A New Beginning

Today is officially my last day at UCLA. I've decided to start a blog because I wanted to begin chronicling my life and my personal growth as I leave my old life and step into the exciting unknown.

I scanned over my older blogs and realized how much I've grown and changed throughout the years.

In high school, I wrote in a livejournal to archive the wonderful experiences I was going through while high on life. Reading through those entries, I followed the wild ride of my emotionally-shallow seventeen year-old self, oblivious to life's troubles.

The only emotions I seem to have had when I was younger were: happy, excited, and ecstatic, with a little bit of doubt sprinkled in at times.

It's almost refreshing to discover that there was a time where I was an extremely open person, expressing my feelings on just about everything for all of the world to see. Of course, these entries are little embarrassing because the lack of depth, but they helped me remember a time of worry-free innocence. where enjoying life and getting into a college where I could further enjoy my life was all that mattered.

College changed me.

One of the key differences between my post-college self and pre-college self is my inability to open myself up for the world to see me for who I am. The further along my life my entries were posted, the less I shared. Other than a couple gems like my Alfie post, my sidekick post, and 20 random facts, the only thing I shared in my xanga were interesting videos.

Eventually I stopped sharing altogether.

Omegas and UCLA helped define and hone many aspects of my personality, including the importance of representing an image of something bigger than myself as well as the ability to keep secrets (a very great feat for someone such as myself). The point of starting this blog is to stray away from the image-oriented, private person, and begin sharing myself again, both with the public and with my future-self.

The other key differences between post and pre-college Will:

• Involved and Active: As a high-school student, Being involved in clubs or organization and committing to sports team never was something I was good at. This changed as I realized there is so much reward in dedication and taking on responsibility in something you care dearly about. As I grew as a person and as an Omega, being involved and taking on leadership roles became very natural to me. I now go out and pursue leadership roles such as my current role as Director of Information Systems for APEX.
• Passionate: In highschool, I never had any real interests. As I progressed through college, my passions in life really blossomed.
  
• Technology: My father chose my computer science major for me because I had no idea what I wanted to do and knew if I had no direction, I would have wasted my time aimlessly and picked a convenient and easy major (He knows me very well). I had no real interest or knowledge in computers and technology prior. This major gave me understanding of technology and opened my eyes to the excitement it's future and potential.
  
• Design: I discovered computer graphics classes offered by the Computer Science Department and was immediately hooked. I loved the fact that I could apply my technical background with something so visual and accessible to the public. I began interning at DreamWorks Animation, Duck Studios, and finally working as an animator for the UCLA medical school. At the same time. I created my own technical minor, taking Film and Television classes and Design and Media Arts classes. And took the time to develop my artistic skills as well as learn 2D and 3D animation software.
  
• Media and Entertainment Business/Consulting: While happy about the fact that I could apply both my technical and artistic skills in animation, I soon realized that there was still a ceiling. This is when I decided to look even broader and realized I can incorporate my soft skills as well. This is how I found IT Consulting in the Media and Entertainment and striving for an MBA in this industry as well.
  
• And of course, Asian Americans in Media and Entertainment
• Goal-Oriented: In high school, I lived day by day, hoping for the best and expecting the worst so I was never disappointed. I now realize the importance of knowing what you want and taking the steps to get there.

Now join me as I take the steps to further continue my personal growth and share myself with the world.