Working too Hard?

(c) Evan Do

One of the cons about always being busy is that you sometimes forget to leave time for yourself. I’ve had this problem quite often in high school since I felt the need to participate in so many different activities, but I managed to have a lot of fun and get through everything. Lately, I’ve been feeling that same stressful feeling but for some reason, I have always enjoy it… I have yet to have a "boring" day during my whole first semester of college . I never had a day yet where I literally had nothing to do and no one to hit up; I always found myself up and productive.

But the problem is that I’m tired. I’m physically fatigued from long days and long nights almost every day. Especially in recent times because I’m trying my best to tackle and manage so many different projects that I working on.  I spent most of my first semester grinding my ass off to network, keep up my grades, perfect my resume, and now I finally have a great job. Now that I have a great job, I spend 20 hours a week to this job, to build my resume, to gain experience, develop my skills for another job. And it’s this continuing cycle of me always thriving for more. This is just an example but I’m always trying to get better, to achieve something greater and I ask myself “What’s the point?” Why am I trying to do so many things? It’s not like I have anything to prove to anyone. None of my friends in my class are trying to be at my level. Their lives are so much more laid back with their schedules and for me? Well, I consider myself lucky if I make it back home for dinner on time. I guess everything that I’m doing is what I’m passionate about and despite my fatigue, I do the things I do because I always want to improve myself. There’s no real point to this post or anything too exciting, just a random rant. 

No days off. 

Chicago: The Windy City

Something about traveling just really excites me.

To be placed in a new environment, surrounded by strangers, mystery, and unexplored adventures. Wandering the streets of foreign territory in negative degree weather in search for a comedy show, or walking half a mile to see a giant bean in the middle of a park, or simply understanding the city’s public transportation system.

Today, I write about my experience in Chicago. I attended AIESEC’s United States Winter National Conference for 6 days and spent the next couple of days exploring the beautiful city.

If my mom had to ask me what I did, I would say something like,

“For the first 6 days, we as AIESECers were evaluated on our current ranking compared to other countries. We were tested on our currents skills we acquired and went through multiple tracks to improve our own special committee. In the process, we built personal relationships to people across the nation and developed our leadership skills.”

 

In which is true. But in the process, the conference was greatly entertaining and informative. The details are very technical and hard to explain to someone who isn’t in AIESEC, but we learned practical skills on how to continue exceling at everything we have been doing. The days were long as it went from 9am sometimes all the way to 11pm and let’s not forget the “late night hangouts.” But overall, it was a great learning experience and I’m glad AIESEC offers opportunities like these to be a part of something greater and work together to change the world. I strongly encourage anyone reading this to ask me about AIESEC and why we do what we do, I’ll be more than happy to share.

After the conference, the study tour the organizing committee had planned out was unfortunately cancelled because of a huge blizzard that hit our region (which ultimately delayed our flights…) but this gave us a chance to hang out with whomever, whenever, and wherever we went while still renting the hotel rooms at a discounted price. Together with a small group of friends, we bonded closely over great food, great view and cherished everything we could at Chicago. As I cannot explain my experience in great detail, I hope these pictures and a quick video I have created can help share my experiences with you guys. 

More Photos

"Instragram Dat Joint!"

I decided to test myself. As an avid Social Media user, I often was sucked into using technology to kill time throughout my days. Although not nearly as bad as other teenagers, the fact that I even had the thought to use my phone when all the opportunities life offers is right in front of me just boggles my mind on how addicted I have become.

Last August, I shut myself from all social media feeds except Facebook (but only for message purposes, no scrolling). On my phone, I deleted my Instagram app, Twitter, Snapchat, Tumblr, Vine, and whatever else I had downloaded. I wanted to see how far I could really go without the constant use of my phone and if I could even last with this long of a stretch.

For 30 days, it was truly a great experience. Usually I would test myself for a day, a few days and at most a week without social media but this month long absence was new to me, but definitely challenging. Without the constant use of my phone, you realize how much greater the world can be. I spent that month reading, bonding with friends, spending more time with my family and getting pumped up for college. I accomplished fitness goals, writing goals, and spent a lot more time alone thinking about my life and what I really wanted to accomplish.

The reason I'm writing about this now is that a few months has passed and I was slowly going back into the habit of using social media whenever I was bored when I could really be more productive. Over this past week, I was actively occupied with AIESEC's Winter National Conference that I really did not have time to scroll through social feeds. Every day was intensely eventful that kept me busy and active which was the lifestyle I enjoyed. This absence of social media reminded me how much more life I lived without social media and how it played such a huge impact on my life. 

For the record, I do not believe social media is bad but I have to admit, it really gets annoying when you have dinner with your friends and I can't talk to anyone because everyone is worried about other people's tweets and photos they could potentially miss out on.