Boeing ✈

Things I've done since graduating from USC:
-Received a job offer from Boeing
-Witnessed/benefitted from the power and reach of the Trojan family
-Passed a drug test... background check still pending
-Attended a grad party featuring the USC band (Shoutout: Mallory)
-Spent time with my wonderful family
-Wrote 10 thank you cards
-Bought and delivered small tokens of appreciation
-Updated my resume
-Cleaned and organized my computer files
-Uploaded pictures (to private albums)
-Taken four 10000 scan carbon NMRs, a last ditch effort to get my name on this paper that should've been published a year ago

Needless to say it's been an overwhelming week but it feels amazing and I've never felt more blessed. Everything's fallen into place and while I worked hard these last four years to try to put my life together I never would have imagined, especially after multiple minor crises in life re-routing, that things would have turned out so well.

For starters, I have an amazing family and we share this mutual love and support that is absolutely invaluable and crucial to my existence. My mom, dad, brother, and grandmother flew out to join me in this milestone weekend and our four days together were more memorable than possibly anticipated. It started with a mess of an arrival on Thursday night and an early departure to plant our asses in stiff, plastic, white chairs for the main commencement ceremony. Value of attendence there is questionable. Then we went to the satellite ceremony where it felt like an eternity before my name was called, and sitting through the neuroscience and biology majors would have been a ride to hell and back, which is why I was one of those defiant graduates who took off my cap, stood up, said "Fuck it," and marched down the center aisle alone to join my family and relieve them from the misery of 400 bio majors.

The fam!

 As we were leaving campus I got a phone call from an unknown number. I didn't pick up, figuring they could just leave a message if it was important. A few minutes later I got a new email notification which I snuck a glance at enough to see that it was a contingent job offer from Boeing. Yes, this is the position that at the end of my last whiny, lost puppy post I said I would accept on the spot, and as soon as I let it sink in and believe that the offer was real, I clicked the 'Accept' button.

The rest of the weekend consisted of extended family and close family friends which the entire internet (all 4 of you who read this) don't need to hear details about :)

A little more about my opinion and experience on the job front--
I'm excited. Like, really excited. This position at Boeing is as good as it gets for someone in my shoes. No bio, all chem, and an analytical application totally different from what I've been doing and hating through college. More importantly, it's not a lab bitch position. Materials science for use in satellite development sounds awesome, and the fact that my work will be engineering based, and therefore geared toward perfecting a product rather than attempting a novel discovery, is really provoking. I like efficiency and productivity and this job won't just be following the same protocol. Critical thinking and creativity are a part of it in a different way than in research. The tools will all be there and the challenge will be figuring out how to use them to get the product we want (very o chem synthesis-like, tehe). Boeing is the best in their field, and having a chance to be a part of it and learn from it and soak it all in for a few years before re-evaluating and deciding where I want to go from there is exactly what I need.

Also, a permanent position means I get to buy a car, find a real apartment, invest in a couch, and be in LA for football season!! I am also looking forward to a regular 9-5 schedule because that means my evenings, nights, and weekends are MINE! No more being busy until 10 pm M-Th. That means more time for cooking, grocery shopping, working out, hopefully playing ultimate, reading, and real time for real hobbies since work gets left at work, and home life is separate.

I thought I was going to have a lot more to write about but instead, here are a bunch of pictures from the last few weeks:

Cousin, Gma, and I in SF.

Seniors-- Regionals in Scottsdale.

Criss-crossed In-n-Out trees in front of an In-n-Out!!

Results of table hockey. Love frolf.

Philippe's French Dip after the Advanced Biochem final,
my last final ever! Plus potato salad and French onion soup.

Seeds Cobb Sandwich, the last bit of my discresh.

Salmon, Yellowtail Belly, White Tuna sashimi, post-drug test.

Commencement Regalia!

Dim sum with the extended fam.

10 piece Trojan marching band at Mallory's bad ass grad party.

Eggs Benedict is divine in Irvine.

A rare, clear view of dt LA as seen from the USC Dental School.

Today I ventured up to Larchmont Village. The main purpose was to buy little gifts from Chocoholic (formerly Leonidas), a small Belgian chocolate shop. Tiny, but everything is divine. I custom-created small gift boxes and the woman there was really helpful in helping me decide what to get. She insisted on one ganache, one caramel, one praline, with an assorment of milk and dark coatings, with either a white or an additional milk. The standard box received a pure ganache in dark, caramel sea salt in dark, hazelnut cream in milk, and lime cream in white.

Ze little chocolate gift boxes!

I spent a small fortune there and moved onto the wine shop where the selection is great but the gourmet deli sandwiches are even better. I got a salami soppressata (salami-- real salami, dry, paper thin, with thick, rich spots of fat-- Spanish manchego, sun dried tomato spread, evoo, balsamic, and mixed greens on a French bagutte). Absolutely divine. Like, could die of happiness and satisfaction divine. Then I walked past Village Pizza, caught a whiff as they were opening for business, and couldn't resist. Their thin crust is New York style, sauce is slightly tart but oh-so-fresh, perfect amount of cheese, and fresh baked to order. Oh, and they have homemade sausage and meatball topping. Got 2 slices, ate one, and have another hidden in an undisclosed location for future consumption.

As Todd Lieman touted in my sports business class this semester, this was a day well lived. And many more to come.

Un-inspiration

I've been passively engaging in the job search process for the last few months now and I've recently made a development that I'm doing something terribly wrong. My resume squishes as many academic achievements into a sheet of paper as possible and I'd like to think my qualifications are on par, but the one gaping hole is any sort of passion or desire for the opportunities I've come across. Those who have known me lately will probably think that my work ethic toward academics was never really existent and to an extent that is true but not because I'm inherently a lazy person. To the contrary, I think I am not only able but also willing to put forth maximal effort. When it's something worth working fore. Therein lies my biggest problem which is that I don't have a fundamental interest in biochemistry. I declared the major with the intent of pursuing medical school and while I've gained a passable scientific knowledge base, my lack of fascination in the field makes any technical skill irrelevant.

I know myself well enough to know (as if these four years as a biochemistry major weren't evidence enough) that if I end up in a position where I don't think the effort required to be the best is effort worth expending, I won't give a shit. I'll do an adequate job but nothing more. Just like college.

I've been watching Charlie spend hours on end, every day, working to prepare his undergraduate honors thesis which he'll be presenting tomorrow afternoon. It's the compilation of all of the research he's done in a molecular marine bio lab for the past year or 2, including full time last summer. In a way I'm jealous because I don't care nearly as much about my research. It was an interesting exercise in organic synthetic lab techniques and experimental procedures, but nothing more. I only want to publish a paper on the principle of wanting to be productive and wanting to produce some evidence of my time trapped in an underfunded lab where no one has accountability. I don't actually care about nitrohydroxylation and the bullshit potential 'applications' that are supposed to make it somehow relevant.

So this leads me to think that I should just scrap what I've been doing simply because it seems like the logical next step. It's not. It can't be, because it would be a waste for me to not wake up every day excited to be productive. It would be a shame for me to settle for a field where I dread any excess effort, where I try to cleverly only do a passable job simply because I don't care enough to do more.

Now, then, is the issue of identifying the things I actually care about and using the education and background that I already have in a productive way to get me to the next step. Or not. I honestly wouldn't care if my hard science degree becomes totally irrelevant in my near future, given that I find something I actually care about. I just seem to think a degree sounds better than no degree but then again, I always said a bachelor's is really just to prove that you're willing to play the game long enough for them to give you that sheet of paper. Apparently that's worth more than actual skill in our society.

ANYWAY. Things I actually care about and love to spend time doing/learning about:
-Right to die, and other Kevorkian-inspired medical ethics issues
-Food tastyness, not that I have any skill in its actual preparation, only eating and critiquing. Haha. Useful.
-Gay rights.
-Puppies.
-Organizing things. Logistics. Anyone who's seen my spreadsheets know how anal I am about this, but I'm good at it.
-Sports med. Guess I kindof missed the boat on that one. Rather, I still love the idea of ortho and all but I'm just not sure I'm ready to deal with the whole med school thing.
-World travel. So many good things.

I figure even if some of these seem stupid, recent events have shown me that there are markets and opportunities for things I would never consider as traditional job options. Kids that go to school 2 days a week and go snowboarding or surfing or do other crazy extreme sports for the other 5 days per week I would previously doom to failure. But no. They end up landing jobs with companies like GoPro, making
snowboarding videos that THEY WOULD BE DOING ANYWAY. That's what they love spending their time on, and now they're going to be paid for doing exactly what they would do if real-life obligations didn't have to be a consideration. What could be better?

Yes, I'm jealous. I'm really jealous. I'm jealous that 1-- they had the balls to just say fuck school, do ok and get an easy fuck business degree, and instead spend time and effort on what they actually care about. Caring that much makes it so easy to be good at. 2-- they weren't sucked into thinking that education and prestige should be the sole focus. I just need to get over this strange ego thing and thinking that academic rigor actually matters. It doesn't. I'm over it. When comm kids in my sports business class are getting internships with Nike and jobs at the Pac-12 Network-- an industry where a shitty, sorry-ass team was just bought from a crook for $2.15 billion dollars because of a $4 BILLION MEDIA RIGHTS DEAL, I have no place to hate. They're doing something right. I'm the one staring in the face of multiple $15/hour lab bitch temp jobs that no one wants.

What I really miss is that feeling when I read a description of something and it sounds so perfect and so appealing that I'm giddy. I envision how it fits into my plan of my future and how relevant it is and where I'll go next. I had this feeling when I found this orthopedic surgery internship. I had it when I read about USC's RHP program. It seemed inevitable. I HAD to get these opportunities, and when you care that much and want it and anticipate it so clearly, things tend to work out. I'm desperate for something that gives me that feeling again. Otherwise I'm just going to become some soul-less lab bitch who just tries to make a shit ton of money doing something I don't give a damn about (patent law, anyone?)

Hm. So this ended up being much more of a messy rant than I had intended, but the point is that something has to change. I need to be inspired into action, and it's up to me to find something that I actively want to work for. Sorting out my thoughts is good. Maybe I'll post a follow-up later. I need to do something about this, it's getting ridiculous.

Even so, if Boeing makes me an offer I'll accept it on the spot.

Appendix: Want to vom?
http://www.bama.ua.edu/~chem/undergraduate/undergradprograms/chem-careers.html
http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_SUPERARTICLE&node_id=1188&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=37697451-6b88-487a-a825-8034e2d1bc9b

Yeah, nothing interesting here. Blegh.

$40 a Day

I've had an inordinate amount of free time this week and frankly, I've gotten sortof sick of the USC bubble. After catching up on sleep, deciding that none of my remaining schoolwork actually matters, getting re-excited for football season, more napping, and attending Relay (which I could do an entire post about but I'll refrain for your sake and mine), it was time to get away.

So I got up today and got on a bus (after getting a ride to SM from Charlie's awesome mom) to Malibu.

The initial leg only took about 30 minutes up the PCH, and I got off at this little plaza area called Malibu Country Mart. This 'country mart' contained the likes of True Religion, Juicy Couture, Lanvin, and a million other really ritzy food and shopping places, mostly bearing the names of exquisitely pretentious celebrity designers and chefs, none of whom I give a shit about. Everyone rolled up in a shiny, excessive Range Rover with their dogs who have been to classier, more expensive hairdressers than I will ever encounter in my life. This strange little world made me feel like the majority of Malibu residents were pulling a Marie Antoinette and playing poor in their 'country mart'.

I can only assume the superlow fountain
is for puppies. Cool since I love puppies,
but REALLY, MALIBU?!

Google maps told me that the country mart was about 1.8 miles from Pepperdine so I figured that since I got there with plenty of time to explore, I'd just walk. Turns out Pepperdine is on the top of a hill. Good thing I happened upon the Malibu Farmer's Market!! Eek, and I picked up a foodie magazine with a listing of all the other farmer's markets in the area so now I have a new adventure hit-list.

I love farmer's markets.

And of course, gluten-free, vegan, buckwheat waffles.
What the hell is in this shit?? WILL NOT PUT THIS IN
MY MOUTH. Could possibly build a hut with them though..

 Short food break, lots of tasty samples, and back on the road.
Apparently they didn't intend for pedestrians to make this trek.

One of today's many questionable walking path choices.

At last, Pepperdine! Remind me why I didn't apply here? :(
On the other hand, the phallic cross might repulse me after awhile.

The gorgeous view from beside the phallic cross.
Yesterday's rain made today a perfect day to be in Malibu.

The reason why I initially thought of visiting Malibu was because Pepperdine's arts initiative was hosting the Carducci String Quartet and I've really been missing music recently. They did not disappoint and in fact, were really refreshing to see/hear.

The quartet is comprised of 2 married couples. Kindof cool but
mainly awkward since they're basically on an eternal double date.

So, a quick review of the concert repertoire:
Haydn String Quartet in G minor, Opus 74, No.3
A beautiful piece, and in my opinion the ensemble's best performance. Each part was so well balanced and the timbre was ever-vibrant and energetic and playful, demonstrating the quartet's level of familiarity and comfort with each other. The layering and passing of the melodic phrases was seamless and seemingly effortless. Silky smooth. Like buttah. Mmm.

Moeran String Quartet in E-flat Major
I was not a fan of this piece. The composer is Irish and decently contemporary. He apparently really liked traditional folk themes but it just sounded kindof schizophrenic. For example, movement 2 is labeled, "Lento; Vivace; Allegretto; Andante; Allegro vivace." To me a more appropriate descriptor would have been, "Drunken Irish river song; Potato jig; Lassie comes home; Sleepy toasted; Oh look more whisky." Haha. The viola did sound great though.

Brahms String Quartet in A minor, Opus 51, No.2
More virtuosic than the Haydn piece but a little more fragmented and with less coherent themes and focus. Not sure if that was a compositional thing or an interpretation thing. The first violinist kindof annoyed me in this one because while he sounded majestic and operatic, the slightly seizing motion that some musicians think make them look more intense and involved is just irritating. Hey buddy-- convey those emotions through your violin, not by flexing your legs so much that your ass levitates out of your seat. It's distracting and unnecessary if you're a decent enough musician.

Music nerd done.

Pretty wildflowers on a big hill in front of campus. Poppies?

Then I wandered around, waited 30 minutes for a bus, got onto another bus, then another, and after 2 hours of LA Metro-ing, was seated with a bowl of steamy hot pho in front of me. That may be enough public transportation experience for awhile.

Simply Pho Me!

So for a day of nomadic fun including all transportation, a concert ticket, 2 meals, and 2 bobas (don't judge), and infitite intangible value in tricking myself into thinking it was last summer again, my total came out to just under $40. Suck it, Rachael Ray!

Puppies love fun!

What a surprise-- I'm late on updating.
Here's what's happened in the last 3 weeks:

Trouble in Vegas- Hellions won the whole tournament, beating UCSD Psychos in an epic finals match, especially considering we lost to them the last 2 times we played. It was a really really great weekend for us and a tournament we really needed to boost our confidence and to work out our offensive flow.

Yeah, we did well.

I throw discs.

Ghettohot love!

Extracurricular activities at Chateau Ghetto.
Each room was themed like a different animal. Ridic.

Also had some exams and some job interviews, none of which I choose to remember, mainly because apparently no employers love me and I'm over school anyway. Took my last exam before finals today. Advanced Biochem. Ugh.

The Friday before Spring Break was Ghetto Croquet day, a classy event for all involved.

Senior pic! So classy, my fav.

Action shot featuring Baby Luke.

Following that was the Quidditch Western Cup. Yes, my boyfriend plays quidditch. He's pretty baller. They pulled a huge upset against UCLA to win the tournament. Really though, as strange as some of the people are, quidditch can be pretty entertaining to watch.

He'll fuck you up.

Tiptoes.

Then, SPRING BREAK!!
Charlie and I drove out to the Grand Canyon, then came back to camp and frolick in Joshua Tree for a bit before sleeping the entire 2nd weekend of break. The canyon was stunning and incredible and enormous. Words nor pictures can do justice to that massive hole in the ground.

It's huge.

Squirrel!

Halfway down the South Kaibab trail, 6 miles round trip.

Burros!

The canyon averages 10 miles
from one rim to the other.

We tried the Bright Angel trail but it was frozen solid,
barely melted, and refrozen to ensure a superslick slip
toward an icy canyon burial.

The Colorado river carves through the canyon.

obligatory couple picture, somewhere along the rim trail.

Rock layers so pretty!

Mmm rock colors, sky colors.

Sunrise at the canyon.

Joshua Tree: a national park full of rocks to climb on :)

At the top of Ryan Mountain trail.

Charles is a Joshua tree.

I'm a baby Joshua tree. Note spiky hairs.

I love this picture.

This place is so cool.

Rocks to climb.

And then we saw these people tightrope walking across the tips
of this giant rock formation. They made us feel really lame.

And an amazing sunset.

...Then spring break was over and I wanted to die, and I felt like work and obligations were flung on my face like this:

And last weekend was Centex, an ultimate tournament in Austin, TX. 86 degrees was great compared to when I was there to visit Alex last summer, but then again I wasn't running around chasing plastic that time. We went into the tourney seeded 11th and came out tied for 3rd after playing pretty crappily and going 1-2 on Saturday, but getting our shit together and beating James Madison, beating UCSD Psychos in quarters, and losing to WashU in semis. So much Hellions love :)

So yes, I've been busy, and no, I still have no idea what I'm doing after I graduate in 1.5 months. Ideally getting a job around the LA area and sticking around for summer league and football season!

But first... the next few weeks:
-My brother coming to play a national-level, invite-only tennis tourney in Rancho Mirage.
-Ultimate prom.
-Sectionals in SB.
-My cousin getting married and me going to hang out with them in SF.
-Regionals in Scottsdale.
-Commencement wtf.

I want a puppy.

I miss my Oreo.

More happy hour, please!

Barley Tea Me

So it's been quite awhile since I posted. More than a month. This means I fail and I need to spend more time doing amazing things so I can write about them and make me feel better about my current lack of post-grad career prospects while making you all* feel jealous of my second-semester senior status.

Happens.

 Since my last post:
-SB Invite. Easily the worst weekend of ultimate I've ever played.
-Being sick for the last 2 weeks. Seriously, immune system? I don't have time for that shit. No secondary?
-Pres Day Invite at UCSD. Pretty awesome but really we should have and could have been even more awesome. Upsetting SDSU bitchy gnomes was definitely a highlight.

My jerseys! Plus white shorts=
We look so fly.

 And this week I've skipped class 3 times. Once to see the Lorax (super cute, by the way. I especially loved the amphibious singing fish trio), once because I was sleepy, and once to nap. Don't be deceived by the seeming similarity of the last 2 :)

What I did today:
9:30 go to class
11:00 go to lunch-- crappy chicken tikka masala from the uv foodcourt plus a million divinely fried plantains from the brazilian grill
12:00 nap
2:00 go to work
3:00 go to women's tennis match + free in-n-out. double double and chips and lemonade
4:15 back to work
5:30 boba truck run
5:45 back to work
7:30 practice. baller handler weave. look out for it.
and the rest of the night is fine to remain untold
but I will say Christa is one of the best people I've ever met
and I ate all the carbs in Ali's fridge.

Christa and pitbull cutie.

 On the docket for the near future:
-Interviewing ExploreUSC kids in 4 hours. Oh, and my nap earlier today resulted in me not only skipping class but also failing to pre-read the interviewee apps.
-TROUBLE IN VEGAS this weekend! USC ultimate will take over the entire tournament. City. I think this is literally the first time Hellions, Ghettobirds, and Kleos will all be at the same tournament. Epic.
-Rides and hanging with Kara in Vegas- also awesome, naturally.
-Spring break. Obviously will be amazing because of the whole senior year thing. But even MORE special because I'll be with Charlie at the Grand Canyon and Joshua Tree. After a weekend quidditch tourney first, of course. Super excited!
-Obviously these festivities will merit a whole new post in 2 weeks.

One of my recent favorite pictures of us.

 Lastly but arguably most important: SUPER THANK YOU TO MINDY, Megan's roommate, for supplying me with amazing barley tea that I'm currently sipping on and that I've missed since my fat days in Taiwan this summer. No but really, I got so fat. And barley tea is so tasty.

Pho and Half & Half run with Mindy&Co.
Cue gbaby jealously if she ever sees this.

*you all= Charlie and Kara are the only two who I'm confident will actually read the shit I write and post here :) Chris might too. Mainly, expressive writing is therapeutic-- My happiness class says so.
**Amendment (10 minutes later)... Charlie and Kara are both second-semester seniors too... Oh.
***SUPER SHOUTOUT TO ALEXANDRA KATHRYN GAIGELAS WHO I ACTUALLY KNOW DOES ALWAYS READS MY POSTS, IT WAS JUST TOO DIFFICULT TO REMEMBER BY THE TIME I GOT TO WRITING THE INITIAL FOOTNOTE. Best friend since I started hating my 2 other friends in 6th grade! Love you!

Aaaaaaaaand it's now been 20 minutes since I started this post and an entire Adele album since I opened my computer. Peace.