Fearless

THE PYGMY TREE             There once was a beautiful maiden who lived in a small cottage in a small town at the edge of the kingdom with her father. They had little money to spend on extravagance, so they made their living by knitting hats and selling them to traders that came through the town on their way to the royal palace. One day when the girl was out to the market, a proud and arrogant queen came by their cottage to buy a hat for her son, the prince. She had heard this cottage had the finest craftsmanship of all in the kingdom and thus demanded that the father hand over his most beautiful hat that had taken him seven years to make. The old man hesitated and timidly asked if he could receive some payment for the hat that was his prized possession. The queen was outraged and turned red with anger. “How dare you ask a queen for payment? I’ll show you what it means to talk back to me that way!” The queen was trained in magic ...

It's only half past six and I had already started pulling ingredients out of the cabinets to prepare to make what needed to be a dinner beyond the regular vegetable stir fry and rice or quesadillas that I put together most nights. I was having trouble deciding where in the process I should be when he arrived. Should I be pretty much done and have the table set and ready? No, that would be incredibly formal and leave no room for cute, awkward small talk.  I paced back over to the refrigerator, clutching the handle and deciding whether to open it again or not. Should I start when he came so we could talk while we cook? No, I invited him over so I should at least be headed in some semblance of a direction by the time he gets here. I opened the refrigerator door and pulled out the mushrooms, tomatoes  and all the other vegetables I had bought the night before in anticipation of this dinner. I knew exactly what the menu was going to be. I had spent two hours on the Food Net...

The end of the semester draws near and I'd like to talk about and reflect on this semester, the most important aspects of which have been dance and the f-word. Have you ever been so passionate about something that your heart wrenches every time you hear bad news about it? That your eyes have welled up with both tears of happiness and pain for it? That you can't imagine what your life would be without it, but you've definitely had moments where you know things would be a lot less complicated if your life was without it? This is how I feel about dance, a sentiment that I've shared before, but seems to grow stronger every semester that I dance with my family called Duke Dhoom. My parents think it's silly to be this emotionally attached to something or someone, and yes it probably is, but becoming passionate about something is like falling in love: you don't plan for it and it kind of just happens on its own. This semester has been my favorite on Dhoom since th...

Okay, it's been so long and I have so much to say that I think I'm going to have to separate my thoughts into three different posts. I've written only twice this year which is ridiculous, but I'm hoping to start doing it again because I've thought about doing it every week but something else has occupied my time. First it was China, then it was MCAT and now it's adjusting into life as a senior in college. This one's going to be about China. Going to Zhuhai for DukeEngage was one of the most incredible experiences I've had in my life, and the reasons are threefold. First, it was my first time out of the country on my own without my parents and it gave me a chance to explore and discover a place in my own way, at my own pace. I wasn't touring, taking photos constantly (though some of us were heh), or seeing what everyone else sees. I got a chance to understand the day in the life of a resident of Zhuhai (体验中国人的生活). I had a sense of independence an...

Three years ago, I  couldn't  have possibly imagined that by my senior year of college I  would've  already taken four semesters of Chinese and traveled to China to teach dance. Despite having visited numerous countries with my family members, the world has always felt incredibly large. Anywhere my parents have taken me, it’s been with the best accommodations and to all the touristic places, so it’s never felt as though I understood what life is like in these countries. The world feels large when you think of the planet being covered in a sea of faceless people with whom you have no relationship. Just meeting my international friends at Duke, I began to feel the world converge; people from other countries had routines and emotions like I did. This is why I’m especially excited to immerse myself into a completely new location and culture.  I've  been to more countries than the average American probably has, but I would by no means consider myself...

So, wow, it's actually been almost four months since I wrote and I'm not particularly happy about it because there's a lot that's been on my mind about school and personal relationships and how my perception of life has changed so much in just the past year. These p-frosh are so excited to be here and I'm already waiting to get out because Duke is not the "care about students, care about the issues" kind of place that I thought it was going to be. Disclaimer: I really do love being here, but it's mostly for our school spirit, our academics, and especially for the close friends that I've made being here. If my friends and I could be relocated altogether to a completely different environment, at this point in my Duke career, I honestly don't think I would mind at all. It's not until you really look behind the fake brick walls of construction and listen over the sound of cheering at basketball games that you realize Duke's true colors. ...

So it's New Year's Eve and I'm going to do one of those end of the year posts that is super cliche and expected but you know, WHATEVER because it's a great way for me to reflect! It doesn't feel at all like the New Year, and I'm not sure why that is. Maybe because there are a lot of bigger things on my mind this year than to focus on New Year's Day. Maybe because things feel more like a continuation than a fresh start. Yeah, I think that's it actually. It doesn't feel this year as if I'll be able to start new goals or anything major will change with the year number changing, rather as if everything that has happened this year will just jump the page onto a new month. Maybe this is what getting older does to you... I think the beginning of an academic year begins to feel more like the "New Year" than New Year's Day itself because that's when all the real starting fresh begins. Regardless, there is a lot of emotions that I'...