I taught it will be an entrepreneurial talk like all others, generic and boring. The only difference about it is that I actually conducted a detailed research on the speaker before the class, just so I can prepare the questions I need to hand up.

The moment I saw Andy in class, I knew the talk is going to be different. One thing is that he is not caucasian, he is a chinese. American born chinese most likely. I was hooked from the moment he mentioned to us that he was a chemical engineer back in Upenn and that he hated it. Yeah, I hate Chemical engineering but being on NOC has presented me a new perspective of this major and the opportunities it would provide me. There are really a lot of entrepreneurs who majored in Chemical engineering and a lot of industries hiring Chemical engineers. Loreal, for example, hires Chemical engineers for its R & D efforts, which I learnt from the Society of Women engineers dinner that I attended at the Inn at Penn.

So Andy was a normal person who joined the workforce after graduation. But what I really admire about him is that he had the courage to move out of his comfort zone, when he had a stable income, enjoyed his relaxing lifestyle and had all his needs met. He simply felt that he needed more challenges in his life and he just went out to strike out a business on his own. Somehow I share his sentiments, as I have never seen myself as someone who would stay on a single job all my life, unless I own that company. I would simply be bored stiff simply doing the same old stuff day in day out. When he mentioned about his enlightening experience when he visited an entrepreneur's home and realising that he want to live the life of a financially free entrepreneur, I realise that is my dream too. Deep inside my heart, I want to prove to myself that I can do something like that, and give my parents something to be proud of and a good life for their old age.

From the experiences which he shared with us during the talk, I learnt the importance of finding a niche for oneself and leveraging on the strengths she has to make meaningful changes to her life and in what she does. I had no idea what my strengths back when I began college but I have a better idea these days. One thing for sure is that I learn fast and I could make connections between different things to make sense of the situation quickly. Sometimes I may not be able to see the whole picture as I am someone who pays attention to details. Yeah, I'm still in the middle of a self discovery.

It seems strange but the last 3 days seem to be specially arranged for me to become a person who is less risk averse. Like I was telling everyone, the most important lesson that I had in skiing over the weekend was about confronting my fears and overcoming them. Today's lesson was a reminder that if I fear failure, I will never be able to get to the other side, where my dream comes true.

First Few weeks in Philly

New York trip!

Updates to my life so far...

I admit that I have been lazy... to update my blog... But the procrastination has also been buoyed by the long list of things I need to complete each day, of which includes entertainment and travelling haah anyway, today's like the day which I've spent the most amount of time alone at home.. wanted to go sing ktv and skipped the dim sum session with my peers to catch up on my reading but the ktv session was ultimately cancelled... darn

The last two nights had been quite extraordinary indeed... yesterday was as usual a tiring day at work but at least I feel that I'm more in control right now, as I am much more aware of the problems associated with our website... the fun began the moment I landed back on home ground, Trina, Huizhi and I are going to watch our first basketball match ever in US! The match was between Upenn and Brown and it's apparently quite a big thing. I din realize that right next to my Ethics lesson building that is the famous Palestra, our huge, spectacular indoor sports stadium. There're popcorn, hotdogs booths much like those at the national stadium in Singapore. But it's actually a special event for Upenn students today cos for a small price of 10 usd, we get a green shirt as junior students, hotdog, pretzel and a drink and entry for the basketball match. The crowd and atmosphere inside the stadium could match those national interschool basketball or netball finals in Singapore... a rekindling of those fond memories indeed

As the game began, adrenaline started to pump through my blood and soon I was like screaming my head off, as if I had been a part of upenn all my life. felt that strange sense of belonging and proud feeling that I'm actually part of the ivy league, the big five... It's an unbelievably tough fight between Brown and Upenn but Brown was clearly stronger from the start... But the reluctance to throw in the towel was most admirable of the upenn team.. the funny thing that happened after that was we decided to go gym at 10pm! It's like the latest time that I had ever visited the gym and yup I was like trying to fight the g monster as I cycle... Upenn certainly has a gym to boost-- 4 floors of aerobics and weights machines, dance studio and there are even punching bags, gym balls... u name it we have it... what's even better is that we all get to go in for free!

yea that's for friday and valentine was one heck of day... we-the 4056 girls- had class in the morning, where we distributed personalized cookies which we had baked and decorated the night before.. to think we did that the day before a quiz.. yea and after my class at 3pm, I joined trina, kenny and vijay at 15th street, the city centre of philly... i went to bath and body works before that, on a mission to hunt out sales for my sister, who wanted some lip gloss from there... i din regret buying it cos it's really good! i'm using the methanol one and everytime i apply on my lips, i can smell the candy cane scent and it jus set me in a good mood... it tastes sweet too haaha

I also visited H&M and as usual, there are some pocket friendly hunts... bought a pink tank top for my sis... finally tracked down vijay and trina at 16th street and vijay shocked me with his generosity by buying a jacket with a hefty pricetage of 130 usd...i think the most expensive item i bought so far costs on 50 usd and it's a coach wristlet haah... we went to shop around, waiting for huizhi to join us before proceeding for dinner... basically designer stores lined walnut street, while restaurants and high street brands dot the chestnut street in the city hall area... we decided to try fast food called five guys on chestnut street, cos acclamations from zagat etc lined their walls... it turned out to be just slightly than macs though.. the servings are huge though and on top of that, the drinks are refillable and there are free peanuts for all... quite interesting in fact...

after dinner, we took the subway to 2nd street, where the bars and clubs are located... we went past Blue Martini, where we dined, danced and drunk two weekends again... but the clubbing scene in philly is almost nonexistent, though there is certainly enough crowd to boost the attraction of the area.. compared to NY, i certainly prefer philly night scene cos it's friendlier and more bustling as the pubs are jus side by side... okie back to the point, we went to the ballroom dance studio BRASILS and I was again reminded of my desire to learn salsa in US... i guess i;ll get my chance next tue, where there is class for beginner in salsa! =) cant wait!! there're no pple dancing yet as it was the buffet session at that time so we went across the street to Hookah Relaxation. As the name suggests, there is hookah, or shisha, besides the turkish coffee and delicacies that the store offer.. my friends opted for peach and lemon shisha and started puffing away... i tried to smoke a few times out of curiosity but it was rather disagreeable... yea and that's how i spent my rather unique vday this year... miss Zj's presence very much but I guess we can have vday everyday when he comes over to florida this summer =)

New York trip #1
A list of what I did =)

• went to ice skate in central park
• watched broadway RENT
• Clubbed at Duvet, 21 street
• went times sq and the signboards are like everywhere damn bright
• Stayed over for free at a 4 star hotel
• ate yummy food at Greenwich village
• went central park n saw horse carriages
• Went on the carousel at Central park heheh... so giddy!
• visited natural history museum where a night at the museun is showed