So... back to ME nowSaturday, July 29, 2006
10 second updateI haven't left yet.
Since, it was more convenient for Kev and Alex (and now Arshin) to drive up with me next weekend the official move date has now been moved to:
Saturday August 5, 2006
Shara ::
6:23 PM ::
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Monday, July 17, 2006
Time has flown by so quickly since my last post.
Here's the past month (or so) in a few lines:
*Amsterdam - Belgium - Paris (loved Paris!) - celebrating my one year anniversary w/ Angey --- ~20 days later --- Angey comes to Toronto - (surprise) party at my house - dinner at the CN Tower - Canada Day weekend camping with the FAM - Niagara Falls - Kristen's wedding (my friend is actually married!) - watching the World Cup finals and eating the world's finest tandoori chicken at Erika's - Angey leaves Toronto :(
July 29th is the scheduled move up date for me. That date seems so much closer now when I realize that I only have one weekend left. Emotions are running wild right now... I don't know whether I'm more nervous, excited, anxious for what is ahead. I've been spending a couple hours at the library for the past few days, to catch up on some reading (I finally admitted that I'm more effective there).
Last week as I was leaving, my eyes caught this book on a nearby trolley. It was "Who Moved My Cheese" by Spencer Johnson. I remember hearing about this book before - it's a book about dealing with change in your work and personal life. I believe it was fate that led me to the book, because it was perfect for addressing my current anxieties. I thought it was a really cute story, and it's one that can be read in a couple hours. So, if you have the time... read it. I walked away from this book feeling more confident about starting school and less scared about the unknown.
Before I sign off on this post, I started using flickr.com to post my pictures. I just posted the link!!
Shara ::
2:41 PM ::
1 Comments:
Monday, May 08, 2006
5k resultsI can now proudly say that I completed my first 5k race!
My time was 31:59, so I just made my goal of 32 minutes!! I placed 150 out of 415 runners. I felt a great sense of accomplishment after crossing the line. Halfway through I felt as if I was on the verge of throwing up and I wanted to stop, but my running buddy Candice, kept me going.
Just a few more days until Amsterdam... I plan to bring my GPS watch and keep running. Next goal... 10k by the end of the summer.
Shara ::
12:15 PM ::
1 Comments:
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
New challenges, old age, and boredom!So, I'm a little nervous now. My very first 5k race is this Saturday. I've never been a runner, but for some reason I wanted to get into a sport that would allow me to stay active and set measurable goals. Before I knew it, I signed up for a Women's Only learn to run clinic in February at my local Running Room store. After two weeks, I moved up to the 5k clinic... and here I am.
I suppose I shouldn't be so nervous, especially since I know that I can run the distance. Since February, I've surprisingly run 5k a number of times and have actually run up to 8.7km. But I'm slow and I set a goal time for myself that I'm not sure that I can do --- 30mins. I'll of course report on how I did.
Had a brief, yet funny msn conversation with Oleg a few minutes ago. He wanted to go for a drink by the lake tomorrow night and I told him I couldn't drink since alcohol will make me dehydrated .. which isn't good for Saturday. So he said that we can drink tea. And I agreed. I apologized for being such an old fart. But Oleg reminded me that when he met me.. I was an old fart so why should I change now? I laughed and said that I've been 60 since I was 18. But it also reminded me of how good friends will always love you for who you are. Thanks, hun!
Today, after American Idol I felt so restless. I wasn't in the mood for reading. I wasn't in the mood for browsing the net, so I just started bugging my brother and my mom.. just begging for attention and some sort of conversation. Why is it that I can't sit still. Why do I always need to have 20 things on my plate to stay satisfied?
Shara ::
10:42 PM ::
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Wednesday, April 26, 2006
My Summer ReadingSchool isn't completely over, but in my mind it is. I wrote my last exam yesterday but since I chose to write a 100% final I have to finish the second part of the exam which is a take home essay question on comparative advantage as a guiding principle for trade policy in the developing countries. I worked out some notes for the essay, but I still have to crank out the essay on paper.
All morning I have been thinking about summer and how great it will be to actually start some leisure reading!!! For the past year I've accumulated a list of "must-reads" and have bought most of them that are collecting dust on my shelf as we speak.
The List
1. Shake Hands with the Devil, Romeo Dallaire
2. Race Against Time, Stephen Lewis (I'm about 1/2 way done this one actually)
3. The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown (I want to read this before the movie comes out)
4. Freakonomics, Steven Levitt
5. The Autobiography of Maya Angelou
6. Collapse, Jared Diamond
7. Various law school prep books
I welcome any suggestions for books you think I should add to the list!!
...Back to work now
Shara ::
10:05 AM ::
4 Comments:
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Welcome to my worldThis post is long overdue, but I ask for forgiveness since I'm still writing exams. I find it extremely hard to describe myself... but here it goes.
Born August 29, 1983 in Toronto, Canada to parents Jacinth "Jenny" Chang and Deric Chang and older brother Adrian. We lived in Downtown Toronto for the first few years of my life and then moved to Vaughan for a short-lived few years and by the time I was 5 years old, we relocated to Richmond Hill (suburb, north of Toronto), which is where I still call home.
I have little memory of my early years, other than what I have heard through family stories, but it seems that my aggressive demeanor was innate. I was always getting in trouble for beating up on my brother who tried to scold me from playing with mom's makeup, or from coming home with ripped and dirty clothes after playing sports with the boys.
I was influenced by one of my very first childhood friends, Vanessa who was more of a 'girly-girl' to take up ballet lessons. After pleading and crying.... my mom signed me up. And I loved it! It wasn't before long when I started competing in tap and jazz dancing, acrobatics and any type of dance that my dance studio offered. I danced competitively for 12 years and taught dance for 6.
In school I was a goody two-shoes... well except in kindergarten when my teacher wrote on my report card that I needed to learn how to share! It's funny that my mom never scolded me for that... she worked hard to buy me toys and it wasn't so I could let my friends play with them and break it!! Ahhh, gotta love my mom. I like to blame my corruption on Erika, who I met in senior kindergarten... who taught me how to have a potty mouth! Growing up, I wanted to be everything.... a doctor, then more specifically a cardiologist (until I discovered I hated the sight of blood), an architect (until I took Gr 10 drafting and realized I was terrible at it), and a lawyer. I recently stumbled upon an autobiography that I did for a Grade 8 assignment and I wrote that I aspired to be a corporate attorney. I spelled attorney wrong, but it's funny that I knew all along where I was supposed to be.
I'll fast forward to university, since high school was a bore for me (other than that 's where I met my 2 other best friends: Kristen and Jessica). I studied Business Management, majoring in Economics & Management Science at Ryerson. I often get asked why I chose to go to Ryerson, since it lacks the reputation and prestige of a school like Queens or University of Toronto and I've always had strong grades. I went to Ryerson for the atmosphere - a smaller school, a school that focused more on practicality and less on theory, and a school where I could commute. For family reasons, I felt it best to stay home. I've never regret my choice. Ryerson is where I met the most driven and talent people I know and who I am proud to call my friends... or even better... my FAM.
It was Alex who introduced me to AIESEC. He was VPMD at the time... I joined just to shut him up and also because it seemed like all of my friends were already involved. Admittedly, back then I never understood what AIESEC was and what it stood for, but I knew that their socials were amazing! The next year, my final year of undergrad I was coerced into the position of VP Finance. Looking back, I wish I had joined AIESEC earlier, because being an executive in my last year, writing my LSATs and applying to law schools and working two jobs, was not exactly a walk in the park. Though, I was on the executive board at AIESEC Ryerson, I never envisioned participating in any of AIESEC's international programs. Until I received an msn message from Karolina (the MCVP Regional at the time), who wanted me to apply for the CEED program. To this day I don't know why I actually did it. Maybe because I knew that if I didn't take the opportunity to travel now, I never would. Maybe I wanted to prove to myself that I could have an international experience.. and not just hear about those of my friends'. Maybe I wanted to take my mind off of the law school application process. I suppose the reason why I applied for the program is not important now, the important thing is that I did it and I can't imagine what life would be like if I hadn't gone.
I travelled to Nairobi, Kenya for my CEED for a total of 2 months. It was there that many of you know that I met my boyfriend, Reuben "Angey" Murage. It was in Kenya where I developed a greater appreciation for International Affairs and Economic Development. Though I was accepted to school at Howard and Windsor, I started to have doubts about whether a career in law was what I truly wanted, so I deferred my admission to Howard.
Now, after nearly 8 months at York University working towards my completion of a Master of Arts in Economics, I've learned to always follow your gut instincts. I'll be moving to DC in July - law school here I come. I don't consider doing my masters a waste of time - if I did, I would have dropped out of the program a while back .... wait, no I wouldn't have - I'm too stubborn to quit. But this year I have been able to explore how I can incorporate my economics background and newly-developed passion for international affairs into my future career in law.
My stroll down memory lane to present day took a lot longer than I had expected, but atleast you now have a better idea of who is mad woman named Shara truly is.
Shara ::
10:40 AM ::
0 Comments:
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
I've joined the communityWelcome to my new nomadlife.org blog!
Stay tuned for my 'introduction to the community' post!
Shara ::
11:14 AM ::
1 Comments:
