Seeing that sometimes it’s hard to study in my house, I’ve been wanting to find new places to study at but sometimes it’s hard for me to feel ok shelling out $4 for a drink so that I can sit and use their space. I think I may have found the solution. My new pastime has been browsing eBay and craigslist for cheap coupons to places that I usually like to go to and I came across a winning deal earlier this week.
I found quite a few auctions where people are selling “free drink” coupons to Starbucks for an average price of $2.50 each coupon. Keep in mind that I’m pretty sure that these free drink coupons can be used for any size drink so you’d ultimately be saving maybe $2 per drink. There are some auctions that sell batches of 10 coupons at a time for a dollar amount that comes out closer to $2 per coupon, which is essentially 50% off your drink.
Here’s an example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300534721703#ht_500wt_1078
I usually check the feedback of sellers to make sure the coupons are legitimate. Usually if there is an auction that is the same that has had positive feedback, that’s a good indication that it’s not a scam.
Next up, finding some Jamba Juice ones.
my favorite season of the year is now over. Basketball season that is. Well, to be more specific high school basketball season. Thank goodness there is still the rest of the NBA season, March Madness, Asian League basketball, and maybe some Campbell League basketball to be had before summer basketball starts.
I swear, lately it feels like basketball makes me more sane, although on some days during this season I probably went a little crazy–or a lot crazy at times, but it was definitely worth it.
I’ll have to say that even getting stopped multiple times to get asked (and once followed and hunted down) for my ASB card at our own gym as I walked in the door to coach a game was pretty funny. The most recent incident occurred at the CCS finals game at Santa Clara University where I had bought a regular ticket and handed it to the guy collecting them, and he looked at the color ticket that I had and said “Oh, forgot your ASB card huh?” …. haha, I told him I was 25 and he laughed and apologized. I told him that I actually did find my old Lynbrook ASB card the other day, and was contemplating bringing it..and he told me that I should have!
One of the coolest things about coaching is that you end up learning a lot about yourself as you do it. Even though the explicit task is to teach the game of basketball and to guide players in understanding teamwork, work ethic, etc. A lot of these things I learned while thinking about different frustrations that I had over the course of the season and talking to our girls about how they learn, and then comparing and contrasting what they would do with how I would do things myself. I guess I always feel that when you can figure out why a person acts the way that they do, or how the process things, there’s more empathy when it comes to reacting to people’s actions.
I’ve learned that half the battle of coaching is figuring out the right way to communicate and motivate players and people in general. Some people need to be pushed and given directives, where as some players need to be given suggestions and explained reasonings behind why things will and won’t work. Some players are more sensitive than others and are harder on themselves than people will be able to see on the outside. I guess the most rewarding part for me so far has been trying to figure out how each player responds the best and using that to help motivate them to be better. One of my favorite quotes that I found this season was “A man who won’t read has no advantage over a man who won’t.” We can teach players all that they can do on the court while in practice, but sometimes the trick is to give them that confidence so that they can use it in the games. I’d say the latter is the tougher of the two — and where the breakthrough comes.
I think that now coming back to our basketball program I feel more able to speak up for things that I felt were wrong when I was playing. I may be seen as being young, Asian American, and female, but I’ll stand up for my girls if you’re trying to take advantage of the fact that they’re girls and that boys outrank the girls.
I’ve learned that sometimes as a coach you can see things happening, but really you can’t do anything to stop it. You have to be ok with how situations pan out and not feel responsible if there was nothing that you could have done that was in your power. You can be there for your players as a coach and as a friend, but you can’t control their decisions — and you can’t try to change their minds about things, you can only give them ways to look at it differently.
I always say that “you can’t ever really care TOO MUCH about something” and I still think it’s true. Now that I’ve thought about it a little, I think the fear of “caring too much” is a result of how that caring is perceived. Quite a few times this season I’ve thought to myself, “Man, I’m pretty sure their parents think I have no life” or “I sure hope people don’t think I’m obsessed with high school basketball” because of the time that I’ve spent the past couple of months getting to know the girls and making sure that they know that they have someone to talk to. Maybe it’s not my job to do this, and maybe some people may think that I’ve spent too much time doing it, but if I genuinely like the relationships that I’ve created and the trust in a sense that I feel like I may gained with them, I’ll gladly spend that time each year.
Through conversations with players and coaches I’ve learned that I get stressed out when I don’t feel prepared in general or when I don’t feel like the girls are prepared for a game. I’ve learned that I am way too gullible, but I am ok with that. I’ve learned that sometimes I worry too much (though I see it as a result of caring haha).
The most important thing though that I’ve learned this year is how far you can go on sheer heart and wanting to be around your teammates. Watching our team encourage each other on the court and from the bench during our last win against 3rd seeded St. Francis was one of those moments that summed up how much people cared about each other. That game, there was communication, there were people rushing over to each other to tell them to shake things off when they missed a free throw or made a turnover and were frustrated. There were people high fiving, pumping each other up . Watching four players surround one of our players before she shot an important free-throw, telling her that she’ll make it…that they have faith in her, was one of those moments where all you can do is smile.
Catching up with people is always fun to do, even if it takes an hour drive to get there, there’s something rejuvenating about meeting up with bright minded people who are doing meaningful things with their lives. It’s also amazing how people who don’t really know each other extremely well can have great conversation, joke and make connections.
It was my first time in the Haight-Ashbury area, and luckily thanks to Super Bowl Sunday it wasn’t packed like it usually is. The drive there was gorgeous since it was perfect weather 75 and sunny. I drove through Portola which is situated on a hill and therefore was rewarded with a scenic view of the whole city. I also drove by the entrance to get up to Twin Peaks which I’ve heard a lot about and should definitely venture to at some point.
In any event, it made me look up some events that are coming up in the area!
Green Festival SF! (April 10, 11) — definitely one of my favorites to attend–I’ve dubbed it organic/sustainable trick or treating for adults. I think that since it has been such a huge hit the past few years that they’re doing one this spring as well as their usual in October/November.
Maker Faire (May 20, 21, San Mateo County Event Center) — The premier DIY fair in the Bay Area. I haven’t been yet, but I hear it’s HUGE and some ridiculous fun.
29th Annual International Asian American Film Festival ( March 10-17 in SF, March 18-20 in San Jose) — so excited that hopefully I can make some of the screenings this year since I won’t be in a far away country.
Quite the successful day it was!
Got up at 6:30am so that I could leave my house by 7:10 to make it to morning anatomy lab by 7:45 to see if I could get from number 17 on the waiting list into the class. So the thing about this anatomy lab that makes it so hard to get into, or rather the reason why it’s so packed, is because the labs involve cadavers, HUMAN cadavers…and apparently cats too.
So, even with 5-6 people not showing up or showing up late, and then the prof adding 3 more people in to make a total of 8, my 17th spot on the waiting list didn’t quite get me in. I knew I was close because the girl sitting across from me was #10 on the waiting list and she got in …and then two more people after her got in as well.
So, had to try again after 10:55 lecture for the afternoon lab that runs 12:20-3:40pm. In the mean time, I decided that I would check another food place off of my “food bucket list” and picked up a breakfast burrito from Rose’s Donuts & Cafe off of Saratoga Ave. The cafe is clean and spacious and made me regret not bringing my abnormal psychology textbook to read while eating. I got the burrito to go, and almost had heart attack when I saw the deliciousness of the fixings inside. The burrito had eggs, bacon, a sausage link, ham, HASHBROWNS, and cheese.
Thank goodness I picked it up for breakfast because I headed back to West Valley at 10:20ish for my 10:55 lecture and spend 30 minutes looking for parking. I could NOT believe how full the parking lot was. I made it to lecture 3 minutes late, but it ended up being ok. The prof is pretty engaging but I’m still getting used to her organizational methods on her outlines. I’m more visual than auditory so I have to make sure that I write down what she’s saying instead of trying to decipher it and then write it down. I think I’m going to continue sitting in the middle of the classroom so that I stay focused…just like in Abnormal Psych how I’ve decided that I need to sit near the front to prevent myself from people watching, my other favorite past time.
The only issue with afternoon lab is that lecture and lab basically go through lunch…which could be a good thing when we start dissecting cadavers so I don’t yak all over it (kidding). Lecture and lab are 4.5 hours each day so 1.5 hours lecture then 3 hour lab that goes from 10:55 until 3:40pm. Luckily she’s a pretty awesome professor, so I’m thinking that I’ll learn a lot and enjoy it. I got into the afternoon section of the lab, even being #15 on the waiting list. I am under the impression that after the information loaded lecture, some people opted out, because there were definitely at least 70-80 people in lecture. Lucky me…the community college system didn’t screw me over this time! I’m kind of thankful that I have afternoon lab because otherwise I would have night class on Tuesday nights until 10pm and then have to wake up at 7am for morning lab. That would be pretty grueling.
Right after class at 3:40pm I jetted home to change and then head over to practice (an hour late) — definitely should have eaten something or packed something to eat because my head felt like it was going to fall of my body and into my hands. Or in anatomical terms, my cephalon was going to fall off and end up cradled by my phalanges.
Best thing is that I’m in my class, which means my plans for OT school are underway! Plus, now I have a schedule and can start planning other things such as volunteering 
So we had a substitute (a super awesome one) for my first abnormal psychology class tonight which = no syllabus = no hwk.
My whole Wednesday was going to revolve around preparing for Thursday (hwk, reading ahead, etc.) and now since I don’t have any homework, I was offered the coveted position of doing Kristen’s homework…that is until I was told it was critically analyzing a ridiculous poem for AP English (Forge, by Seamus Heaney). Sidenote: I don’t do homework for my players, I just like trying to attempt their assignments to make myself feel dumb—-unless it’s science and editing college essays.
Anyway, it made me realize how much I hate poetry in the sense of trying to formulate a reason for why a poet wrote what he/she did. Why this is important, I have yet to learn…and maybe I’m just being ignorant about the beauty of poetry written by the same types of authors.
Anyway, to make myself love poetry again, I decided to read some Shel Silverstein.
Why can’t poems just be this awesome? Maybe I’ll try this strategy tomorrow. Silverstein’s genius.
The past 2 months I’ve given a lot of time & energy to something that I truly love, and people that I see so much potential in. I try hard not to get sucked in emotionally, but in all honesty, how can I not. I took the Myers-Briggs Personality test a few years ago and I was 99% Feeling. What a shock.
They’ve defeated me by accomplishing things in their life that I know that would have been hard for me to tackle even today at the slightly seasoned age of 24 (going on 25). They don’t see it now, but resiliency is what builds people to be who they are. At some point, all that pain (physical, emotional) turns into something bigger called, character. They argue with me now about the facets of life, and their words are accurate with their life experience so I don’t fault them one bit for disagreeing with me. I can’t help but try to slap some optimism into them, yet I know that they won’t fully absorb any of what I say until they experience it themselves…because gosh darn-it, I totally believe any of it when I was 17, but I know it now.
I’m emotionally invested in their success because I don’t know how to approach it otherwise, but come the next three months, I have to take some of the energy and invest in my own success towards the next step in my life which is a little scary. If you’re gonna talk the talk you gotta walk the walk, so when things get rough the next month or two, I know I have to set my priorities straight. Somedays coaching will get trumped by school, and some days school will be trumped by conversations with people late at night. It’s a balancing act, but I think I’m ready.
I’ve taken the Myers-Briggs test a few times and I’ve always landed as an INFP..and the more I look at the description the more terrifyingly (good) accurate it is:
INFP
Idealistic, loyal to their values and to people who are important to them. Want an external life that is congruent with their values. Curious, quick to see possibilities, can be catalysts for implementing ideas. Seek to understand people and to help them fulfill their potential. Adaptable, flexible, and accepting unless a value is threatened.
My friend Lisa told me that the great thing about personality tests is not necessarily who you are, but who everyone else is. If you can understand other people’s personality types, the easier it will be to interact with others and not become frustrated or slighted by things that they say. Wise words indeed.
The 16 MBTI personality types
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