Forgot I made this

Wow this is pretty weird. I totally forgot I made a blog so it's funny to read what I've written... kind of makes me cringe.

So I guess at this point in my life, I have received my degree now. And I decided last year, Summer of 2010 that I wanted to work in real estate. So I started real estate college to get my licence in July 2010 and yesterday I wrote my last exam. Given that I passed it then I get my licence! I'm sponsored by Coldwell Banker Terrequity Realty and I will be working for The Gavin Chen Team to sell condos downtown Toronto. I feel pretty good about this, feel like it is more interesting than something I would do otherwise, like work in an office somewhere... yawn.

If someone asked me ten years ago where I thought I'd be in ten years, I guess this is somewhat accurate. Figured I'd have a degree, thought I wanted to be a Chartered Accountant until my older sister became one and didn't think I'd want to do that the rest of my life. Figured I'd be in a long-term relationship but I'm not and I'm fine with that because I'm not going to date someone just to date someone. I just know I don't want to marry anybody unless I'm with them for 4 or 5+ years already. Relationships are tricky, you never know what could happen. I kind of just settled for someone 2 years ago and regret it, because I didn't really like them at first but they tried so hard to pursue me that I eventually gave in and told myself I could break up with them if I really couldn't handle it. So I broke up with them 3 weeks into the relationship because I wasn't into it, but they kept trying. So I gave another chance and ended up loving them. In the end, I was the one who got hurt. But now that I'm out of that, I'm SO happy. I can see how wrong they were for me and how incompatible we were. I don't really think highly of them either, not because I'm bitter or anything but because I just think he's a loser.

Also thought I'd be living on my own but I'm still living with my parents until I'm stable enough (financially) to support myself and pay downtown Toronto rent. I like living with my parents to be honest, they're really good cooks and my dad is retired so I have been really close with him lately. I also have my own car at the age of 21. In two weeks I will be 22.

So I'm pretty happy with the way that I am turning out and the way my life is turning out. Since I have graduated, I have a sense of who I will still be in touch with. I'm obsessed with food, love to cook and still play the piano on occasion (I took lessons for 13 years). I'm still as selfless as I always have been, I have always put other people first before me. I have good friends, a couple best friends too. Still young and partying.

In ten years from now... at the age of 32, I hope to be married or at least be in a relationship. Not sure if I will have kids then. Hope to have established a really successful career in real estate, still be obsessed with cooking and can still play the piano. Hope to have the same friends plus some more new friends. Hope to own my own house (not be renting still). Drive a luxury car (right now I really like the Lexus IS250). I will probably forget about this blog again... but let's see when I stumble upon it next and where I will be in my life then...

School & future

Ambition is key - I always want something to strive for. While studying for exams, I realize that I'm going to be receiving my undergrad degree in about a year and a half. What is symbolic of a university degree? Is it a piece of paper to show that I crammed information into my head for four years and wrote exams to test my knowledge on the subject? Hopefully that's not what I think about when I finally see my official-looking degree face-to-face, embellished with the elegant University of Western Ontario logo and my name written in bolded capital letters somewhere near the centre of the paper. Hopefully I do think about the intrinsic value that important piece of paper carries: my ability to learn, my ability to understand my own needs in how I learn, becoming more independent by living away from home, the amazing people I shared memories with, the typical obstacles and life lessons a university student faces and most importantly, the accomplishment I have made in life by receiving that degree. But don't get me wrong - the knowledge I have gained on topics such as economics, accounting and actuarial science is readily applicable to the real world. In a recession, I understand the underlying causes and the way the economy works; I know the government's role in business and in fiscal policy; I've studied the success factors of a business under the highly-acclaimed case method (focusing on operations, organizational behaviour, marketing, budgeting, etc); I've learned different political and economic views such as neo-Keynesian, neo-liberal, monetarism; and I've scratched the surface of the debt and equity markets. I can use this in everyday life - whether I'm reading the newspaper or shopping at a store - which makes my degree that much more valuable to me.

That leaves me to wonder... is that the only time I will get to experience that feeling? Or will I be receiving more degrees, that are perhaps symbolic of other things? All I know is that I am feeling ambitious and that the future is unpredictable. I'm going to go somewhere in life.

Turkey weekend

Not much new in this sort of interesting life I live, yet I love.

The venture back home to my parents house for Thanksgiving weekend took close to 6 hours, when it is normally a 2 hour drive (I got a ride to Burlington, waited over an hour, took a 2-hour GO train ride home). I arrived home at about 6:45pm, ate soup for literally 2 minutes and then took off momentarily to get to Peterborough for a dinner I have with my high school friends every year. This is the 7th year of this tradition and this was the first year we didn't have a potluck. It's also the first time we're not teenagers... we're just a bunch of people in our 20's now, ahhhh. We went to Swiss Chalet this time, which was much easier for the parents/hosts (no cleanup, no turkey to cook). I felt high on life all weekend - being reunited with people you care about is such an unreal feeling. We went to Champ's that night, which is pretty much a small-town sports pub - always a good time. I have this one ginger friend who is known to be wild, always overdrinks and always gets kicked out of bars, haha. She got asked to leave, obviously.

Sunday we celebrated Thanksgiving with the family and we had roast beef, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, garlic bread, garden salad, a mango salad and a Boston creme cake with strawberries, kiwi and peaches for my dad's birthday. I bought him a $60 gift card to Tim Hortons because he literally goes there EVERYDAY. It was also my roommate's birthday yesterday and we got her a gift certificate to Aritzia and lots of candy (which she ate all in one night).

Ok that might've been the most boring post I've made yet. Now I'm back in London, getting ready for my one week of hell this semester. On Monday, I have a debate in Poli Sci (the first one of the year for the entire class, presented to 100 people), Tuesday I have a finance assignment due, Thursday I have a philosophy exam and an accounting assignment, and Saturday I have a finance exam. After that, I hardly have anything. Whoooo! Time to hit the books.