Week 4 - The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

Christmas is almost here.


With Christmas comes a lot of good things, like good food, presents, time with the family, and the overall Christmas spirit.


However, Christmas also brings a lot of stress, from finding the right presents for the right person, to waiting in long lines and searching for a parking spot at the mall, to the increased expectation for making everyone happy. It's sometimes really tiring, taking away our Christmas spirit.


To help you relax this season, I happened to find some good Christmas jokes that can help us to remember the positive side of Christmas this year and keep the Christmas spirit in our hearts.


You can find the full list of Christmas jokes here (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/turning-straw-gold/201112/over-50-years-in-the-making-10-holiday-jokes,) but here are some of my favorites:



"The worst gift is a fruitcake. There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other."—Johnny Carson



"Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space."—Dave Barry



"Most Texans think Hanukkah is some sort of duck call."—Richard Lewis



"The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin."—Jay Leno

Week 3 - The Anything Blog

Confusion. That's what I feel whenever I think of my future. Like the picture, you see, my mind envisions a myriad of different pathways I could take, ending with either hopelessly optimistic success or depressing tragic endings. Most of the time, however, what ends up happening is the typical, the run-of-the-mill, the ordinary.

Recently, my biggest decision has been choosing college and my major. I've been fortunate enough to be able to get into college through automatic admission, but now comes the harder decision: what major do I want to choose? Logic would dictate a major that could land a high-paying job straight out of college, but who's to say I will actually like it?

I stumbled upon an article on Psychology Today that addressed that very issue. If you have the time, maybe check it out yourself, it's worth the read. http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201311/november-10-16/gambling-the-right-college-major?tr=HomeColItem

If you don't have the time or just don't want to read it, I'll try to summarize it neatly for you. Essentially, this article argues that every major is essentially a gamble, and while certain ones (STEM - science, technology, and math) give better benefits out of college and have a wider job market, they might not provide the best odds for students on an individual level.

Instead of focusing on a major, the article makes the claim that "employers hire a package of skills, not a specific major" and suggests asking yourself the following questions:

1. Why is the student in college?

2. Why have they selected their particular major?

3. What other courses are they taking?

4. What are they doing outside of the classroom?

5. How strong are their job-seeking skills?

6. What are they doing to develop their emotional intelligence, social skills, and/or the Big Five personality traits?

Reading this article, I'm slightly reassured that my major won't mean everything. I've heard plenty of stories of how people's jobs don't coincide with their college majors, yet they're successful. This article argues that being able to answer these questions about yourself will make you a better candidate as a future job prospect, and I agree. What do you think?

Week 2 - Your Life Story

My church! Southwest Chinese Baptist Church

I was born in Houston on March 20, 1996. The first memory I can remember was going to church when I was three with my mom. It's funny, because both my mom and church were the two biggest influences on my life before I started school.





I started attending Dulles in kindergarten, and I'm still attending Dulles now. Elementary school was the greatest time in the world. It was super easy, you didn't have homework, and there was recess. My first friend that I ever made was Neek. However, I'm not close with anyone from kindergarten anymore. When I moved to 1st grade, however, I met some of my closest friends that I still talk to today. In elementary, I also developed a love for reading that I carry still today. This trait really helped me throughout the first couple years of school: what I couldn't do in real life, I lived out through books. Ironically, this source of fun also helped me do well academically.

Puberty hit me relatively early in comparison to my friends. Unlike what the psychology book said, I disliked going through puberty early. I hated the extra hair, the voice cracking, the pimples, the awkwardness of getting used to one's own body. Middle school in general was just an awkward time for me. Fortunately, my church as well as orchestra proved to be key pillars of support in my life, and I managed to get through to high school.

In high school, the biggest pressure was getting a girlfriend and to do well in school. I was successful at one and unsuccessful at the other. Care to guess?

http://bible.com/116/mat.6.34.nlt

As for the future, I can hardly pose any definite predictions. I do have a plan, but what I have learned is that plans never work out exactly the way you hope. However, ideally, I'd like certain things to happen.

I hope to graduate from Dulles High School on June 7th, 2014.
I hope I go to either UT, Rice, or some prestigious Ivy League for college.
I hope I find something I want to study. In this time of confusion, I've decided to try chemical engineering.
I hope I find someone I like in college early on and never have to worry about dating after that.
I hope I can marry that person right after college ends. It would definitely be in a church, and the date would have to be an easy one to remember :P
I hope I have three kids so that they can keep each other entertained when I'm busy.
I hope I learn what job I'd like, but I DO know that I want it to have an impact on people's lives.
I hope to have enough money to be able to support orchestral music.
I hope to retire with enough money to make a trust fund.
I hope to travel the world with my wife when I retire.
I hope I don't die early, but realistically, now hearing that guys die earlier than girls, I'll probably die at age 70.

Week 1 - Personality Tests

Humanmetrics Jung Typology Test - http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm

The Jung Typology Test categorized people into four different categories and set the degree to which you were characterized in that direction. I was an ISTJ, and my percentages were as follows:

introvert (11%)

sensing (12%)

thinking (25%)

judging (11%)

When I saw that ISTJs have an keen sense of right and wrong and are noted for their devotion to duty, I thought that described me well because I believe I have strong values. However, I do not think I am especially cold or aloof, as I am moderately sociable with my friends. The validity of this test, however, was probably more accurate than any other test.

My Life Goals - http://www.personalitylab.org/tests/goals19.html

This test categorized what I valued the most in my life as compared to other study participants. According to the test, I placed more central value on social recognition, attractiveness, and affiliation, placed equal value to financial success and self-acceptance as a typical participant, and placed less central value to community involvement. While I agree with the results, my actions do not typify these characteristics, so in that sense the test is invalid.

Attraction Test - http://explainyourbrain.com/cgi-bin/attraction/attractiontest.pl

This test asked me to rate the attractiveness of various pictures presented. I tended to rate the pictures presented as more attractive than the average person. The test stated that I cared about intelligence, seductiveness, and trendy slightly more than average person, and I cared about cheerfulness and counter-culture below the average person. Based on the people I have liked in the past, I believe this test is completely invalid.

Understand Yourself Personality Test - http://www.personalitylab.org/tests/bfi_self.htm

This test categorized my personality based on the Big 5 traits and gave each a score. My scores are listed below:

56 - extraversion

53 - agreeableness

44 - conscientiousness

56 - neuroticism

55 - openness to experience

Most of these scores are very close to the 50 range, so I feel like there could be a possibility that if I took this test again I could get scores that lean slightly the other way. Therefore, I think this test is not very valid.


EQ quiz - http://www.ihhp.com/?page=freeEQquiz - This test's questions blatantly asked questions that seemed to test your perception of yourself in contrast to actually wanting to find the true answer of that trait. It stated that I have a slightly above average EQ - with room to grow! However, this test makes very general assumptions and statements, so I believe that while you may be able to tie it into your personality, it does not stay valid for more specific descriptions of personality.