Softball, I will miss thee

After four years of playing softball at the ARC, I can honestly say it is one of my most cherished memories of college. We've come a long ways since freshman year in housing league when I desperately tried and failed to recruit a full team, scrounging together a "Cielo" team with the help of some random guys that were already at the field.

Sophomore year, we came within one game of winning the softball classic with a random group of players, including a certain outfielder named Jason Chung. And from there, a friendship was born.

In the spring of sophomore year, we found some takers to form another housing team, this time for VDC Norte. I still remember getting womped 17-1, 15-0, 9-3 which was seen as a good game. But then in the playoffs, everything clicked. Maybe it was because we had Smalls, maybe it was because we finally figured out our defensive alignment. But who am I kidding? It was all because of "the red bat."

In the summer between sophomore and junior year, Mwen couldn't play, and we unfortunately went 2-3 or something like that.

Junior year, we were able to take the softball classic, but scuffled in the Spring with too many players missing again.

Summer season before senior year, we were dominant. Unfortunately, the whole Jason Chung coming back from Spain fiasco happened, but we can take solace in being the best team in that league.

And then this year, after getting over the heartbreak of not being able to play in the Classic, I had a grand time with both my co-ed and men's teams, which was able to win the championship against the Balco Beasts this past Tuesday.

I will miss being out on those fields with so many friends and great teammates. It was an honor being captain, really cool to play shortstop and master my opposite field stroke, and obviously nice to experience some success. I am proud that none of us really had prior baseball experience past little league, but that we all were able to improve our skills through the years. Special shoutouts to Yi Bu's transformation into an outfielder, Anne's overall learning of the game, and of course Vanessa's emergence as an all-star second baseman. But beyond all of that, there is nothing quite like being on the good old baseball diamond, rooting on your teammates swinging the bat and throwing the ball.

No More Sundays in Gateway Commons

Sitting here in the New U Office for the last time is pretty surreal.

As a freshman, I had disparaging first impressions about the paper, its size, and its layout. I thought that my time with the paper was over, but when I found out how available certain articles were, I couldn't help but jump in. I still won't forget my first interview at UCI, with 6'7 Darren Fells and Scott Roeder's fancy camera equipment. As a freshman I got to write stories on both Fells and Patrick Sanders, the two star players on the basketball team, and after that I knew I had to keep writing, if only on the side.

Moving into sophomore year and the drama of deciding on a major, I got to cover my first men's basketball game (at Fullerton late in the season no less), as well as write stories on two more of my favorite players - Kevin Bland and Rebecca Maesson.

As a junior, I went into becoming Sports Editor with a vigor and an excitement. I had a solid number of supporting writers, and I was happy with what we were able to do in terms of quality control and different features. The lovely DLy kept me company every week, while Melk Man came through with reliable coverage every week. Loquacious Lumbchops captained the ship well, even if he says he didn't know what the heck he was doing at first. At first, although I enjoyed my time with the New U, I thought about moving on in my senior year so as to free up my Sundays. But as the year went on, I realized that I cared too much about the paper, too much about UCI, to simply let go.

I never thought coming in that I would become EIC of the New U, but what a humbling blessing it has been. I do not think of myself as a natural vocal leader, and I do not think of myself as a powerful public speaker, but somehow we've made it through the year. Obviously, I couldn't have done anything without the talents of my awesome team. I've been extremely lucky to have TGL by my side. And last but not least, I can't thank TLou enough for never wavering in providing encouragement and support every time I'm stressed or tired, keeping me company on all those late Sunday dinners when every place in Irvine is closed.

While I now happily leave the New U and UCI, it's weird to think that I will no longer have those 12 hour Sundays. It's been one heck of a run.

work weight

I now realize why people gain weight in adulthood.

When you're sitting at a desk for extremely long hours in a day, the only thing you can look forward to is eating a delicious lunch and/or dinner. Or, it's a potluck day at work and you spend the entire workday munching on unhealthy snacks. All of this is compounded by the fact that you're sitting at your desk like a sloth, only moving your fingers, whispering quietly to yourself.

And now, back to work at the New U. I can't wait for lunch.

Optimism

Note: what follows is the typical "i'm about to graduate and my future is so uncertain" post. Bear with me.

Coming into freshman year, I remember being on the pessimistic side about things. I don't even really remember why, but I do distinctly contrasting with Yeebs, who was a lot more optimistic all the time. Maybe it was because I was still not very excited about being at UCI, maybe because parental pressures had turned college into a time of pressure and worry... but they were some not so good times.

Now, I feel like I am generally regarded as the optimistic one. This is partially because my workplace almost requires it, for the sake of not being depressed and down all the time, but it also goes beyond that. This past Friday at Re:Act, Luke from YWAM Kona was kind enough to pray for me, and offered an interesting image - that of a bucking bronco. He said that many people don't see the hard work that I put into [fill in the blank], but that God sees it, and affirms that. He said that I had a higher threshold to stay on the bronco. Crazy stuff!

I used to dread graduating and the (at least) year of uncertainty that was to follow, but I tend now to think about it as an exciting exploration of opportunity. Life is at as big of a crossroads as it ever has been before, but there's something thrilling about that. Don't get me wrong... the disappointing rejections and (even worse) no-replies are sure to keep coming, but at the same time, I have this sense of trust that God will eventually lead me to where I'm supposed to be. And with that in mind, how can you not be optimistic. (insert brubaker voice: C'MON!)

So even with parental pressures picking back up, striking at my self-confidence and overall sense of worth, I will keep up an optimistic mindset. Not that I'm endorsing ignorance and obliviousness to what is out there, but everything will indeed be okay in the end.

anti-social

For a variety of reasons, I feel like I have been increasingly anti-social last quarter. It takes effort to initiate lunches and catch-ups, or even just small talk banter after certain events, and I think my overall busy schedule and subsequent tired nature has taken away from that.

But upon celebrating my 22nd (ew) birthday, I realized that this is the last quarter that everyone from UCI will all be around, and that made me pretty sad.

Here's to putting in quality time with good friends. Ptl.

Bwam Recap

In short, BWAM was amazing. And I know people always say that, but I feel like Boise and Create Common Good was truly a one of a kind BWAM experience. Things are detailed much fuller in our lovely team blog, but here is a quick personal recap.

Vision
- it was inspiring to see the leadership, passion, and ultimate vision that the team leaders of Create Common Good had. It inspired me to have a better vision of my own life and future endeavors. Once that is established, it's only a matter of hard work achieving the desired results.

Hand-Selected
- it was thrilling to be able to apply creativity and our personal skills to the projects that we were assigned to do throughout the week. Not only were we able to leave a tangible mark on the organization, but we all felt like God had put us on team Boise for a reason.

Fresh Air
- even though we didn't do it for long periods of time or anything, working on the farm, shoveling and wheelbarrowing, was a refreshing time. Something about being in the brisk air and doing some good old fashioned manual labor was just so much more appealing than say, cleaning out an attic.

Eye-Opening
- it was really cool to get to know the refugees there, and just talk to them and get to know their stories. In SoCal, most people have similar stories and lives. These refugees have had incredibly hard lives, and yet they still managed a sheepish grin and joyful spirit.

Go Team
- once again blessed with an awesome team that made a 15 hour drive not so bad at all. Just going through this experience with them was a huge blessing - icing on the cake. Even with the totes pops abbrevs.

boise

For those proverbial few who still check this blog, stop doing so for a week and instead follow my bwam team at thefirstbwamboise.blogspot.com.

Full recap to follow!