After three weeks of living alone, I am frankly sick of it! It really sucks to live alone with no friends, no family around. It’s a struggle everyday to find enough things to do to keep me occupied. I realize how quickly i get sick of something, whether it is a game, TV show or music. I have to constantly find new way to entertain myself. This past three weeks really made me appreciate campus food….(they still suck) but without them, it is so troublesome to find 3 meals a day. I have to constantly go buy grocery, cook them, wash dishes, and finally take the garbage out…. It is a lot of work and I am a lazy guy. It is not uncommon to find dishes and garbage piled up in my kitchen. So, I got really sick of doing all these chorus, so i decided to go home, so i can enjoy some nice home cook meal and being taken cared of :D.
On this long 14 hours drive home,(a personal feat!, longest duration) I was able to have a nice long quiet time just to reflect on everything that happened in the past year. With the same three CD looping over and over again in the course of three hours, I was really able to think deep and reflect each area of life. Academically, I am happy with where I am. I think I did a good job of managing my schedule and have ample study time for all my courses. I set myself a goal of getting 4.0 next semester. It is going to be hard due to the courses I am taking, but none the less it is a reachable goal if i work hard.
This past semester is a semester to be celebrated!! After playing World of Warcraft for 2 years! I quited this summer and refocused my time and effort on other things. In the beginning of the semester, my family group leader handed each of us an index card and told us to write down our goals for this semester. I still remember these goals very clearly and constantly remind myself of these goals. My first goal is to get a 4.0,which i achieved easily with the extra time i got not playing WoW. Although I miss WoW VERY DEARLY :(. I think it is a good step for me to go away from video games. I think i need something else other than a game to fulfill my deepest need.
The second item on my index card is a promise to attend all bible study and church services this semester. Although I cannot say i went to all church services, due to the occasional sleep-in. I can say that I went to most of the church services and really made it a priority in my life to go to church and bible study. The retreat in the beginning of the semester reminded me to seek my first love. That was back at middle school, when i accepted Christ and got baptized. Since then, I have fallen away from god and seek other worldly enjoyment. This semester I challenged myself to go back to doing what i did when i first discovered my first love! Started playing these christian songs that i accumulated throughout the years. I was glad that I was able to do some bible study with a good friend of mine weekly. Going to Quest on Friday after 2 years idle really help me get back to God. I want to continue this next semester to walk in God’s step. I want to attend more JCA events and get to know my brothers and sisters more.
The third thing on the index card is a challenge for me to get out more, make new friends, build on the friendships that i had. The past two years I been addicted to WoW and seldomly attend other socially event. People called me a hermit :(. This semester I was really happy to meet a lot of wonderful people in my family group! yay! less than three! These are a bunch of wonderful, nice, god loving people. Although I do not know them or hang out with them as much as i wanted to, I am still glad that we were able to spend this past semester together. I want to make an effort next semester to really get to know them better, more than just the weekly fg bible study or hangout.
Coming into this past semester, I was reflecting on how many friends I have, actually How many close friends I have. I am very sad to say that I had none. I know a lot of people from Oxford and from JCA, but they are all just people I know, we can call them friends. But on a deeper level, I do not think I have any close, good friend at college. I am blessed with a few close friends from high school, but they are all non-christian. They even have strong view against religion. It is my desire to spread the gospel to them, but I still haven’t have the chance to. Coming into this semester, I really want to build up relationship my christian brothers. I want to build up friendship that will last even beyond college. I spent more time this semester hangout with friends than all my previous semesters combined. I am very happy to get to know a few of friends on a deeper level. These are great, god fearing friends. I wish to continue to build up our friendship this next semester. This is my last semester in college :( Lifelong friends are hard to find, but doens’t mean they do not exist.
The forth and final item on the index card is to diligently find a job. I have to say i FAILED at this. The job that i most wanted are all gone. Although I did apply to them, I can say that I did not put in 100% of my time/effort on those cover letters. I can really spend more time to polish my cover letters. I regret not spending the time to network with alumni and company reps. It is encouraging that I was able to intern at a company this semester. I did learn a lot of useful skills in the past few months working there. In this coming semester, I need to double the effort in my job hunting. I do not want to end up being unemployed like everyone else. I pray everyday that God will provide. I do trust in God’s plan. I don’t know if i am too comfortable knowing that God will provide that I do not actively look for job, or I am just too lazy! haha. I know that God will give me the best career path for me. It might not be the job i desire, but in the bigger picture, in God’s agenda, it will be perfect!
This is amazing! This is actually the first time that I remember what i wrote down as my goals. I had listed goals many times before. But most oftenly, they are forgotten as soon as they are written. I want to thank my FG leader for doing this. Those same songs on the 3 CDs are still coming out of my car player. The sky is pitch dark. There are no cars around. It is 3am in the morning. I do not recognize any landmarks around me. It is no where closed to home! Therefore, I decided to list a set of new goals for this year.
1. 4.0
2. Dilligent in job search
3. Spend more time with friends, build up god centered friendship
4. No fried food!! Want to loose some pounds, but more importantly they are bad for acne!
5. Daily QT with God, bible study with friends
6. Sleep early to attend Church every Sunday
7. Be a better person. I don’t know what happened to me… I was a nice boy before. really.
8. (not so important, but would be nice) Find my first girl friend
This is a long list, but with a lot of prayers and reflection. I think I am able to keep to these goal in this year. Just like what the speaker said at my hs graduation: “Challenges are the spice of life!” Challenges are what make life tough but exciting. It can be bitter, sour, or spicy. But it can also be very sweet and enjoyable. Press on! Press on! God is with us!
