A One-Way Plane Ticket

Just the other day I met an online friend named Kevin from Belgium whom I influenced to start a travel blog. He bought a one-way plane ticket to Australia that will depart next month. He will soon be embarking on the adventure of his lifetime and will be recording his experiences on his blog titled "The Travels of Kevin".


Follow/share his blog: http://thekevintravels.blogspot.be/

One day he plans to turn his blog into something bigger...perhaps even a publishable book.

And somewhere in this boy, there grows a vast universe..

It has been 14 days (2 weeks!) since I last posted, and I want to apologize. I have been intending to write, but I was not sure where to begin.

I feel like a lifetime's worth of events have transpired since then. I consider myself a very different person now. You might laugh, but I'm serious. I wish I could fully express my feelings about it. But I can't.

Can one's opinions and outlook on life really change so much in 14 days? I don't know, but it sure feels like it can. Maybe it's just my unstable teenageness speaking, but who knows.

Here are a few highlights of the last 14 days in my life:

- I had 2 college interviews ( 1 which was o.k. and 1 which was the most awesome interview ever) and subsequently decided on new top choices. I am thinking about majoring in something different than I originally was planning to.. or perhaps double majoring or minoring. I realized that I'm not only interested in the sciences but also very much so in the humanities as well. We'll see how everything pans out I suppose.

- I started working on my next blog post, which has been taking me forever because I've been getting distracted.. It will be up soon. I promise.

- Pre-Finals week and finals week.. That meant hours and hours and hours of tutoring all around town. I helped 10 people. I enjoy tutoring though and driving to different places, so I didn't mind. I especially like driving at night.

My town's absolutely beautiful, so I don't mind exploring it more.

- My parents thought I was lost and almost called the police last Monday (Martin Luther King Junior Day). I accidentally forgot to tell them I was tutoring and left the house at 3 PM and came home at around 10 PM. It was because when I was out tutoring, I kept on getting more text messages asking me to come tutor others, so I didn't really realize how late it was. I also often get really invested and lose track of time. Anyways, my parents tried contacting me, but I didn't get any service in someone's house.. so long story short, I got into deep trouble when I got home.

Yeah... that was bad.

My parents thought I got kidnapped or something. This was the 3rd major time in my life that they thought I was lost.. Yeah, it's a long story, but I often get lost in my own world and forget about where I am and what I'm doing in reality. They tried calling my friends, but no one knew where or what I was doing. My dad drove all around town, even checking out Barnes and Nobles to see if I was there. Lol. My mom was just about ready to gather my passport picture to give to the police. Yeah. It was interesting to see what conclusions they jumped to. My dad and Anna both thought that I was interviewing some sketchy person for my blog and was blindfolded and stuffed into their truck or something. Anna also thought that I met someone online and told them my address and got 'napped. But, yeah. Everything ended well! I got home safe and sound.. no harm done. Hopefully I didn't the stress the event induced did not take too many years off of my parents' or friends' lives.. :/

- My best friend met the love of her life, Lorde at the airport. She made it in the paparazzi pics and was retweeted by her. Lorde has only tweeted 4 of her fans in history.. and she even mentioned Anna's name in her tweet! Anna got pretty famous within the Lorde fan community. As I am typing, Anna is off at the Grammy's right now, trying to get into the red carpet area. Wish her luck.

She was able to have a convo with Lorde and her sister and got a CD signed!

She mentioned Anna's name!

- I started using Twitter again after almost a 3-year break. I was inspired by Anna I guess. I made my page Ezra Koenig themed. https://twitter.com/michelle_a_tran 

EZRA.

- I got a full tuition scholarship to U of Pittsburgh. #2for2 I'm applying to their GAP (guaranteed acceptance into their medical school) as well as their Chancellor's scholarship. I'll hear news back about those in future months I suppose.

- Met a couple of cool people from the UK

- Decided to participate in the school musical (...in the pit orchestra). LOL. When I came home last week and told my mom I was performing in a musical, my mom's face... Ah. Priceless. I wish I could have taken a picture of her wide-eyed gape. LOL. I let her imagination run wild for a few minutes before I further explained that I was to be performing in the pit orchestra. And not acting. Or singing. In any way, shape, or form. :)

- Am continuing on with my research that I started at the City of Hope Medical Center that I started last summer. I'm making decent progress I suppose.

- Discovered a site, http://blahtherapy.com/, which is amazing. I've helped people with a very, very wide variety of problems ranging from issues with sexuality, social anxiety, relationship issues, and self-esteem problems. I've spent hours talking to many, many people, and I am so happy I found the site.

- I am still on Chapter 1 of my novel. Not too much progress there I suppose.

My school under construction.

- Half of my school shut down and half was re-opened. New meeting places had to be formed and everything seems out of whack still. Our school's Ecology Land was re-opened and is extremely dry because the water system was messed up during construction. Err, Ecology club tried to water it manually, but that turned out to be a large fail. We're trying to speak with the maintenance office about fixing the sprinkler system.

- I started volunteering as a music mentor for elementary school musicians with a handful of other high schoolers. The kiddies are so cute!

- I unfortunately got a parking ticket because I parked in a bad space one morning when I was running late to zero period class. Paid off after 2 tutoring sessions. I guess this was a life lesson of sorts.

- Yesterday I started biking again with my friend Anna and tried to pick up off where we left last summer. We biked around 17 miles for lunch and back. It was very nice exercise. I came to the much needed realization that I am out of shape.

Wonderful summer weather in the dead of winter. I love SoCal.

- I finished with all of my 1st semester finals and am officially a second semester senior.

- Signed up for a 45-hour empathetic listening class taught by mental health professionals so that I may volunteer on the youth community helpline in months to come.

- (Addendum: 01/27 6:50 PM) I was selected out of a competitive pool of applicants after Northwestern's Medical School's application review for an in-person interview for Northwestern's Honors Program in Medical Education (HPME)! That means guaranteed acceptance into both Northwestern's undergraduate school and medical school for a 7-year BS/MD program. I'll be flying out to Chicago in a couple of weeks. Wish me luck!!! I highly, highly doubt I'll make the next round because it's really hard to get in, but please send good luck vibes my way anyway. :)

Chicago, IL

Anyways hm. There are other events that I wish to include, but I feel like they would seem very insignificant to readers. The point of this post is that I feel like I have been living life very fully recently. Each day is packed with a wide variety of activities and I come home tired late every day. I love being busy. 

It's difficult to explain, but these recent events have changed me that I cannot articulate clearly. It's nice being 17. I feel like my mind and thoughts are changing every day with each new life experience.

I feel like this boy. I feel like there is a vast universe within me that is continually expanding with the passing of each and every day. It's exciting.

Will post again soon,

Michelle

"Proof that Humans are Capable of Working Magic"

This is a beautiful idea.
I quoted Sagan several times in my college essays.
Speaking of books, by the by, last night (12 AM) I came up with one of my best book ideas yet. I don't know how it came to me, but after a succession of thoughts and conversations with people yesterday, the story just told itself as I put pen to paper. I scribbled out all my ideas on a spread of 10-20 notebook pages. Today will be Day 1 of weaving the ideas together and producing my story. This is as far in the novel writing process I have gotten to in a long time. My new goal for 2014 is to finish this book before the ideas fly out of my head. Yay for second semester senior year. I'm going to use this time to pursue several projects that I have put on the back burner because of school work.

The Challenge: Question 2

This post was especially fun to work on. Everyone I asked was eager to share some old memories with me. I was pleased to see people so excited to talk about their five-year-old selves. My mailman, in particular, even thanked me at the end of our interview for what he called a "fun and refreshing experience".

Question 2:

What did you want to be when you were five years old?

Name: Janet W.
Description: Friend and high school senior

"A dolphin trainer. But when I started kindergarten, I learned that all my classmates wanted to train dolphins too. I wanted to be different from them, so I decided to switch my answer to doctor. "

Name: Larry

Description: My mailman

"I always wanted to be an army man. And that's who I got to be! *gesturing to his hat that read "US Marine Corps. The Few, The Proud"* I joined to the military as soon as I got of age. I was born a people person. I enjoy helping others and do it out of the kindness of my heart. Just a few minutes ago I took a break from my route to help the lady across the street hold up her garage door. And now I'm talking to you! I think the world would be a much better place if people started doing things to help others and not just to earn a profit."

Name: Stefan P.
Description: Friend and high school senior

"I used to want to be a physicist. Although I do love whiteboards, I later realized that I would prefer building the things pictured on whiteboards rather than just thinking about them. That is why I now want to become an electrical engineer."

Name: Tim

Description: One of my high school's campus security guards. He was standing alone along the border of the newly opened parking lot adjacent to the math/science building during lunch. I saw an unopened brown lunch sack by his feet and realized that he was probably waiting for our lunch period to be over to let his guard down and eat. It was nice to know that he takes his job seriously.

"Spiderman... I was five years old and that was all that I wanted."

Name: Erick C.

Description: Orchestra stand partner and son of the owner of China Grill, W's, and Chongs.

"When I was five I wanted to become a restaurant owner. However I changed my mind in 3rd grade when I started playing the cello. From then on, I have wanted to become a professional cellist."

Here's an awesome clip of Erick playing cello at an international competition. Go like the video!

Name: Mr. Zeoli

Description: My AP English Literature teacher

"A scientist. That was what my dad was. I wanted to become an engineer or a physicist."

Name: Natasha V.

Description: Friend and extreme outdoor explorer/camper

"A cowgirl. I wanted to ride across the plains on my horse. Now I want to become an elementary school teacher."

Name: Ricardo

Description: The crossing guard on the Peck side of Pennekamp Elementary

"A cowboy."

Name: Carson B.

Description: Physics & comp sci classmate.

"I think... an astronaut? Because I wanted to find a new planet. However now I realize I could have just very well have been an astronomer to achieve that. I currently want to become an engineer."

Name: Helena D.

Description: Friend and high school senior

"I wanted to be a National Geographic photographer and live in the woods. Now I want to become a writer."

Name: Mr. Geczi

Description: My economics teacher and owner of a double-digit number of nice cars.

"A bus driver. I was really into big vehicles. You know how little boys are. I remember having a green and white bus. I used to pretend that I was the bus driver of a life sized version of it."

Name: Emily L.

Description: English classmate

" I wanted to be a cashier so I could be around money all of the time. I loved my little red toy cash register that I had when I was five. Now I would like to be the editor-in-chief of a magazine like Cosmopolitan"

Carina drew this creative representation of herself.

Name: Carina C.

Description: Friend and talented artist

"I wanted to be an artist, and I still want to be one today. More specifically, I plan to study product design in college.

Name: Mr. Park

Description: My orchestra teacher-director

"A firefighter. I had a big fire truck toy that I loved playing with-- well, in retrospect it was probably not as big as I thought it to be then. I did not know that I wanted to pursue a career in music until I reached graduate school."

My mother with my younger sister.

Name: Margaret C.

Description: My mother and current space physicist

"I wanted to be a mailman because getting the mail always made me happy. I thought that if I was a mailman, I could bring happiness to people all of the time. I was not aware of bills back then."

Name: Anna D.

Description: Friend

" I wanted to be a rainbow. And now I want to be a computer engineer."

Name: Taylin K.

Description: Friend

"A veterinarian. At least until I realized that there was a lot more to the job than just petting and feeding the dogs. Now I think I would rather be a dog sitter lol."

Name: Susan M.

Description: Friend

"I believe I wanted to be a teacher. And I still want to be a teacher today. Perhaps a math teacher."

Name: Milo D.

Description: Classmate and filmmaker

"An inventor and scientist. Then there was a phase when I wanted to be a movie director. Now I want to become a computer programmer."

Name: Juan M.

Description: Physics classmate

Juan: "I wanted to be a chemist. This changed when I later found out I was allergic to cats."

Me: "Sorry, what? I think I missed the connection there."

Juan: "My mom told me that my allergy was genetic, and ever since then I've been obsessed with wanting to fix it. That was what made me want to become a geneticist."

Name: Annie M. and Marissa D.

Description: Both are my friends.

Annie & Marissa ( in perfect unison) : " A PRINCESS!"

Annie: "The idea of wearing pink everyday excited me."

Marissa: "Oh, I just wanted everyone to do what I said."

This is how I personally view a career
in math. 

Name: Matt W.

Description: Physics classmate & math whiz

"A mathematician."

Name: Kimi M.

Description: Friend

" I wanted to be a pop singer. Now I want to go into graphic design because I like making art."

Name: Leah L.

Description: Friend

" I wanted to be a cop. I thought they were cool. And now? .. Hm I have no idea what I want to do."

Name: Christine N.

Description: Friend and tennis teammate

" I've always wanted to be a pediatrician. And I still do to this day. Although when I was younger my mom said that I called my dream job a 'baby doctor'."

Name: Sarah M.

Description: Friend and musician

"A ballerina-pianist. Now I want to become a professor in computer science."

Name: Nikos S. 

Description: Physics and comp sci classmate

"I wanted to be a fighter pilot because I thought it would be fun. I changed my mind later because I realized that I didn't want to kill people. Instead, I want to help people by becoming an aerospace engineer."

Name: Kellie J.

Description: Friend

" A dancer. I'm currently undecided as to what I want to pursue in the future."

And finally!

Name: Michelle T.

Description: Me, myself, and I.

The modest harvests of first-grade me.

" I wanted to own a fruit and vegetable farm and write children's books. 

All throughout elementary school, I tried growing a wide variety of fruits and veggies in our small patio outside of our house including pumpkins, potatoes, zucchinis, parsley, wheat grass, egg plant and oranges. On multiple occasions I tried transplanting wild strawberry plants I found in my neighborhood in my garden. 

From ages 5-7 I worked on writing/illustrating a children's book series that I titled "The Adventures of Kite Man". There were several parts to this series -- there were stories of the original kite man, his kite children, his kite grandchildren, and his kite great-grandchildren. (If I find my old manuscripts later, I'll post them here for your entertainment haha.) 

Now I want to become a physician, biomedical researcher, and professor (but would still love to own a large garden and write a book if I could). "

The Challenge: Question 1

I had quite a successful day today. I interviewed 25 people and learned several unexpected, interesting facts about each of them. This challenge turned out to be even more awesome than I expected.

Question 1:

What is something about you that people would never expect just from looking at you?

Name: Ashley Q.

Description: Friend

"That I have an obsession with mustaches. I don't necessarily like them on people and probably wouldn't date someone with a mustache... It's more the idea of them that I like."

Name: Alana Y.

Description: Friend

"That I like Screamo music!"

Name: Janice

Description: A friendly, elderly employee at Barnes and Noble 

Janice: "I have recently developed an interest in dinosaurs." 

Me: "Interesting. How did you develop this interest? From reading books?"

Janice: "Actually, from watching Netflix documentaries."

Name: Paula C.

Description: Friend

"So many things... That I'm not perfect. Because so many other people think that my life is perfect and say that they wish they had my life, but they really don't know everything about me."

Name: Matt

Description: Bored worker at the mall cart selling techy gadgets.

Matt: "That is a difficult question. Shit, I don't know. I like listening to heavy metal, reading anime, and playing video games in my free time. But people could probably guess that from my appearance. I look like a huge nerd."

*long pause*

Matt: "Oh I thought of something. Though my demeanor comes off  as friendly and approachable to others, inside I hate interacting with others."

Me: "Well, isn't that kind of your job? To make conversations with passerby to make them buy your products?"

Matt: "Yeah, it sucks. I got stuck in retail and have to talk to people. I don't like it, but, I mean, what can I really do about it?"

Name: Annie M.

Description: Friend

"On the outside I may seem like I am happy and have it together, but in the inside that's truly not the case all of the time."

Name: Joanna

Description: A McDonald's employee, probably in her late twenties. 

"People would probably not guess that I like playing softball. I was good in high school."

Name: Destin

Description: Young, cute Apple store worker.

"That I have a twin."

Anna's iPhone case collage.

Name: Anna D.

Description: Friend

"That I am obsessed with Lorde and Adele."

Name: Naba A.

Description: Friend

"I don't think people would ever guess this from my appearance, but I love English-- reading, writing, and everything of that sort. I plan to major in English in college and potentially pursue a career in the field."

Name: Courtney

Description: Male employee in charge of the front Nook section in Barnes and Noble

"I was once a cheerleader at one time in high school. Pretty funny coincidence actually."

(I wanted to ask him why it was a coincidence, but I did not want to take up any more of his time. I just assumed that it was because of his name.) 

Name: Abby Z.

Description: Friend

" I once hiked all the way down the Grand Canyon and back up."

Name: Joanne Q.

Description: Comp sci friend!

" I have a blog." www.cappybara.tumblr.com

Name: Michelle L.

Description: Freshman friend

Michelle: " I don't know. That I'm Chinese and like K-pop (Korean pop music)? I'm not sure if that is all that unique though because all Asians seem to like it."

Me: "I like it. I'm writing it down anyways." 

Name: Justin Z.

Description: Paula's boyfriend

"I like anime."

Name: Shawn W.

Description: Friend and pro badminton player

"Once, when I was playing ping pong, I hit myself in the face with the paddle I was holding. There was blood everywhere, and I ended up leaving a scar by my eyebrow."

Name: Christina C.

Description: Freshman orchestra classmate!

"That I like dancing."

Name: Briana Z.

Description: Freshman violinist in my orchestra

"I have been an equestrian for ten years."

Name: Unknown

Description: Foreign custodian man wearing a florescent vest who was emptying the trash can outside of Macy's. He was genuinely confused, and I was sorry that I bothered him.

Unknown: "I don't know."

Me: "Any interesting hobbies or activities?"

*blank stare*

Unknown: I don't know. I don't know.

Me: " Oh, okay. That's fine."

Unknown (shaking his head): "Yeah, I don't know I don't know."

Me: "Okay thank you. Have a nice day!"

Name: Margaret C.

Description: My mother

"That I'm a scientist. When I tell people who don't know me, they are often surprised at this."

(I don't want to get too braggy on this post, but she in fact is a great scientist. She was awarded Woman of the Year at the Aerospace Corporation a few months ago. So proud of her.)

Name: Tamara T.

Description: My 12-year-old sister.

" That I love the world of art. Stop asking me questions and do your homework."

Name: Koh S.

Description: Classmate in orchestra & physics.

"I like 80's music. My parents gave me all of their old stuff-- I have their 80's music and a car from the 90's-- and I enjoy listening to the music they gave me."

Name: Ren C.

Description: Grandmother.

"People never guess that I have a hearing loss."

(This is indeed a true fact. My grandmother looks very young and healthy for her age, and people are often insulted when she doesn't immediately respond to them. They have no idea that she is 80 years and could not hear what they were saying properly.)

Name: Marissa D.

Description: Friend

"That I can be very strange."

Name: Abby H.

Description: Friend 

"That I can run fast and am very competitive. I would guess that people wouldn't think that by looking at me since my outward demeanor is typically much more quiet and reserved."

("Fast" is just an understatement. The truth is that Abby's a supermujer)

Name: Leah L.

Description: Friend

"That I am very empathetic towards other people."

I enjoy making funny faces.

Last but not least,

Name: Michelle T.

Description: ME!

" I think that most people's first impressions of me are often that I am serious. I give off a sort of cold, reserved vibe even without realizing it. People who don't know me well or don't read my blog usually do not realize that I have a great appreciation for humor." ;)

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post. It took me almost 3 hours to write this, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Can't wait until the next challenge. I may have to postpone tomorrow's, however, because I have a college interview.

ALL READERS OUT THERE. PLEASE POST COMMENTS WITH YOUR ANSWERS!!! (Anonymous commenting is enabled.)