Is education the path to success? Ever since I’ve known, my parents have emphasized school over anything else (a social life, relationships, extracurricular activities like sports, etc.) because they believe it is, but how is education defined? Is education synonymous to school or does schooling lead us to consider a lifelong of education and knowledge? Should I ask if schooling is the path to success instead? Furthermore, what is success even defined as?
The divide between students whose main focus is doing well in school and students who don’t care about school can be first seen in late elementary and middle school. Why the divide? I believe it has to do with goals. Students who care about school do so because they want to go to college in order to reach their career goals. The other students don’t see a future in higher education and are thus more focused on other things such as boys and girls because their future occupation as a mother or father is more likely than that of other occupations. This would explain teen pregnancy.
A lot of these students are also the more popular students in late middle and high school. They “peak” during grade school, whereas the students who are more focused on school are less popular and can be referred to as “nerds.” While being unpopular may be detrimental to a teenager’s self-esteem in the moment, in the long-term, these “nerds” win out if we’re defining success in terms of upward mobility and income. Studies have shown a positive correlation between higher levels of education and higher salaries.
However, there are exceptions. For example, both Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs are college dropouts. As a result, we can argue that higher education in the institutional sense isn’t necessary for success. It was rather Zuckerberg’s and Job’s drive that led them to find Facebook and Apple respectively, but where did they obtain this drive? Was it from compulsory education? Could they have been successful on their own? Or did they listen to their parents who stressed that education was the key to success? More than likely, it was a combination of factors that led them to their successes: there is no magic bullet, but these are the questions I hope to discover answers to as a teacher.
Girls with a type finish last because their options are limited. My cousin can move from boyfriend to boyfriend with ease because she has no types, and thus more options: it’s the basic laws of physics.
Dating is all about not limiting your options: I’ve been doing it all wrong because if you text multiple guys at once, you won’t feel hurt when one of them rejects or ignores you. This is how you avoid attachment and eventually heartbreak.
Think about it: every person you know in a relationship is with someone who is better than his or her ex. If that doesn’t help you move on, then think about how abusive he was.
When you don’t find many people attractive, you latch on to the first person you find attractive in two years and never let go of him…in your mind…until another attractive person comes along of course.
How and why does a human being become a perfectionist? Is it out of fear of disappointing their parents? I don't really have the answers, but I do know I became one at a very young age when I started covering blemishes on my drawings with little squares I'd cut out and glue onto the blemishes.
No career choice is scrutinized as much as an educated young person's decision to become a teacher.
"Kids these days are horrible."
"You're going to be so poor."
"You can do better."
I'm usually really sensitive, but this time I'm not deterred. I've fought these doubts for years, and I've finally decided to pursue this career path because I don't think any job can be more rewarding than that of a teacher.
I don't criticize your career choice, so don't attack mine.
*
The medical field has just as many problems if not more, yet aspiring doctors aren't discouraged from becoming one because they make six figures.
Society is driven and ruled by money.
*
I've never cared about how much money I make, and people are shocked by that. I think it has a lot to do with how I was raised. My parents never worried about money in front of me or my sister, but they didn't splurge either. We use our money wisely and don't ever complain about being poor.
*
It irks me so much when my peers, who have a decent steady income, call themselves poor. I also hate it when other people put their financial opinions on me. I wasn't worried about paying for grad school until my friends made me worry. I should be more worried about how schools are brainwashing children-now that's a bone you can pick.
*
Why is society obsessed with money anyways? Money can't buy you happiness. More is less. Bigger isn't better. A bigger computer screen doesn't mean the computer's better. What is it with men and this belief that bigger is better?
*
The only concept I can argue for more of is sharing. A lot of people are uncomfortable with how much I share and the very personal details I do share, but I share because I believe it will help others going through the same situations. I wouldn't have stressed out so much during college if had known other people were going through the same thing as me. Sharing normalizes those personal experiences we all have but are afraid to share.
*
When I was little, I thought it was embarrassing how I picked my nose and didn't know how to swim or ride a bike, but it turns out a lot of people pick their nose and don't know how to swim or ride their bike either.
*
Swimming requires you to simultaneously move your arms and legs while you’re also moving your head up and down for air. See, I’m fine when I don’t have to breathe, but as soon as I need air, I start freaking out and stop moving my arms and legs. I was forced to swim because I was thrown into a 14-foot swimming pool: it was either swim or drown.
*
I could keep those details about me a secret, but I couldn't keep my period a secret. I tried to hide my period by not changing my pads, which caused leaks and even more embarrassment, but I didn't learn because talking about my period was taboo. I never discussed it with my friends even though they were all going through the same thing. This is why I'm so open now. I don't want young girls to be afraid to change their pad in the school bathroom.
*
My friend once told me I wasn't mysterious because I literally tweeted everything. This was after I proclaimed I was mysterious upon hearing that boys like mysterious girls. I still have a lot of secrets though.
*
Oh well, being single means I don't have to wait in line at popular museum exhibits or restaurants.
Hi guys! Welcome to another episode in the “How I Became” series. You can watch my first episode “How I Became Basic” and read my blog post “How I Became Antisocial” in the links below. Today, we’re talking about how I became hot. I didn’t dress up for this role because I believe confidence is a big requirement to being hot, and I am confident that I am hot without needing to dress up for it.
However, I am wearing a stereotypical hot person uniform consisting of a Victoria’s Secret ¾ zip and short athletic shorts. Speaking of athletic shorts, the only pair of athletic shorts I owned before were a pair of long basketball shorts until my guy friend, Dan, told me, “Chanhong, why don’t you wear the slutty shorts Kat wears?,” so thank you Dan and Kat for inspiring me to be hot. You’ll meet more influential people in my journey to becoming hot later in the video. Note: Please don’t ever repeat what Dan said to a girl. He is the only person on this planet who can say that.
Whenever I think of a hot transformation, I think about Manny from Degrassi. Manny decides she doesn’t want to be cute anymore, so the next day, she undoes her ponytail puts on a thong and suddenly she’s hot (completely unrealistic because all her outfits violate school dress codes), but nevertheless, I’ve been waiting for the day I become hot ever since that moment, but unfortunately in real life, it doesn’t happen that instantaneously: it takes years of hard work, confidence building, and sadly validation from others.
While Manny became hot in high school, my hot moment didn’t come until third year of college: that’s when I finally learned how to smile, part my hair, and wore contacts on a consistent basis.
I technically got contacts end of second year at the suggestion of my friend Sara, who I’ve mentioned before on this channel. All of my peers got contacts at the beginning of high school, and right after they got contacts, they immediately had boyfriends. It was magical, and I am a little ashamed to admit that part of the reason I did get contacts was to attract boys, but it obviously didn’t work because I’m still single. Seeing myself without glasses has helped me have a better self-image in the long run though aka it has tricked me into believing I’m hot which is funny because I did my senior research project on this topic in high school.
For some reason, I smiled with both my teeth during second year even though I had never done so before. It wasn’t until I read an article saying that you’re supposed to smile with the top row of your teeth that I changed the way I smiled.
I also changed the way I parted my hair in third year. Ever since I was born, my hair had been parted down the middle. I didn’t know that it was something I could change or something that could drastically change the way someone looked until college. I’d like to thank my friend Kathy for sharing this information with me. I don’t know if she actually taught me this, but I do know we have an inside joke about this and that she is #hairgoals.
Speaking of hair, I didn’t know that you had to grow bangs out in order to get rid of them. I always thought I would need to cut them off in order to get rid of them. That is until my cousin started growing her bangs out when I was in the 8th grade. I followed suit. It’s hilarious to think that my younger cousin was the first person who inspired me to be hot.
I also only recently got my first trim, and when I got it, I thought to myself, “Is this why basic bitches’ hair always look so good?!” I’ve always gotten 2-4 inches chopped off every time I go to the hair salon because the hair stylist would ask me how many inches I wanted off. As a result, I wouldn’t need a haircut for six months at a time. This was the first time someone actually listened to me when I said I wanted a trim. I’m glad I’m able to keep my long length, but I don’t like how my hair is already ratchet looking after a couple of weeks and that I have to spend money to fix it now.
In addition to changing my hair, smile, and eyes in college, I also changed my lips and by that I mean I discovered the red lip, and I’d like to give a shout out to my friend Eugenie for sporting this trend with me. I remember we went on a date once and we were both wearing red lips, and it was kind of perfect lol.
Last but not least, I have to thank my friend Julie (who along with Kathy and Eugenie) gave me my first push up bra for my 21st birthday. Little did she know that she would release the inner hottie in me i.e. I bought an extreme push up bra after that and have only bought push up bras since that moment. They also gave me thongs, which I don’t really wear because they’re hella uncomfortable, but I think it’s funny to include because that’s what Manny wore to become hot.
I bought one of my new push up bras at Victoria’s Secret, which is important to mention because I hadn’t really shopped at Victoria’s Secret until then. I still don’t really shop there and only go there to get free undies, but a whole new world of hotness was open to me once I bought a bra from Victoria’s Secret.
As I enhanced my features and gained more confidence, I also became less awkward or at least started to embrace my awkwardness, which I really think is crucial to looking hot. This is especially prominent in pictures: I’ve actually learned how to pose like a girl with my arms on my hips and have even utilized the hugging pose with my gurls once or twice.
I also started to attract boys, which is where the validation comes from, who are pedophiles and are attracted to girls who look like twelve-year-olds…and that’s the story of how I became hot. Thanks for watching!
I took my mom to dim sum because she really wanted chicken feet, and it was not worth it because it wasn't even the type of chicken feet she wanted smh.
First off, the line for Sunday morning dim sum at this particular restaurant is hella long and the hostesses were kind of bitchy to anyone who was confused about their wait imo. Thankfully, we only had to wait 20 minutes, which gave me enough time to eat a banh mi in the car because if you know anything about dim sum, it's not really vegan friendly.
My mom hadn't eaten dim sum in a long time so she went a little overboard and mistook wide rice noodles for pig's ear, but our meal was actually pretty pleasant without much drama besides the one going inside my sister's stomach from all the oils. That all changed when the waiter didn't see the coins my mom included in the bill and didn't give her the correct change.
I also had a major brain fart and forgot whether you have to tip for dim sum or not (because you don't necessarily have one waiter) and because my mom paid with cash, there was no tip line on the bill, so I thought we didn't have to tip (I am so used to paying with card and adding tip that I forgot #typicalmillenial).
I also did a quick Google search with one result saying we didn't have to tip-wrong advice btw because after my mom cornered the staff for her correct change, the staff cornered us and scolded us in Vietnamese: "This table hasn't tipped yet." We were incredulous because who does that?! I know we messed up and didn't give tip, but tip is technically optional. You can't force us to tip like that. I mean I would have been more forgiving if the man had used a nicer tone or been more polite and asked if not tipping was a mistake, but he didn't let us leave without tipping!
We ended up giving less than 10% because that was all the change we had, and we just wanted to get the hell out of there, but this just goes to show how ridiculous the American tipping system is. It was also the cherry on top of the horrible customer service my mom received on her Easter weekend trip to NOVA (let's just say some cashiers at the mall aren't really adept either).
