If you were expecting to see an album of photos here, you will be extremely disappointed.
Perhaps we shall call this my "page of conceit"? Well, basically, this page is just a place to remember
the random good (and maybe not-so-good, but mostly good) past lil' "snapshots" of my life, as well as dream about possible random future "snapshots" and pass on
a few random facts you may not have known.
Spitting out a mouthful of chocolate milk all over Monica's white sweatshirt in the cafeteria in 9th grade is probably something I'll always be remembered for... but seriously, it was an accident! =D
For as long as I can remember, I've been an insomniac. Even when I'm exhausted, I have a hard time falling into dreamland. I wake up constantly in the middle of the night, and extra early in the morning, and can never get back to sleep.
(I also have the weirdest, extremely complex dreams which sometimes seem so real, I confuse them with my reality -- but that's another story!)
It's funny, but I recently read in the SFU Health Career Counselling Center (HCCC) newsletter that insomniacs may simply not want to sleep because they're generally high energy overachievers who can't bear to "waste time" sleeping.
And know what? That's definitely me! Or at least that was me when I was younger. Now, I just can't sleep because of the usual university stress and anxiety.
When I was in kindergarten, I wanted to be a chef. When I was in 1st grade, I wanted to be a firefighter (didn't everyone go through this stage??). About grade 2 to grade 4, I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. Until grade 7, I wanted
to be a journalist and author -- basically, a writer. After that, I still wanted to write, but realized I sort of sucked at it, so I started dreaming of becoming a psychologist,psychiatrist, and surgeon...
K-Ci & Jojo, All My Life. The last song they played at our prom.
The most satisfying piano performance I ever gave was at my grade 10 exam when I was 16. As I was preparing for the exam, I was apprehensive about a certain Scriabin prelude, full of octave chords
that were extremely painful on my hands and exhausted me fairly quickly. I also had a great tendancy to miss the chords altogether... Consequently, I left it until the end of my repertoire
-- sort of like saving the worst for last, I guess. When I got to the exam, I panicked because, after all, you who know piano know that this was a fairly important exam; they had me
in a room with an upright piano... and I was expecting a grand... =P But my examiner was sooooooooo extremely nice -- the nicest one I ever ever ever had. She suggested we move to this... um...
concert-hall-sorta room at the back of the Tom Lee's studio. On a raised stage, there was a.... Steinway grand. And if you know pianos, Steinways are almost like the Rolls Royce of pianos! I can't say
my exam went perfectly (because it didn't), but when I got to the Scriabin, I hit every single one of those chords as I'd hoped and that Steinway gave me power I never felt even once while I was preparing
the piece beforehand -- it was absolutely invigorating! Even the examiner commented at the end that she was surprised that someone of my small stature could get that much sound out of a piano like that.
And let me say that was one of the best marks for a piece I've ever received on an exam. =) That lady also said I was an impressive sight-reader and that I should look into accompanying people (singers, violinists, etc.). Now that was definitely
quite flattering. ;)
My most defining violin moment was probably in 12th grade when our string orchestra performed at a school function that welcomed parents of the following year's 8th grade kids to our high school. As concert master (or mistress... or whatever!), I
got to wait outside while everyone else settled down onstage. Then I had my grand entrance when I walked across the stage, stopped in front of my chair, and played the solo "A" for everyone to check the tuning of their
instrument. Doesn't sound like much? Maybe not to you, but it was invigorating to me. Made me feel important. But seriously, being named concert master/1st-chair violin in grade 11 and 12 was one of the biggest honours I've had
in my life, as well as being named top music student (especially alongside someone as talented as Joyce!) -- and that may just be my last. =D So that was definitely a major defining moment.
My personal defining academic moments were probably scoring 100% on the biology provincial government exam in 11th grade, then subsequently scoring a 5 on my biology AP exam the following year without
having studied -- and, again, that was probably my last defining academic moment. =D
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