Thoughts on Mister Business 2013

This is a little late in coming, but better late than never. Just wanted to say that I had an absolutely AMAZING time during the Mister Business pageant last Friday. The support from my friends in ABA and IV was overwhelming, and I was happy for the opportunity to represent my business club as Mister ABA.

Even though I didn’t win the Mister Business title (congrats to Carl who did!), I was genuinely glad to be up there just having fun. After the event, one of my friends came up to me and told me that if there was one thing he would definitely remember from the pageant in future years, it was my talk about my passion for reading, and my challenge for everyone in the crowd to using their knowledge to inspire and empower others. That single affirmation in itself was better than any win, and I enjoyed sharing a bit about my life, my family, and some key people in my life’s journey.

ABA’s 10th Annual Mister Business Pageant 2013

Well, this is it. Thanks to all the wonderful support from my friends, I’ll be competing in the 10th Annual Mister Business tomorrow night. Words cannot express my excitement – looking forward to having an amazing time!

Just what is Mister Business? It’s one of the largest Haas events of the year, where each participating business organization or fraternity sends a male representative to compete in the pageant for the coveted Mister Business title.

What’s Up | 02/13/13

Hey all, it’s been quite some time since my last What’s Up post, and this will be my first since the start of spring semester. I’ll try to include some major highlights from Glen’s life, and maybe some thoughts.

I’d characterize this semester as a relatively “chill” semester, because I’m taking a lighter course load (13.5 units + DeCal) and I’ve finished recruiting. It’s been pretty awesome, but my schedule has definitely not been as free as I’d thought at the start of school.

ABA First General Meeting Spring 2013

So this is it. My last ABA First General Meeting. Bittersweet, but a great finale to an amazing four years in this organization. I had the opportunity to attend First Gen last night, and I was thoroughly impressed by all the Cabinet members’ presentations, speeches, and charisma. It’s always a risk when changing things up, but the Spring 2013 Cabinet pulled it off quite impressively. So my hats off – and best of luck this semester, all.

What’s Up | 09/18/12

It’s been a while since my last post, and with good reason. Ever experienced crashing waves while swimming in the ocean? That’s sort of what it feels like right now, with the full onslaught of school, recruiting, and clubs this fall semester. I’m sure a lot of people can relate (especially us business students looking for post-college jobs).

It’s exciting, that’s for sure. Sometimes it’s overwhelming. There are so many things to do, and there’s a constant stream of activities appearing on my to-do lists. As soon as I cross one off, another two appear, and so on.

My classes have been going well. Thankfully, I got into all the classes that I’d planned out over the summer. I’m enjoying them immensely, even the spreadsheet modeling one. I really like how quite a few of my classes this semester focus on actually putting what we learn into action, in the form of business plans, client work, and group projects.

ABA First General Meeting Fall 2012

Going with my tradition of posting about ABA’s First General Meeting each semester since I started my blog, figured I’d share a few quick thoughts about tonight’s First Gen.

First and foremost, congrats to Fall 2012 Cabinet for the amazing show! It was hilarious (and informative), and I could tell all of you practiced tons and gave it your all. My hats off to all of you.

Thoughts on Year Three at Berkeley

So I’m officially a senior. I’m speechless. Honestly, it hasn’t hit me yet. I haven’t thought too much about what next year will be like. I can only surmise that it’ll be a lot of hard work and then hopefully a lot of fun. But enough about the future, what about Glen’s third year at Cal?

If each of my years had a theme, junior year would be the year I discovered myself and grew more comfortable with who I was and who I was not. Fall semester was one of the toughest and most challenging semesters of my college career – the mental and physical vigor of running ABA as President is something that few will ever understand. But in the end, it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and I really grew as a person because of it.

The spring semester was one of uncertainty. I was now an ABA alumnus (retiree, as I like to say). Coming off five semesters as an active member of ABA, I felt I had lost a part of my identity. The mental strain of recruiting for summer internships didn’t help much, either. It was a long road, filled with a lot of hope followed by a lot of rejection.

Yet spring semester was a semester of enjoyment. For the first time, I was able to truly learn as I’d liked to learn – staying up-to-date in lecture and actually enjoying the classes I took (debatable for finance, but that’s in the past now). I kept good friends from ABA, but I was also able to make new friends from various walks of school and life.

I was finally able to reach the level of involvement in church and fellowships that I’d yearned for the past few years, and I also was able to volunteer for PEP, something that I’d wanted to do since the end of freshman year. I’m glad I finally found the time to pursue these things while still in school.

In the wake of post-ABA Cabinet life, recruiting, classes, and career-talk, I did a lot of soul-searching. Who was I as a person? How am I similar to other people? How am I different? How involved do I want to be in the different activities I took part in? What did I want to do in the future, career-wise and in a broader sense?

I grew perfectly comfortable with my current level of involvement with others. I don’t meet many people’s expectations of communication and staying in touch. But that’s okay. It’s who I am, and it doesn’t mean that I don’t care. I’m less prone to worry about what others will think of me. I strive to do things that I enjoy and will be able to learn from and grow.

What do I want in life? At this point, I’m still uncertain about the specifics, and I’m fine with that. Things will come in due time. I do know that in the broadest sense, I want quality over quantity. I want to do things well, without spreading myself too thin. I want a job that I truly enjoy (I don’t buy what people say about compromising on this, there’s always another way). And I want to be able to make an impact, regardless of how big or small that impact may be. Quality over quantity. It’s clear as day to me.

Excited for the summer and for the coming year. Here’s to an awesome end of college – I know the hardships will continue to come, but how else can you truly challenge yourself and grow?

Carpe Diem at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.

ABA Members’ Retreat Spring 2012 Recap

Just got back from ABA’s Tahoe trip over the weekend. In a nutshell, the retreat was tons of fun, a breath of fresh air, and also physically exhausting. But overall, I had a blast, hung out with a bunch of awesome people, and enjoyed the time off from a busy midterm season.

We rode over to Tahoe on a nice coach bus Friday night with no delay. Stopped for dinner halfway and arrived at the retreat house in the evening. It was the same house as last year’s, but I wasn’t complaining – this house was new, nicely furnished, had three bathrooms, lots of space, and a wonderful view of the lake.

Played some ice breakers, watched a scary Korean movie, played Bang, and finally went to sleep around 4:30. Woke up early the next morning for the main event of the retreat – our day of snowboarding at Homewood Ski Resort.

After taking care of tickets and rentals, I went up to the mountains for the first time since winter break. It was a great feeling, but my first run didn’t end up too well (lots of falls). Gradually, I picked up carving and improved enough to be able to board without any major incidents.

Michael, Jay, and I ended up on the other side of the resort, so we had to follow a series of ski lifts to get to the top (Rainbow Ridge) in order to snowboard all the way down to our original meeting place. That run was so much fun – just pure carving and lots of speed.

Stopped at the lodge for a quick lunch, then headed back out with a larger group to snowboard down a mix of green, blue and black diamond slopes. By the end of the day, I had gotten comfortable enough to go pretty fast, and despite plenty of spills here and there, I had a lot of fun. Plus, I landed my first several jumps (along with some failed jumps, too).

We went back to the house, exhausted. Dinner was great (good ol’ spaghetti, with LOTS of ground beef this time around). I played Bang, studied a bit for my midterm on Monday, then dozed off around midnight.

The Sunday drive back was smooth, and everyone had a good nap on the bus.

I had a blast at retreat, and I’m looking forward to snowboarding again in the near future. Might even get a season pass some day.

Quick vlog about snowboarding below:

Tahoe at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.

What’s Up | 02/08/12

So much has happened since the start of school. I can’t believe it’s only been a month – it’s felt like a year! This semester is one of the most different, most alien semesters to me, and I’m still getting used to the pace of life and not being so involved in ABA.

It’s disconcerting at times, I feel like I should be doing something, even though I’m pretty much dedicating all my available time to school work and recruiting. I finally heard some good news – will be going to a first-round consulting interview this Friday, so I’ve been studying like crazy for the case questions.

In terms of recruiting, now that I know what to expect for info sessions, networking, and preparing, it’s not as intimidating as it was back in December. I feel like the entire process can be learned and perfected, and I’ve seen some pretty drastic improvements in myself in just a few weeks. Who knows what a semester or two will bring?

I’ve been attending all my classes, and I’m actually up-to-date in every single one of my classes. That is an accomplishment in itself, and I’ve found class time to be much more enjoyable when I understand the material being covered. My schedule and professors have been pretty great so far (for the most part), and I’m enjoying my classes.

With the extra time, I’ve also gotten more involved with church and fellowship groups, something that I’ve wanted to do since freshman year. Going out consistently and getting to know a lot of the people (who are all pretty cool, by the way), makes the experience much more enjoyable, and I’m glad for the opportunity.

I also plan to start volunteering for YWCA’s PEP program, which stands for Pre-Kindergarten Enrichment Program, where I’d go to a pre-school in Oakland Chinatown to play with the kids and help the teachers. Given my past experiences as Chinese school TA, I’m not bad with kids, but I guess we’ll see how this goes.

At this point early in the semester, I feel like I’m at a crossroads. I’m still figuring out if I want to get involved in any other activities, preferably something where I can lend a hand and learn. The other option is to stay put and  focus on school and my current activities.

I’m fine with staying put, but the thought makes me a bit antsy, as I feel like I should be doing more. I’ve been thinking a lot the past few days, and maybe I should take a break. I’ve realized that I’ve been going at a pace that is hurting my body in the long run – maybe now is the time to start taking care of it before it’s too late. After all, you can’t do anything without your health.

No promises, but for the time being, here are some goals that I’d like to achieve this semester, in no particular order:

- Sleep more: Get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. I think I’ve averaged 5-6 during the school year since high school, and I feel my body’s been taking a toll.

- Go to more office hours: Hardly ever went in the past. I’d like to go more consistently for most, if not all, my classes. Definitely will go for questions about papers and exams.

- Exercise more: Basketball and swimming. Play ball with the ABA peeps, maybe get involved with an IM team, and definitely start swimming again on weekends (which I’ve neglected to do since November).

- Explore Berkeley + surrounding cities: This is a maybe, depending on my recruiting schedule and results. But I remember the days back in freshman year when my floormates and I would do random hikes to the Clark Kerr track to spot shooting stars. I really miss those days, and I don’t want to graduate regretting the fact that I didn’t explore places I should’ve explored. This goal will probably be more of a junior + senior year goal.

- Blog more: This blog and my food blog. Just re-designed my food blog, and I’ve definitely been blogging more overall than I did last semester. Keep a lookout – big things may be coming soon!

That’s it! Time to go back to prepping – fingers crossed for this interview, and hopefully I hear back from the other companies soon!

College life at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.

ABA First General Meeting Spring 2012

It’s weird watching from the other side something you’ve been really involved in for so long. Tonight, I had the opportunity to experience ABA’s First General Meeting for Spring 2012, which marked the first time I was in the audience since freshman year fall semester.

In short, I was very, very impressed.

Excellent videos, funny skits, good information, great speeches, and everyone was confident. The high turnout was great news, and it was nice to see the alumni again. Makes me proud to be part of this organization.

To the Spring 2012 Cabinet – I wish all of you the best. You’re going to have an awesome semester, I know it!

ABA Love at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.