The OD Life

What does it mean to be the best at something? Einstein. Mozart. Jordan. Aristotle. These are often the most recognized names in their respective field of work, looked up to by millions every day.  But out of the billions of people who have ever lived in this world, how many of us can reasonably expect to live up to their status and ability? Short answer: the vast majority can't, and won't ever. But that doesn't stop us from aspiring to be the best at whatever we pursue, including me. Why do some people appear more successful than others? A short formula for our ability to do something is as follows (note that this may not be comprehensive, or entirely accurate, but is meant for simplicity's sake): Ability = Talent x Efficient Work where "Efficient Work" can be further broken down into time spent x quality of work . Making lots of different mistakes and reflecting on them counts as quality work. Gazing at your phone every 5 minutes while practicin...

I just finished an interesting first year at Berkeley. I call it interesting because it's too hard to really categorize. I've had messy years, easy years, intense years, but this past school year was none of those. I had to make new friends, I had to figure out what I want to major in, but most importantly I had to leave my comfort zone and really grow out of my shell.  But all of these things are for another post. In this post I just wanted to recap some of the moments from freshman year and immortalize them in this blog. I want this post to really encapsulate everything freshman year was about into a little package that I can look back at and be flooded with nostalgia.  The first impactful experience would have to start off with Golden Bear Orientation. Before going into college I would always hear about people complaining about how boring and useless orientation is. But I really think GBO is a little different from other university orientations. I don't ...

As my first two semesters in college comes to a close,  I thought it'd be appropriate to briefly describe my first year in words. To my friends, professors, Berkeley, and the Bay Area in general, thanks for making my 2018-2019 year incredible. Golden Bear Orientation:   Orientation was by far the week that exceeded my expectations the most this year. A week filled with magic shows, comedy acts, musical performances, as well as the week when I met my 10 closest friends in college without dread of looming assignments. Silent disco was the bomb, as was the lemonade at Foothill ;) Cal's 150th birthday was special. Classes:   For the most part, I am very happy with the classes I chose in both fall and spring semesters. Astronomy C10 introduced me to one of the greatest lecturers I've ever seen ( Alex Filippenko ), while other breadth classes such as Nutritional Science and Scandinavian shed light into topics I've never previously thought about. Of course, the ...

They say a picture is worth 1000 words... here's to upping my word count | Source:  Unsplash I don't remember the first time I read a blog. And unlike Dhaval, I never really enjoyed writing. From the age of five years old until eighth grade, my father encouraged me to write a journal entry every Sunday, one paragraph in Mandarin, then translated into English - by far my least favorite "homework" I've ever had to do. An authentic 4th grade Owen journal entry So what am I doing creating a blog? It will serve as a breeding ground for thoughts I've never spoken aloud, ideas that usually quickly fade from recollection, as well as memories to be re-traced in the future. It will also force me to write more and communicate more eloquently, while hopefully still coming off as casual conversation. (I am quite embarrassed to say this is the most words I've written on anything in 2019). I have no particular topics in mind, but expect content to range an...

I still remember the first time I read a blog.  Towards the end of freshman year in high school the college admissions bug had really bit me and I would obsessively read  MIT Blogs  every day. I was always excited to hear about the amazing experiences these amazing people across the country were having. Eventually I discovered a man on YouTube that would go on to waste way too many hours of my life. Every single day I would watch  Casey Neistat 's vlog and get to see a glimpse of his awesome life.  Today I've decided to take a step in the right direction and create my own blog alongside my good friend Owen. I'm hoping to use this blog as a platform to discuss ideas I've been formulating, commit to the goals I should've years ago, jot down notes I think are important, and most importantly, leave behind a piece of myself on the internet.  Most of my content will fall under a couple of categories: School - an all-encompassing part of life Econ...