Impulsive Decisions

Impulsive Decisions Happy Holidays everyone! I cant believe another semesters done and over with pushing me officially past the halfway point at MIT. (AHHH). Im now sitting at home, trying to relax but not quite, because there is a LOT of work to be done. But how could this be! Its Christmas! Well, lets back up a little bit… For one reason or other that I cannot fully explicate, this semester has been a blur, passing by faster than I could process. While one always needs a certain level of conscious judgment to go to classes, carry on coursework, etc., I feel like this semester, Ive been putting school on cruise control. This functionality might come from having been at MIT for a while already from becoming an upperclassman and developing a programmed rhythm for handling a semester, all the way from pre-registering classes to finals… A parallel (or antithesis?) to this apparent cruise control on the school side is a burgeoning urge to just LET. LOOSE. and jump on everything not class related. Im not sure if this makes sense, but basically this has been an impulsive semester. Early in the school year, I kept getting emails about spending IAP  all-expenses paid in Korea, teaching kids science/English. I never gave it a second thought, because its just not something I imagined doing during IAP. But one night in September, I was checking my emails, writing down my French Word of the Day and then  Korean Word of the Day, and then a lightbulb literally went off in my head. I could be learning Korean from these emailsor I could be learning Korean in Korea !? I mean, why CANT I be on the other side of the world during IAP? Why MUST I do something completely career-related (the career part of which Im not totally sure about yet anyway)? So I just grabbed a notebook, jumped on my bed, wrote down ideas, and sent in an application. So here I am on Christmas Day, putting together several weeks of teaching materials for this Jeju Global Initiative, which is a very new project aiming to connect MIT students with talented young students in Korea who already have some experience in English. The bigger goal here then is to inspire an interest in science, technology, debate, and thinking-out-of-the-box in general. Twenty-two students, myself included, will be heading to Jeju Island, Korea and teaching courses on site at Jeju National University. Over the month of January, I will be teaching a three-week class on the impact of design and a one-week class on the power of modern media. Were also doing night-time lectures on random, fun topics. Some of my topics are: typography, American slang, hip-hop, and rapid prototyping. And Jeju Island itself isnt too shabby :P But well be going in Januaryso maybe itll be more like this. Anyways, side story This semester, I also got my ears pierced for the first time. You know, if youre a girl and you didnt get your ears pierced by your parents when you were a baby, or before 7 years old, or during that preteen phase when everyone did it its going to take some convincing. Or maybe I just think too much. Anyway, Ive been considering getting my ears pierced for several years now, but  just couldnt go through with it. The first phase of doubt was simply pain. (But I didnt want to admit to being a baby and got over that.) Then it was the practical concern of too much maintenance and inconvenience. (Again, this seemed lame.) And most recently, I preoccupied myself with a more high-brow excuse: I dont want any part of my body altered from the way it originally was. (Yeah….ok.) Despite this towering pyramid of the stages of psychological defense, I went to a piercing parlor with my good friend Juhee on a random Wednesday and got it done. (Shoutout to the Juhee who got the industrial piercing that day and made sure I did not back out).  At the turn of November, I havent really gotten over all those previous concerns but getting my ears pierced suddenly felt like somethingIjusthavetodonow. Inexplicable, but I did it! And its done! And theres no going back! And Im very happy about it :) I was chatting with a friend in studio in the middle of the night about one thing weve both learned this semester so much can change in just one week.  It took just a minute or two for me to decide I want to do the Jeju program, and another to decide on pierced ears. Live anticipating nothing but surprise, often from yourself. :) On that note, I am leaving on Wednesday and will update from Korea! Have good winter breaks everybody ~