On Roommates

I could probably fill pages upon pages of things that I was terrified about before coming to college. One of the things that ranked pretty near the top of the list was: Roommates. I come from a small family of four, my family consisting of my parents and my younger sister. So I always had a room to myself and didn't really have to share much. Living in a dorm my freshman year, I knew I would have to share a room, closets, desks, etc with one or two other people. But that wasn't really the problem. I didn't mind sharing space with others. The thing I was worried about was whether or not I would get along with my roommates or whether my room would become a sanctuary or hell. Aspiring to go to medical school, I coveted silence and a studious atmosphere. So naturally, I was quite worried. I wanted my room, although shared, to be a place where I could study and get work done. Others at Cal warned me that this would not happen- that the library would become my best friend as a premed.

So move-in day came along and I was able to finally meet my roommates (I live in a triple). Turns out, I couldn't have asked for better ones. Although, keep in mind, they weren't the ideal roommates I was hoping for (I was hoping for premeds such as myself so that I wouldn't have to worry about studying). My roommates are loud, incredibly funny, fun-loving people. But they're also extremely considerate, caring, and selfless. The three of us eat together, play together, and study together, and that's what makes my time at cal more bearable. When I feel like going to sleep early, my roommates never hesitate to turn the lights off, even when they have work to do. When I want to go out to get something to eat, one of my roommates is always willing to go with me. And when I'm bored or restless, one of them is always on call to hang. Mind you, this doesn't happen 24/7, but it happens often enough that it makes me feel like the three of us are a family, a unit, that was always meant to be.

My roommates are not big party-ers, drinkers, or smokers, but occasionally, they'll go out and do God knows what. And when they do, I get to enjoy a few peaceful hours to myself. And believe me, when you get to college, those hours are like paradise.

But I'm one of the lucky ones. I know a few people who don't interact with their roommates and therefore, have no bonds with them. If that happens, the atmosphere in their room is likely to get very awkward, and frankly, be no fun at all. And then there are those who's roommates are uncontrollable. This, too, can lead to a very awkward atmosphere, but probably more fun than having no interactions with your roommates. ; )

In all, most of you will have roommates that you get along with so don't fret too much. Your roommates will become your best friends at college (if your best friend/s haven't come with you to the college) because you're around each other all the time. It can't be helped (in most cases) : ) So make the most out of it!

One word of advice for incoming freshman: When you find out who your roommates are, try to arrange who gets what and where before you move in- makes moving in a whole lot easier and faster. Also, you won't have to arrive as early and in such a hurry on move-in day.

-K

P.S If you have any questions or would like me to write about something in particular, please feel free to ask!

On Affirmative Action

Affirmative action is a bitch.

In high school, I didn't think it was such a big deal. Sure, colleges might be slightly prone to choosing minority students over majority students I thought. Boy was I wrong... I have never felt so much disdain about being asian-american before, until the rejections came along. And it wouldn't have been so bad if the minority students at my school also got rejected from said schools, but nope. And I wouldn't have felt so bad if they had better academic standing or had better extracurriculars, but once again.. nope... I had a few friends in high school who were applying to the same colleges that I was applying to. We had similar test scores but I had much more 'promising' extra currics than my friends did. To my surprise, my friends got accepted into schools that I got rejected from. I was baffled. I read their personal statements and didn't feel they outshone mine too much (my test scores and extra curriculars are posted on my previous posts). But then I realized, my friends were minorities. That realization was a big blow to my ego. Now I realize that race isn't the only factor that plays in college admissions, but man, it's a big one.

Asians (this includes Indians as well) have to outshine the brightest minority applicants ten-fold. They also have to do better than the best of the applicants. Why? Because there are so many over-qualified asians applying to the same schools you are applying to (this entails top tier privates and Ivies). In addition to race, it seems like the more you suffered in life, the better your chances will be when applying to colleges.

However, one set of schools diverge from this criteria: UCs. UC schools do not practice affirmative action (thankfully). Unfortunately, my friends who got accepted into the schools I also applied to mentioned above, got rejected from the UC schools that I got accepted into. Weird isn't it?

Will this ever change? I don't think so. And as much as I hate affirmative action, I feel like like it's almost necessary- almost. If schools didn't practice affirmative action, asians would dominate every school in the US. And where would the diversity go? Would everyone get a fair shot at the same schools? So for those of you just applying to colleges, don't be too disheartened if you get rejected from your dream school. And for those of you who are attending a college that was not your first (or second or fifth) choice, just remember that no one really looks at your undergrad school. Do the best at the place you're at and focus on getting into a good graduate school, because in the end, that's what counts (easier said than done).

-K