Sitting here alone at the terminal of the Denver International Airport has given me the ability to both remember and reflect on the events that have transpired in 2011. Starting from the very beginning, a positive attitude about the New Year propelled key actions that would eventually impact both my life on a personal level, and in regards to the relationships I share with other people. Dynamically, a personality shift has occurred allowing me to take on further responsibilities and expand my lens by which to see the world by.
Being in a relationship, which started February, has both been a rewarding and a learning experience. I never knew how much time and dedication would go into maintaining a healthy relationship, but I learned this year through all the experiences I shared with Geetha. What might seem pretty obvious to others I didn’t realize till months in – that you pretty much get however much you decide to put in. The relationship tends to stagnate with decreased effort, but with the inward flow of hard work, time, and energy, the end result heightens in ecstasy. To be able to share your world, your feelings and your emotions with a whole other person is one of the greatest things in the world. Coming from a family that didn’t really express our emotions openly, at least not to our parents anyway, I am grateful for a relationship in which communication becomes the key foundation by which love grows. A paradigm shift has ultimately been implanted upon from me, from someone who has virtually single his entire life (minus a short stint with Sophie which barely counts as a relationship), to a relationship based on mutual feelings. It still remains a learning process though, as we find out what works, and what doesn’t. Yet, I remain positive that in the end the experiences we share with one another will forever change the way we act around other people, and the way we fundamentally see the world. My self-esteem has changed, the way I see myself has changed, and the way in which I live has changed – all for the better.
With a paradigm change on the inside comes a need for revolution. I’ve known all my life that I needed to somehow make an impact on the world, yet I never found the means by which to do so in college. At the beginning of the year I tried and continued projects I didn’t really believe in. With my involvement in Programming at Warren, the Inter-College Residents Association, and UCSD Cares, I thought I was making somewhat of a difference. Eventually I realized programming didn’t really amount to much in the real world except providing people temporary, yet superficial happiness. One of my proudest events put on exclusively by me was PAW’s Valentine’s Day Extravangaza, which fundamentally exemplified my ability to plan and execute an event of my own making. Having virtually no help in a club that had failing events all quarter, with my hard work I was able to exceed turnout expectations. Yet still, though Valentine ’s Day was something I definitely did believe in, I needed more. I continued working at this time at Environment, Health, and Safety while still pursuing other things that would shape me as an individual in regards to my overall effect on the world. My internship at the Sustainability Resource Center taught me advertising abilities used via social networking sites, but not much else. My joke run for A.S. president was fun, yet rewarding in a sense that it allowed me to voice my opinions regarding the student government at UCSD. Under the guise of campaigning to bring puppies, Glee Cast, and Muse to SunGod, I still was able to convey a sense of urgency to get rid of A.S. stipends as well as get rid of resolutions where I felt the Associated Students had no place to voice their opinion. Yet, even after all two quarters of all this, I still needed more – something I eventually found in my last Fall Quarter of college. Helping Elizabeth to start up UCSD Youth for Ron Paul gave me the opportunity to do something I believed in. I wanted to spread Ron Paul’s message of liberty and hope all across campus, and in starting and maintaining a student organization I would be able to find supporters from all across the political spectrum. Furthermore, the club serves to provide a mechanism for me to dynamically change the world. I’m obviously aware that no single person can get Ron Paul elected, but I know in a sense that me helping him serves a means by which I can, in my own way, impact the election. If the club wasn’t enough, I’m about to board a plane to Iowa to help both campaign door-to-door and through phone banking to get Ron Paul a win in the Iowa caucuses. I would have never thought a year ago that I would do such thing. However, I now know that through hard work I can help make history. With a win in Iowa, Paul’s campaign can surge to first place and eventually garner the Republican nomination. In essence I have found my placement to change the world – and that placement is to ensure Ron Paul becomes President.
To put things in perspective, I have a new gauge by which to consider the future by. Instead of relying fundamentally on pursuing jobs that would garner more profits (which I could have done if I majored in Pre-Med like everyone else), I now plan to pursue only paths which will allow me to have more of an impact on other people. Teach for America’s rejection of me in October really hurt my self-esteem in regards to my desire to become a teacher, but I feel in applying for a teaching credential I’m keeping that option both open and alive on my list. With a need to change things comes my pursuit of internships in Washington D.C. in public policy that can also change the course of governance in the United States. To turn the United States into a more fiscally conservative nation, to shift the economy in the right direction, to direct power both away from corporations and the federal government will not only be a task I enjoy doing, but something I feel will forever better the world.
In summary, 2011 was an amazing year – my relationship helped me grow, my involvement with Youth for Ron Paul helped the world, and my mindset on the future will help shape history.
With change, comes statistics. Here’s my top 10 friends of the year (based on who I hung out with the most).
- Geetha Ratnam (955)
- Bee-John Fazeli (299)
- Amul Shah (256)
- Tyler Nelson (253)
- Alex Goetz (183)
- Rosario Solano (154)
- Rashika Rakibullah (146)
- Earle Tabula (116)
- Matt Diamond (115)
- Amy Hoang (78)
Here are my top 10 Activities of 2011:
- Work at Environment, Health, and Safety (170)
- Geisel (96)
- Inter-College Residents Association (74)
- Pines (58)
- Youth for Ron Paul (49) [COUNTS MY TRIP TO IOWA]
- How I Met Your Mother (47)
- Foodworx (45)
- Glee (44)
- Tapioca Express (39)
- Programming at Warren (37)
