End of a Chapter

There were probably more family members than students

Well, as hard as it is for me to believe, I am basically finished with university. Technically, I don't graduate until December after my internship, but I was allowed to participate in commencement and convocation this year in April.

I didn't take any graduation selfies because I am usually not a selfie person. I've taken some photos here and there and hopefully, they'll make it to whatever social media outlet I choose later this year. My family did not attend this event because, well, it's simply inconvenient. I think I might have been upset if bachelor's degree were my formal education endgoal. However, this isn't the case as I have plans for further schooling.

What's next? The first priority is to take a break. And by take a break I mean I've taken a break and ready to start again. The focus now is to cram for the MCAT set for June 14th. Seems quick no? I'm sure the training I've had as a MLS student at BYU has given me enough study prowess to jam an obscene amount of information in a short time; courtesy of multiple weekly tests.

I also plan on taking a trip out of the country after the exam for two weeks. It may be the last time I'll visit extended family for a while. Then, I start my internship up in Murray in July, after the holiday. After that, who knows? Depending on where I receive a full-time position, I may consider either staying in Provo or moving up to Salt Lake City. The idea of moving out of state is not impossible as well. In short, I don't have a clear picture of where I stand, but I will figure out something.

The nice part is, I will have more time to update this blog this spring. Can't say the same once summer hits, though. I do believe I have some good topics to write about in the near future.

Cheers!

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Master, the tempest is raging!

When life starts to mount pressure on you, one thing is certain: stress. I don't do well under stress even though I have ways to reduce and control the symptoms. The fact BYU does not have spring break contributes to the overload. I personally believe that nothing I learn in my major is conceptually difficult, but the sheer volume of information becomes daunting when I'm already feeling tired. Fatigue eventually leads to annoyance, and annoyance generally manifests as a perpetual anger that seems to radiate from my being.

Because of that, I focus less on the other aspects of life. I feel some angst when I attempt to clear the everlasting pile of dishes, or the tub of rubbish I should have sent out last night. Granted, it would be unfair to claim my housemates do absolutely nothing.

One thing I haven't been paying as much attention is spirituality. The weekly wall of tasks has transformed me into a churchgoer versus a sojourner of discipleship. I have zero desire to dig deeper into the scriptures. Zero desire to spend more time than necessary with people in the ward. That includes activities. I always jokingly exclaim that I hate people, but can't be bothered is probably a more accurate depiction of my current situation.

When the tempest was raging, the Apostles reached out to Jesus for help (Matt. 8:24; Luke 8:24; Mark 4:38). The Lord, who spent most of His time ministering to the people, was sleeping. I imagine He could have been tired, like any of us after a long day. (Although, He was probably fearless too!) Without any hesitation, He calmed the winds and put the disciples at ease. Even in a scenario where it was inconvenient, it didn't stop the Savior from performing His duties and demonstrate His compassion for common men.

What is the lesson here? Just do it? Not exactly. I do believe I'm supposed to maintain a standard when situation doesn't allow me to improve where I already stand. Or, maybe even try a little harder than I am at the moment. There are some time consuming tasks I could do without, but I am simply too selfish to give up right now.

We shall see how things evolve. I, for one, am glad the semester will conclude in less than four weeks.

As I Go Nearer to the Edge...

Class of 2014!

...OF GRADUATION SUCKAS!!!! No, seriously, I'm basically finished with university this April. I do have an internship from July to December before I can actually receive my diploma, but all the coursework will be completed by the end of this semester. I will be walking in the commencement next month!

It's quite an accomplishment, for me, at least. I made a lot of adjustments and learned important life lessons here at BYU. My parents definitely helped me out a ton financially, but I wasn't living off the bank of mom & dad. Of my entire BYU career, I've enrolled in classes in almost every Spring and Summer Terms, except in 2013, while working around 20 hours a week during the semesters. Last summer was definitely a magical time when all my roommates and I did whatever we wanted and all we had to worry about was working 40 hours a week to save money.

I know I haven't written much recently due to the excess amount of coursework. In addition, I was sick for a little over a week, which put me in a vulnerable position. Rest assured, I have returned with more updates!

Throughout my college days, I've changed much as a person and many of my interests changed as a result. Even my outlook on life changed because of the surprises life threw at me. Many sources claim that college is when you truly discover yourself. Well, I'm not here to disprove or agree entirely to that claim, but I can list a few things I came to notice over the years.

1. I'm more or less a cynic versus pessimist; although, I do have pessimistic tendencies. To be fair, I've been more optimistic than the '07 or '10 version.
2. I have been very fortunate with roommates. I never had any weird guys that creeped me out or tried to intimidate me in any way. (Then again, maybe it's because I have a temper myself.) In fact, I've learned much from the men I've became closed associated with over the years.
3. At the end of the day, the type of woman I like turns out to be someone I can have nice conversations with over the table. However, willing to participate in contact sports is an extreme plus.
4. There was once when I was passionate about someone and it ended badly. It brought out a whole new side of me.
5. I like the idea of being a bad ass grandpa one day; hence, I work out!
6. Not getting an A in class when some people manage to do so = I am not working hard enough or working smart enough.
7. I am really not that social. Perhaps it's an age thing? I find myself comfortable with a close circle of friends or colleagues and rarely stepping out of those bounds despite the fact that my Facebook will tell you otherwise.
8. I must be resilient because many people keep telling me how my schedule is definition of insanity. Well, great! I do have some ambition for the next decade.
9. I'm retro-gamer for the most part. Sure, I do look into new games, but nothing takes away from the classics I enjoy.

There are several things I wish I could have done before graduation, but I'll just have to pick them up later.

1. Study abroad: I don't think I'll ever be able to this again unless some strange opportunity comes along in future schooling.
2. Marriage: that's what BYU is about, right? Well, that's too bad. I'll have to look elsewhere.
3. Learn a new language: it's nice to be bilingual and have a good foundation of Spanish. I do wish I was assigned to a mission where I had to pick up a new language.
4. Joined more clubs: if I had more free time and didn't have to work as much, I would have loved the idea.
5. Intramural sports: see above.

I do have a few adventures lined up right after this semester. I'll have to let y'all in on it later!

The Month of February

Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry février

February has always been an interesting month for me. Not only is it the shortest month of the year, it is also when I'm relatively inactive in the realm of blogging. I've wondered if it's because I'm lacking things to write about or life is simply busy during this time.

Surprisingly, this February hasn't been as cold and frosty as last year. February is an important hallmark in my life. It is my birthday month as well as the month I chose to be baptized. That was back in 2007. Through life's ups and downs, I've learned many things in my journey. Of course, my life is only starting.

Additional information: this month is my birthday!

There are so many unknowns in my immediate future. I am both excited and somewhat daunted. At the same time, I'm not really bothered by the challenges ahead. I'm not sure if that's a sign of quiet confidence or naive outlook to the turbulence ahead.

Well, I'm half way through my final semester here at BYU. With a two-month break coming up before my internship, I have much soul-searching and self improvements to do before life hits me with a hammer. After that, we shall see. Maybe quarter-life crisis will hit me. Who knows?

The Wheels of Time

Turn and turn...

Today, we said farewell to Jonathan as he embarks on his adventures in basic training for the US Marines.

To some of you, this may come as a surprise, but it didn't come as an easy decision for him. It does explain, however, some of the behaviors witnessed for some periods of time recently.

Regardless, I'm happy for him. Jonathan would have graduated this April with a BS in physics, but this shift to the military will allow him to finally do something he's always wanted: aerospace engineering.

This got me thinking about the past year and half. Many things have happened to me; starting with moving in with the guys back in September 2012. Not to discredit my experiences with my former roommates, the move with the guys was a hallmark in my university career. For once, I was insanely content with life (despite of my occasional temper tantrums from lack of sleep).

This was especially true for this spring and summer when none of us had classes and we just did all sorts of stuff with the time we had on our hands outside of work. I am glad we all did that because that kind of opportunity will likely not happen again.

Since then, Dalin and Ammon have gotten married. TK left in search of himself. And now, Jonathan has departed to chase his dreams. I'm still with the guys! Klint and Alex are definitely nothing to scoff at, especially they are part of a circle of friends we all know. John and I had a conversation tonight. We, along with Nick, are the only three left from the original six at IX. Here at our house, we will always choose who replace a leaving member.

Funnily enough, I think I may be the last one out from the original group. It's just a hunch, but more than likely. Unless something keeps me from leaving Provo (or the general Utah Valley area), I am determine to venture out by the middle of 2016 latest.

That's enough of me moping around. I hope y'all had a great weekend!

HabitRPG Experience

Have you ever tried to set a goal only to find yourself abandoning it in progress? I'm sure many of you have done it and I'm one of them. Today, I will talk about a slightly funner way to keep track of your goals and daily routines. It is called HabitRPG, a way to "gamify" your life!

Without going too deep into its origin and history, HabitRPG started off as a Kickstarter project with the aim to make habit setting fun and social. For a retro gamer like me, a RPG game seemed like a great idea to get myself into shape. The way it works is you have to hold yourself accountable for completing daily tasks while your peers reinforce your resolve to get things done.

The main screen for your character

On your account's main screen, you are greeted by your character's avatar and the lists of things that require your attention. As of now, HabitRPG divide the tasks into your Habits, Dailies, and To-Dos. Like many RPG games, the basic elements are the same, except most of the drama revolves around whether or not you stick to your routines. I'm not going to explain the basics behind a RPG game, so I'm going to assume everyone knows what it is and summarize the general features of HabitRPG.

Health: or HP; in this game, you lose health whenever you leave one of the Dailies unchecked. When your HP reaches zero, your character "dies" and you lose a level plus a piece of equipment.
Experience: shows how much XP before you gain a level.
Mana: or MP; they are used for using certain class-specific skills which could aid you or your party (if you are in one) to gain bonuses or reduce penalties when performing tasks.

Habits: these are things you do regularly. They can be of good influence, or bad, depending on how you set them up. I put something I do weekly or more than several times a day in this category.
Dailies: these are things you need to do everyday (or multiple times a week depending on your settings). Failure to do so will result in your character taking damage.
To-Dos: you know how you mark your calendars? Yeah, it's similar in idea. There's generally no time limit for this category unless you desire so.
Rewards: whenever you complete a task, you gain not only experience, but also gold and silver. These are useful to buy equipment unique to your character class and healing potions to recover from damage. You may also set up rewards yourself that cost gold for your own good behavior. I have yet to set this up since I haven't put too much attention into what I treat myself with when I've been good. Sad, I know...

You could adjust the difficulties and categories of each task according to your desire. Difficulties will affect the reward and damage potential. Categories are more for accounting purposes and for more seasoned players to develop their habits/characters in certain fashions.

You can join parties or guilds

Of course, tackling bad habits by yourself is a huge challenge. The game has also implemented party and guild systems to help people be more accountable for their actions. Peer pressure, though viewed negatively in most cases, can actually be beneficial when the said peers are pressuring you to become a better person.

Party: a classic RPG idea. You can live or die with the members of your group. Things you can do with party members include quests, challenges, and a message board. Nothing gets your teammates more riled up than having everyone take damage during a quest because you couldn't get your Dailies done each day.
Guilds: another constant in many RPGs. These are groups of people with similar goals that they are working on or distinct demographics with similar lifestyles and circumstances. They often host challenges while serving as a forum to like-minded individuals for social and self-improvement reasons.

I'm not in a guild at the moment, but certainly a member of a party of friends.

Modify your character!

Aside from the main purpose of HabitRPG, it offers fun little gimmicks to make your gamified experience more bearable. You can change how your avatar look as well as your settings for character development, etc. You also have achievements, pets/mounts to collect, among other things. Some things require gems, which are special currencies bought with real money. For a $5.00 donation, you receive 20 gems. Guilds often offer gems as rewards for completing a challenge.

HabitRPG is still in beta at this time as it is constantly evolving. More updates and features will come in the future. The staff has encouraged users to contribute either monetarily or contents to help improve the experience. You will be compensated for your time and effort, but it is not mandatory.

It is easy to cheat in this game because it expects users to be honest and accountable for themselves. For me, I don't see the point in cheating in HabitRPG because you'd be wasting your time. In addition, you are not improving yourself, but creating an illusion of someone staying on top of things.

Currently, HabitRPG can be accessed via web and smartphones. Smartphone apps tend to lag behind in updates compared to the web version. Be aware! I use both the web and iPhone version of this game.

I like HabitRPG because it helps me a way to keep track of 95% of the things I need to be doing and eventually develop good habits out of them. I highly recommend it to folks who has some sort completionist, or even OCD, when it comes to games. If you can put that drive into something useful like this, you can most definitely become a better person in time.

What are you waiting for? Go explore at https://habitrpg.com

Pinecone Revamped

Alas! We salute these two!

After eight months of madness here at the Pinecone, we, once again, have to change the line up as our dear friend Ammon is now wedded to his missus. No worries, though, I'm sure it's not the last time you'll hear about these two in all their glories.

Since T.K.'s premature departure, we had to fill two spots here at our house. Naturally, we chose who we wanted to live here because we are past the point of playing roommate roulette.

As usual, I get to write a quick synopsis of the state of the Pinecone on my blog.

Me at Ammon & Julie's wedding!

Now that Ammon has moved on, I am the oldest person in the house. As usual, I try to set the standards and code of conduct. But most importantly, I have cooperative roommates with similar values.

I'm onto my last semester of medical laboratory science and will be done with all my coursework by this April! Then, I'll embark on an internship in Murray, Utah this upcoming summer until the end of the year.

I'll probably be around Provo, or at least the Utah Valley for another year or two as I have unfinished business around here.

Jon (and bro) during his family road trip in the East Coast

Jonathan, our resident physicist, has had exciting changes in his life. Be sure to ask him about it! He's got some big plans and an unexpected change in course in his studies.

Don't get me wrong, he's gonna use all that physics he's learned, but he's found a way to utilize it more in the long run.

In addition, talk to him about his recent experience/run-in with B-money here at Provo. It's a pretty funny story.

John as his usual creative self

I'm not sure how many excellent costumes for cosplay has he done since the last time I wrote about him, but you can't deny that John is not handy with these sorts of stuff. He did all that in the picture while under the intense pressure of the BYU Information Systems program.

This man landed himself a nice internship with the Church this summer and will soon be using his acquired skills in the real world when the time hits.

This is the one of the only persons I know who has the abilities to do almost everything he wants to get done in a given time while having a tough schedule. I think he's secretly a jedi. And no, he's not single.

And the winter cheer continues

One of the most monumental things that happened to Nick recently was being accepted into the BYU Film program. From now on, he can kiss a lot of time goodbye.

The good fellow from Missouri is adept at making films and Photoshop; something I witnessed myself as he put forth hours after hours refining his skills in these areas.

Needless to say, this is one good-looking dude who is not single. Like I mentioned before, he's got a time sink coming up as he strives to finish not only complete his degree in film, but also take on a business strategy minor from the Marriott School of Management.

He's just as I remembered

Klint may be a newcomer to the Pinecone, but he is no stranger to me. Both Ammon and I had lived with this man before he was a returned missionary.

Having served in Germany, he's at least bilingual and hopes to keep his language skills up. He is hoping to get into the nursing program here at BYU. Since his exposure to the European culture, especially after the study abroad to Austria, he's got some style, literally!

In many aspects, Klint is the combination of all of us. That's why we get along with him so well. As for the ladies, be sure to look this guy up. I promise you that you won't be disappointed!

He loves his cars

Looks like our house can never be without people from Missouri. Alex is from Liberty, Missouri and already knew likes of Ammon, Dalin, and Nick since they were boys.

He's studying mechanical engineering here at BYU and he's got some ambition as he plans on taking on another field of engineering simultaneously!

He is a car fanatic (have you seen the rims on his car?) and is absolutely enamoured by them. This man is definitely one of the eligible bachelors we have at this house.

The many seasons of life and the many faces of roommates I've encountered during my lifetime here at BYU. I'm looking forward for another ridiculous semester with my friends and roommates here at the Pinecone. I'm going to enjoy my time as I don't think I'll be enjoying my semester very much this time with the sheer amounts of work and tests creeping up. Don't find us! We'll find you.