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My Brain Map

Shown above is my brain, or more accurately, the components of what I think about on a daily basis. The different sizes represent how much I value each aspect of my “brain.” As you can see, There are certain things that are much smaller than others, but we’ll get to that in a bit. 

Soccer

Starting from the top, we have soccer. As you all know now, soccer is something I think about all the time. I’m always up to date with soccer news, and I love talking about soccer with people. In fact, if someone were to take my phone and scroll through my social media, they would be incredibly disappointed since I basically only consume soccer content.

Video Games

If I had to describe my personality coming out of high school, it would be video games and soccer. Every day after school, my day would consist of soccer practice, video games, and then anything else I had to do. The games I primarily play are Overwatch and League of Legends, but sometimes I play other games when playing with friends. I’ve had less time to play video games since coming to college, but on some days you can still catch me at the Esports Arena grinding Overwatch ranked.

Schoolwork

Schoolwork is important! However, my mind has other priorities, for better or for worse. I still do my assignments, of course, but I need to constantly remind myself to do my work or it will magically stay undone.

Music

I love music! I can’t go anywhere by myself without taking my Airpods with me, as music is a necessity in my daily schedule. When asked what type of music I listen to, I usually say I listen to everything. In reality, though, I mostly listen to indie music. My favorite artist of all time is Fun (they sang Some Nights and We Are Young) but recently I’ve been listening to an artist called Maude Latour. I would categorize her songs as “indie pop,” and I would highly recommend her to anyone who likes listening to indie. Her most popular song is “One More Weekend,” but I really like “Block Your Number.”

Friends

Lastly, we have friends. The best part of the “college experience” has been spending time with the new friends I’ve made. Now that we’re nearing the end of the second quarter, friend groups have been more solidified, and I’m really happy with my group of friends. I’m still open to meeting new people, but having a set group to rely upon is something that I really value. I do things with my friends a lot, so thinking about them is something I do every day.

Well, that was it! Of course, there were parts of my brain that I missed, but as they say, if you forgot, then it probably wasn’t important! (Nobody says that) Anyways, thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time!

Zot Zot Zot!

Ian

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Tottenham Hotspur Primer

And back by popular demand… me! (Hopefully) This time, I’m here to talk all about my favorite sports team, Tottenham Hotspur. Following this team has been something I’ve thoroughly enjoyed over the last few years, and I would love to share this passion of mine with y’all.

Watching Soccer

Tottenham Hotspur (also called Spurs) is a soccer/football club based in North London, England. I don’t think I have to explain soccer, but I do think I need to explain why I love watching it so much. When people say they think soccer is boring to watch, I kinda empathize with them. When viewed very shallowly, only a few goals are scored per game, making the rest of the game boring to watch. But when you really, really, throw yourself at a game, you feel highs and lows that can be found in few other situations. All of this becomes amplified when you choose a team to support: every touch, pass, and tackle become their own events in the game. And when that goal finally comes—

So anyways, back to Tottenham Hotspur. Every year they compete in the Premier League, which is the best league in England. This league lasts for 38 weeks, and every team plays once a week to accumulate points. Three points are earned for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. The goal every year is to place as high as we can in the Premier League table, and while first place is the dream, doing so is pretty improbable this season. (Maybe one day) However, placing in the top four of the table is the next best thing. This is because placing top four qualifies you for the Champions League, which is the most prestigious competition in Europe. Currently, we are in fourth place, which is barely good enough for us to qualify.

This is the top half of the Premier League table. Tottenham are currently in fourth place, but that is subject to change depending on how the rest of the season goes.

Who makes up this wonderful team, you ask? Once you start watching you’ll eventually learn all the players’ names, but I’ll introduce some of our star players. 

Hugo Lloris

Hugo is our captain and goalkeeper who usually leads the team in every game. The Frenchman is a defensive wall in front of the goal and makes these amazing acrobatic saves. Unfortunately, he got injured mid-Janurary and cannot play for the rest of the season. While this is a big blow, I have full faith in our backup goalkeeper, Fraser Forster.

Harry Kane

With Lloris injured, Harry Kane is filling in for captain. Indisputably our best player, Kane plays as our striker and has scored a whopping 267 goals for the club. He has the third most goals in the history of the Premier League, and even our rivals admit that he is world-class. 

Heung-Min Son

Recognize this man? This is Heung-Min Son, our South Korean star boy. He always plays with a smile on his face—scoring goals only makes the smile even brighter. As the global face of the club, he brings fans from all across the globe, but especially from South Korea. In fact, he was considered the third most influential Korean celebrity by Forbes in 2022, placing him just behind the girl group BLACKPINK.

I try to watch every game that Tottenham play, but with timezones, sometimes games at 5 or 6 am become a bit of a stretch. However, if you’re looking to get into watching, I’d recommend watching highlights on youtube as they are easier to consume in the form of 20-minute Youtube videos. And when you’re ready for the next step, try watching a live game—it really is a different experience when you’ve got someone to root for.

My dream is to one day watch a live game in person, but until then, I’ll happily write or talk about the team. And if there are any other Spurs fans out there, please reach out to me! I’d love someone who I can talk Spurs to. Well, thanks for making it this far—I feel like I’ve just been rambling on and on. I really do love the team though, and hopefully, I’ve conveyed this feeling.

Until next time,

Ian

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University Studies 3 (and why you should take it)

Recently, I have been telling my friends all about this one class I’m taking, called University Studies 3. Over these past few weeks, this class has been by far my favorite, and I would recommend everyone to take Uni Studies 3 at least once before they graduate.

In this class, a professor who is an expert in their field teaches a once-a-week seminar about a specific part of their field that they are passionate about. For example, my University Studies 3 Professor works on making cameras for NASA and is teaching my class about photography techniques, one of his hobbies. I mean, how cool is that? Every class of University Studies 3 is different because each professor teaches a different subject. Honestly, it’s a shame that I can only take one “version” of this class each quarter, as there were so many good options to choose from. There was a class titled “Bubbles,” one titled “Video Game Afterlife,” and even one about K-pop! I really like the idea of a class where the professor chooses the subject, and where his students are there to learn, not just to fulfill requirements. 

Anyways, my class is all about photography so it’s only right that I share some photos, right? I don’t think my photos are that good—yet. I have practically no photography experience, but I have to start somewhere!

However, before you judge my photos, I would like to add a disclaimer: I am taking this class because I am interested in photography, not because I am good at photography. Ok, enough stalling—here are some photos that I’ve taken:

My first picture taken with my fancy new camera!
Here, I was able to focus on my desk while blurring my (very messy) dorm!

My attempt at following my professor’s advice of “try to take the same picture from different angles.”

More of the same concept (ft. Christmas Ratatouille)

Some headshots that I liked! (Ft. my friends Hector and Joni)

If you’re reading this, thanks for taking the time to look at my first few photos! I have more, but I feel like flooding the blog with just pictures isn’t the best idea. 😅 If y’all enjoyed these photos, I might include some photos in my blog posts later—who knows? Well anyways, thanks for reading, and I’ll see you soon!

-Ian

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Looking to the future

Winter break has ended, and now I can officially say that I’ve survived a whole quarter of college. It seems like only yesterday I was still a high school student, wondering to myself what life in college would be like. But now, here I am with an entire quarter under my belt. 

This next quarter, I plan to build on what I learned from last quarter. Now that I don’t have a writing class, I have no excuse to take as many all-nighters as last quarter. In fact, my class schedule this quarter is incredibly light, so my goal for this quarter is to not have to do any all-nighters at all. Speaking of, I really like my class schedule. I’m taking Anthropology 2A, Econ 20B, Math 2A, and University Studies 3. Three of these classes are online, which in my opinion makes the classes easier. I have in-person discussions throughout the week, but the only official in-person class I have is my University Studies 3 class, which is a chill photography class that meets one time a week. 

So far, everything class-wise has been going great. Even though it has only been two weeks, I hope things will continue to go in the right direction. This quarter, I want to try to secure an internship for the summer. As of right now, I have no plans for this summer, but I want to try and do something productive. (Especially since I did nothing but sleep and play video games over winter break)

As a U/U major, I was at first hesitant to the idea of getting an internship before I declared a major. However, after talking to other people, I have come to the conclusion that getting experience is a great thing as a freshman, even if I’m not 100% sure of what I want to do in the future. This summer, I want to get an internship related to my current prospective major, business economics. By doing this, I will be able to achieve two things: my short-term goal, which is to have something to do over the summer, and my long-term goal of building up experience to eventually work at a job that I enjoy. 

At my summer orientation (SPOP), I remember listening to a man talk about undergraduate research. In his talk, one way he advocated for research was the idea that “if you didn’t like it, at least you know you don’t like it now.” This really stuck with me, I realized it was a good mindset to have regarding trying new things. Mirroring this over to my upcoming summer, I will be trying to be an intern. If I do like it, great! But if I don’t like it, no problem. That just means I’ve narrowed down my options for the coming years.

Thanks for reading,

Ian

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A letter to me from 10 weeks ago

Dear me in the past,

Savor your time because these ten weeks will fly by faster than you can ever imagine. It may seem strange, but in ten weeks’ time, you will have grown so much—academically, socially, and even personally. A lot will happen, some things good, some things bad. For example, you will ace your first-ever college midterm, but only after being bedridden with covid for a week. Here are some things you should keep in mind to have a great quarter:

Studies are important. You are here to get a degree, and doing well in school is priority number one. However, there will be many opportunities to have fun and express yourself, and you should take them as they come. College is all about learning, but that includes all types of learning, not just academic. Go out and experience new things, and learn learn learn. Things may not always work out for you, but every new thing you try will act as a learning experience. 

Another thing to prioritize is rest and recovery. You might get a little bit of FOMO (fear of missing out), but just know that the priority is you. Take some time for yourself, and know that you don’t have to go to every event. When you find yourself at a crossroads of what to do, sometimes the best is to take a nap. No, seriously. Take naps. You won’t regret it. Mental health breaks (naps) are essential and will power you through these 10 weeks, helping you feel so much better throughout each day. 

On the other side of the coin, coke coffee. Ok, I’ll explain. I’m going to tell you now that Writing 60 not be fun, as time management isn’t your specialty I’m here to warn you of a few all-nighters but also introduce to you coke coffee—your soon-to-be best friend. Combining the taste (and caffeine) of coke and coffee, this capitalist abomination will save an alarming amount of deadlines from becoming overdue. With this new best friend, writing will be bad, but not terrible. 

In conclusion, good times are ahead. Your first quarter will make you grow so much, and even though it may seem hard at times, just know that it’ll all work out. Maintaining a healthy balance between school, friends, and rest is important, and I know you’ll do great. You got this! Keep your head held high and don’t forget to be an academic weapon.

Have a good ten weeks!

Ian