I have been taking on a quite a few projects and responsibilities, but I haven’t documented any of it for myself. This post will be dedicated to marking my progress and reflecting on where I have been allocating my time lately. I don’t often share what I’ve been up to–mainly because I hardly take the time to sit down and talk about it all with someone. But here it is, what I’ve been up to.
Blog and Personal Branding
As mentioned before, the purpose of my blog is to help get a message out: we are all capable of the things we want to achieve and more, as long as we put in the time and work, and stay positive. However, with personal branding in mind, I have worked to incorporate social networks in order to target a larger audience. I have accounts in networks including Twitter, LinkedIN, and About.ME in addition to my Tumblr. It’s as if I’m my own publicist. As conceited and self-centered this may seem, getting seen is crucial to spreading a message.
Goal: Get my name out into the public attached to my message of hard work, positivity, and perseverance.
The Panoply Project (launching on November 19th!)
My friend, Kendrick Wang, and I have been working on a fashion consultant business–currently considered a project. We will provide our clients with a fashion consultation tailored to their needs based on a questionnaire concerning their lifestyle and personal preferences. Our goal is to help our clients look and feel confident in the way they dress while staying within a reasonable budget by giving recommendations on pieces and sharing our knowledge of fashion.
I have been working on the website, working out any kinks, and editing content to avoid confusing potential customers about the goal of our business. We’ve completed two photoshoots and will have a meeting with the rest of our staff concerning the launch and preparation for it.
Goals: 1. Have a successful launch, with regards to publicity, and 2. work with 20 clients by the end of the year.
Read more to see what else I’ve been up to!
BBoys Anonymous (BBA)
BBoys Anonymous is a freestyle (read improvisation-based) dance club at the University of California, Irvine. We welcome people of all levels of dance and want to spread the love and idea of freestyle dance. I serve as the Vice President of the club and have been working to incorporate the education of our members on the history of hip hop and the dances that fall under hip hop. I believe that an understanding of the history and culture would help the members obtain a stronger connection to their art form.
The BBA board has had the idea of unifying the dance teams at UCI for awhile now. We all share the love of dance, but we don’t often share the dance floor. We wanted to change that. It started with the All-UCI Dance Battle. Now the dance teams have matching tank tops representing all the dance teams on campus. What’s next? We’ll see.
Goals: 1. Incorporate a new system to help educate the member in an easy-going manner, 2. host an event revolving around the idea of learning about the culture and history that shaped what we do, and 3. network with other dance teams and build new bridges for collaboration.
Dance Project
I have also been working on a dance project based on the idea of education–helping dancers expand into other styles, improving their repertoire, and gaining a better understanding of their body and of the endless possibilities of dance. This project also ties back to unifying the dancers at UC Irvine. It has been difficult to get this project up and going, though.
Goal: Host an event with dance workshops and quasi-lectures in order to help dancers expand their knowledge. Event may be on a small scale to begin with.
Dance & Groovement
As a member of BBoys Anonymous, I’m a dancer. I love to dance. My roots are in bboying but I have expanded into jazz and modern and also learning some techniques in popping, housing, and locking. Although not the best in any of these styles, I like to think that I take much influence from each art form and have developed my own style of movement.
I was recruited to be a part of a project team called Groovement. It’s sole purpose was to show that freestyle dancers can choreograph and pick up choreography, and perform it as well as those who only perform choreographed dance. Why is it that–in only street dance–freestyle dance and choreographed dance are so segregated? It’s all dance. Nonetheless, it is an honor to be a part of the team and, despite all the long practices and the tedious drilling, I look forward to performing at Maxt Out this coming Sunday.
Goal: Push through the final practices and give an amazing performance at Maxt Out.
The Master Mind
I created a group on Facebook for myself and a few close friends–who may or may not have known each other–to discuss anything that was on our mind. Topics ranged from dance, music, news, technology, design, movies, the meaning of happiness, how we define success, etc. The overarching theme was to receive knowledge and share knowledge. We were all unified by the notion of educating ourselves and wanting to share what we learn with others. The issue I found was that not everyone is willing to have an intellectual discussion at any given moment. So I made the Facebook group. If you have a crazy thought you want to share but no one to share it with us. If you found a really interesting article that gave you new perspective, but don’t think anyone would be interested, we’re damn interested. I’ve learned a lot through the people in the group and I want to make it a more personal experience, rather than a digital one.
Goal: Schedule a monthly or quarterly meeting among a small group to share and discuss ideas that are presented by way of essay, PowerPoint, video, etc. This will be experimental until more details are fleshed out.
Research
I’ll be honest, research has not been one of my top priorities lately. I initially wanted to log in a lot of hours in the lab–I logged into about 35 hours a week over the summer–but as Panoply Project became more serious, as practices became more important for Groovement, and as school picked up, I had to cut back on the hours. I have learned a lot, but I have not been putting in the hours I would like to.
Goal: Schedule more hours for research and take on new projects that will make me think more critically about chemistry.
Work at The Hill at UCI
There isn’t much to say about this one. Work ise a source of income. I’ve taken on new responsibility by taking on data entry, emailing vendors about defective items, fill out receiving forms, discussing fashion trends with my manager, and working in the store to provide customers with any assistance.
Goal: 1. Learn more about the behind-the-scenes aspect of retail, understanding the process of designing a garment, the types of garments, materials, etc. and 2. pick up more data entry projects to help relieve stress off my manager.
Project Positivity
A project I’ve had on my mind for many, many months. I have taken a few steps to begin the project, but haven’t made much progress because of my other responsibilities. However, I plan on publicly releasing this project in the new year. The idea is to help people fight through their mental and emotional hardships, stay positive, and put in the necessary work to achieve their dreams. I believe that everyone has an unlimited potential and I want to help people realize their own potential then push their limits and become the person they want to become. This may seem very similar to the reason for this blog, but this project would be open to guest posts and public submissions. We can all relate when dealing with hardships. We can all relate when we have big goals. We can all help each other.
Goal: Consolidate details, website design, type of content, system of post submissions, recruit staff, and launch the project when the new year starts.
School
Of course, school. How could I forget? I’m taking two chemistry classes: advanced organic synthesis and radioisotopes and nuclides. Sound difficult? Yeah, a little bit. I did well on my radioisotopes midterm, though. I’m taking modern dance and choir classes. I really enjoy the arts. I’ve had a performing for choir already and will have another one in December for the holidays. I only have two more quarters left at UCI. I feel I’ve already made a lot of my college experience. Now I have to make it even more.
Goals: 1.Graduate with a 3.4 gpa (yeah I don’t care if you know my GPA), 2. get that chemistry degree, 3. improve my voice, 4. make sure I do everything I want to do.
These are the major projects I have been working on or putting lot of thought in to. Feel free to ask me any questions about these projects. I will also gladly accepted feedback and/or criticism.
I have been tired and running on empty for a while. There have been quite a few bumps in the road and a few disappointments. There are times when I want to stop working, when I don’t see any progress, when I want a break, but I’m still pushing.
Have any projects or ideas you want to share? Send me a message!
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