go to Greenland (not Iceland, because did you know that Iceland is mostly green while Greenland is mostly ice??), and you are walking along one of the glaciers when you discover a caveman frozen in ice. You thaw him out, and imagine that he is still alive, and his primary language was English. Although he may be able to communicate with you, you would think of his ideas, beliefs, questions, and values as primitive. And no matter how hard you tried to share your ever-so-much-more advanced and enlightened intellectual perspective, he would not be able to understand. The building blocks and foundations of his beliefs, personality, and thought process has been rooted in the era and culture (if you could even call it culture) of the Ice Age.

Snap back to the present and now imagine a scientist approaches you and tells you he has discovered a 100% safe and painless way to carbon freeze you (what happened to Han Solo in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back). He explains that you will be frozen in carbon for 300 years and placed under the protective custody of the United Nations (not United States because who knows what will happen to this country, and I’m hoping the United Nations would eventually become a strong political force of peace). After 300 years, you will be unfrozen and will be able to live in any country of your liking with the convenience and wonder of the future!!! For imagination’s purpose, imagine you agree because you want to see the future. *CHEENG* You are frozen in carbonite.

300 years pass. *FSSZZZZ* You are unfrozen. You are put through a medical checkup and kept under care for a brief period of time before you set out to see the world of the future. Surprisingly, the future is not as amazing as you thought it’d be. Sure, all the teleportation pads and lightsabers are really cool, but, you have become a primitive human in the eyes of the future. Although you may be able to communicate with the people of the future, your ideas, beliefs, questions, and values are seen as primitive. And no matter how hard you try to understand the advanced and enlightened intellectual perspective of the future, you wouldn’t be able to. Your building blocks and foundations of your beliefs, personality, thought process, what makes you, you, has been rooted in the era and culture of the 21st century. Amidst the awe and wonder of the future, you are nevertheless alone. Alone in your perspective, unable to share with those around you, constantly under the lens of probing scientists and the public audience, amused by your primitive thoughts, beliefs, and behavior. And despite your feelings of right, of being human, you are on the contrary, an alien amidst a world of different perspectives. Regardless of the notion of time, I sometimes get this feeling and I’m sure you do as well. However, in those times of alienation, do not fear, do not conform. Stand strong, stay true, and just be you. Corny.

All this came from a 5-second thought bubble in my head after watching a preview for the movie Dark Shadows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpWvkFlyl4M
LOL…yeah, just wanted to put it into words, always longer than I expected -_-x

lock.

Click to play.

Couldn’t upload this mashmix onto my soundcloud because of some kind of copyright infringement for the first song:

Unleash The F**cking Dada - Dada Life
Yin - Wolfgang Gartner
White Noise, Red Meat - Dada Life
Conscindo - Wolfgang Gartner

Enjoy :)

Millions of

questions.