In Focus Interview with Professor Roberts

This past month, I was able to have the opportunity to produce, write, host, and edit an episode of In Focus, a show produced by Titan TV, at work. The process began in October with a pitch of my ideas and the rest followed after with coordinating with the production coordinator for a day to do the interview, working with my professor to schedule a day, and editing the footage into a cohesive episode. 

I was fortunate to interview Professor Roberts, an adjunct professor at CSUF, who I had previously had as my professor. He has so much stories, knowledge, and advice to share and give that I really wanted the public to hear from. The idea to interview him stemmed from not many students at my school knows about the Center for Entertainment and Hospitality Management and it blossomed from there. 

The major, Business Administration with a concentration in Entertainment and Hospitality Management is very underrepresented and overlooked as an undergrad degree. Very few know about it. I didn't even know about the concentration until I was at CSUF and considered changing my concentration as a freshman. Doing this interview not only is to share the stories and knowledge my professor has with everyone but also to share with those who may be interested in the entertainment or hospitality industry and learn more about what CSUF Mihaylo College has to offer in these fields. 

Please share with those who you think may be interested in learning more about the entertainment or hospitality industry. The video is below but the official link is here: video link. Thank you and let me know if you have any questions as well! 

Beginning of November

Happy three days into November everyone! I hope y'all began November on a good note! Make the most of the last two months of 2019! 

I like to update you, my fellow readers, I will be taking a break from my blog the next three weeks (including this one). I will do my best to have a post during Thanksgiving break. For now, please enjoy this beautiful sunset I caught yesterday when going to eat dinner at the cafeteria at my school. 

Stay safe and warm everyone! Hydrate as well! Hope everyone is safe and well, especially those who are near the fires recently.

Life = Pie

Life is like a pie. Our lives are divided into different slices of pie. These slices may include health, family, friends, school, career, and travel, among others. It is completely filled with multiple categories, but we, including myself, forget and focus on certain slices of pie only. Remember there are so many things in life that matter, not just ONE specific slice. It may be hard to spread one's time out to allocate to each slice, but one may CHOOSE to make time. I myself am learning this so much more ever since this summer. Yes, there isn't enough time to do everything. But YOU get to choose what fills your time to have a balanced lifestyle.

September Adventures Recap

September 14: LA Fair

Every year, my family and I go to the LA Fair. As always, it was another one for the books. This year the theme is: "LA County Fair Goes Pop!" This encompassed pop culture, popular LA landmarks, technology, contemporary artists, movies, books, and superheroes, among others revolving around LA. A year ago when I went with my family, I was having one of my worst anxiety attacks in my college career. It was hard for me to have fun, with my thoughts, overthinking, and overanalyzing consumed the best of me. This year, I let loose, focusing purely on family time and letting everything work itself out. The best way possible. It was so much fun sharing memories and taking a bunch of photos of my family with the the art pieces at the LA Pop Architecture exhibit especially, with landmarks including Hollywood sign, Santa Monica Pier, Chinatown, and Randy's Donuts, among others. Seeing all the collectors' items was also incredible. So many different collections, making me rethink all the items I have collected in specific categories over the years. We also tried a new drink this year, watermelon lime aid. It was good! The photography and artworks were always my favorite exhibits to see. So many different perspectives and amazing stories told through a single visual, hitting multiple emotions in me. Last but not forgotten, the baked goods! Cakes, cupcakes, and cookies, among others were so creative and delicious to look at. Definitely another family adventure in the books.

September 15: Ax Throwing

My sister and I tried something new! Ax throwing! It was so much fun! I was nervous at first, not really knowing if I'll be able to throw the ax and land on the actual board. After learning from our instructor and many many throws, my ax landed on the board finally! Like the movie, Dodgeball, "You gotta get angry! You gotta get mean!" I had this saying playing on repeat in my head for a bit to help me throw. It helped for a bit. After some time, I just throw without thinking too much. Just throw and have fun! That was my new motto soon after. Before we were about to end our session, I was able to hit bullseye! It felt so good! Ax throwing is honestly something different but a must try. 

September 19: The Port of Peri Peri

Caught up with a friend while trying a new place, The Port of Peri Peri. It was a really nice hangout and the food was good. We both got the chicken and rice bowl. I got it just lemon herb flavored. It was good but the rice was spicy. My tongue was on fire the entire meet up, but it was really good overall. The chicken was tender and the rice was just right.

September 21: Arts Tune Up

I went to my first networking event by myself! My parents dropped me off at the Arts Tune Up, an event that was hosted by Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. I was nervous at first going in, but it was really nice and a great opportunity to listen to people with experience in the arts and entertainment industries teach us about branding, opportunities, online presence, and safe space, among others. I'm really happy I decided to go and do this on my own, with the help of my supportive parents.

September 21: Concert Under the Stars

This concert marks the third concert I attended in the four years here at CSUF. I skipped one year because I got sick the previous year and was afraid I'll get sick again. I was able to catch up with a lovely friend of mine who I haven't sat down with in so long and just have a nice girl talk in a long while over dinner and the concert. The concert had the theme of Peace, Love, and Music! A great way to end my last year at Fullerton!

September 22: Golf Range

I never golfed before, except mini golfing. When a friend suggested golfing, I was down to do something new but a bit nervous. It was fun! Definitely have a lot to learn and a lot of wiggle room for improvement. I was happy though I was able to land my golf balls in the water and land one of my last ones further in the water than I did before. Woot woot! Progress! It was also really great to get to know a new friend. We got dinner at Zewadeh Mediterranean Grill. I got the chicken shawarma. It was good! It was a little dry, but with the hummus, it was great.

September 25: First ART POPS at Begovich Gallery and National Comic Book Day

As you may know, I love art. When I found out there was an art gallery pop up at school, I had to try to attend. That's exactly what I did! I went before my class started and loved it! It felt as if it was something I needed just at the right time. I was feeling a bit out of my element and reconnecting with my emotions with the help of art and enjoying the beauty and creativity of art was just the best thing. I left the gallery to my class with such a full heart. It was amazing. To top it off, I read my first comic book that night! I bought my first two comic books at LA Fair and finally read it. Little did I know it was actually National Comic Books Day when I read my first one. It was cool! I can't wait to read the second one I got when I get some free time to sit down and enjoy it. Until then! 

World Mental Health Day

Today is World Mental Health Day. Mental health has began to shed some light into society as people are aware of it more and making the topic less taboo. 

Everyone experiences mental health issues at some point in his or her life. Mental health ranges from a huge spectrum including but not limited to the following: anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, drug addiction, and personality disorders. Each person faces a different inner battle everyday. This inner battle can span from mild to extreme. It can last a few minutes to a lifetime. It is a constant uphill battle for many on the extreme side. Even for those on the mild side, the mental health issue may come in waves. One minute a person is fine. The next minute may be a completely different story. As mental health becomes less of a taboo subject, people are able to open up their mental health problems and share their stories and situations with others. Mental health conditions are not experienced by only a handful but many. We are all in the same boat. You are not going through this alone. 

I had my first major anxiety attack in my senior year of high school. At the time, I had no idea what it was until my freshman year in college after talking about what I went through in high school to a friend. As a current senior in college right now, I can definitely say, I have had my fair share of anxiety attacks, from mild too extreme. I am no expert, but one of my triggers of anxiety attacks is closely academic related. Not always we know how and why our mental health issue appears. But once we know where it stems from, we learn more about ourselves and learn how to adapt and see the triggers that associate to it. For me, it took me about four years to realize I cannot control and plan out my ideal schedule as events, assignments, and situations, among others show up without warning. I felt there isn't enough time to do all the stuff I need to get done as I know my limits as a student when it comes to learning, understanding, and studying. However, everything works out in your favor whether you realize it then or not. It will be okay. Take one day, one step, one thing at a time. This has helped me and hopefully it may help you as well. 

Know you are not alone on this. Mental health is a sensitive and important topic that we all need to learn to discuss with others more. It is something we should be talking about and not avoiding. Speak how you feel. Share your uphill battle stories. Check in with people who may seem everything is fine. Life gets hard as each day goes by. Just know it is and will be okay.  

The Chinese Lady

Weekends call for adventures! Sometimes it includes theatre and catching up with old friends.

Last Saturday, I spent the night with an old friend of mine who I haven't hanged out with since freshman year. Time really does fly by. Now we're both in our senior year in college. It was good to finally hang out again and pig out as foodies together.

First stop was dinner. We stopped at Savoy and got Hainan Chicken rice (not photographed). Then we got drinks popcorn chicken at Bopomofo. It was my first time trying the popcorn chicken here and it was good! It's not the typical crispy type, more meatier and just enough flavor. The sauce with it was perfect. The matcha latte was really good too. Very light and it wasn't the powder type matcha.

Then we went to see the play, The Chinese Lady, by Lloyd Suh. This play was one of the plays I worked on as a producing intern this past summer. To see it in person, the official production, from reading the actual play during the internship to experiencing the live version was amazing. There were parts of the play that I didn't even know were funny until seeing it in person, being performed before me. I definitely felt more emotions across the spectrum during the performance than reading it. I teared up and cried too. This play embodies so many messages. How others view the Chinese. What it takes to be American. What defines the American culture. The way people treat others. Inequality. Acceptance. The struggle in a different environment. Conformity. The list goes on. The Chinese Lady is about the alleged first Chinese woman to set foot on U.S. soil, Afong Moy, who is bought and showcased as a display to the American public that follows her story over a half a century. The story transcends over generations and time as it is relatable to many today and all ethnicities. I am so grateful to have been a part of this play is some way, during its pre-production stage. It was also great to see some of the people I worked with during the summer on this play. Seeing more stories that need to be told being chosen to be showcased and shared with the public is what really matters at the end of the day.

To top off a heart-wrenching story, we went to Oakobing to lighten the air with mango melon shaved ice. So good and so filling!

Definitely a night full of raw emotions, contemplating, gratitude, and lots of food I won't forget.

A New View on Women's Image

How we, females, are portrayed and viewed in society needs to change.

Currently, I am taking an Introduction to Gender Studies in Humanities course at CSUF. My professor, Professor Christian, opened my eyes to a totally different way of viewing society with some of the following issues discussed in class about the female image.

Females are portrayed in media, television, movies, and other mediums to be skinny, tone, slim, and above all, beautiful. But what defines beautiful for a female? In our society, it is to have flawless skin, to have curves, to have very little fat, to have amazing hair/hairstyle. We hold women at such a high standard, to this "ideal female figure." Do most of us females actually look like that in real life? Most of us don't. Then why do we have this as the image as what a female should be and look like? Why are we comparing females to this standard? The problem stems from a deeper and underlying reason: we, females, do this because this is what we think men want.

Females work on their appearances not exactly for themselves. They do it as they see there is this "ideal female figure" they should look like. As a result, females spend tons of money on their appearances. Hairstyles with the full-on transformation may cost a whole lot. This doesn't even include the makeup women spend for their features on their faces and nails. To top it off, most females take a longer time getting ready in the morning as opposed to males.

It surprised me to see this issue happening in front of me when I realized all my life, I knew, yet I never asked why. To hear males talk about how they spend 5 to 15 minutes in the morning was just a funny matter. It's a crazy difference but it never bothered me in the past, until now. We created an image that females are held accountable to at a very high standard, whereas we don't have an image created that males are held accountable to at a similarly high standard. It explains why females take longer in the mornings, spend on makeup, hair stylists, clothes, and nails that do not match the time and money that males take and spend by a long shot.

This image we created is all over the media. What media tells us is what we need to hold ourselves up to. We see Brie Larson, as Captain Marvel, vigorously training for nine months for her role. As a result, women and men see her on the big screens and this is one of the many that females should look like. The truth is the body Larson has developed and created took many months of training and isn't the typical body that most females will and should have. With the training, Larson was also on a Paleo meal diet. This brings me to the question again, why do we allow physical appearance and not the health of a female, to be an example of the "ideal female figure"?

Rather, we should ask an obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) what is the "ideal female figure" in regards to height, weight, age, health, among other factors. The "ideal female figure" females should strive for should be healthy. A healthy female figure. A healthy female figure should be what circulates into the media, which makes males realize that should be what they want, that makes females know that this is the image of a female figure they should be comparing themselves to. By doing so, we stop and prevent the vicious cycle of making a fantasy image into realism.

The photo above is a picture of myself. I don't use human images for my posts but for this, I wanted to. As you can see, I have blemishes, I am not perfect. I don't have makeup on, I don't use it. I don't stylize my hair because I don't think it's necessary. Just a typical depiction of how I look on the daily. I want to show that it's okay not to have makeup and do all those things. We can break the cycle and create a new standard for females to follow. Create the real life standard for a female and put it in the media for the world to begin to change. Make healthy the new normal, the new standard. This will allow females to be equal with males slowly and surely. This will change the future generations to come. There will be less bullying. There will be less judgment. There will be more self-acceptance, self-assurance, and confidence.

This change is not going to be easy, as to undo what many females have learned over the years is most likely not going to happen any time soon. What we can do is to try and teach the younger female generations on accepting and creating a healthy female figure that is suited for each one of them alone. This will create a new view of women's image that is needed to reach equality in society between men and women.

Reminder, Reflection, Reaction

Two weeks into senior year, the final round, and... quite a bit of unexpected reminders of the past bled into the present. To say the least, they made me question my moral compass, my belief in the good in people. They made me question how many more bullets have to be aimed at me for the world to see there's only so much fire I can take before I am exhausted, mentally, physically, and emotionally. I ended up crying but not because these moments happened but because I was trying so hard to figure out what I have to learn, what I should take away from these marks in my life. I took a walk on campus and ended at my favorite place, Wall Gazing Gallery. Some reason, being around water calms and relaxes me, even if this time the water was not falling from the roof of the structure. Seeing the water move was enough for me, to find some peace in all this madness.

I think I figured it out what these moments wanted to teach me, at least at this stage of my life.

There are going to be so many reminders in your life that you may or immensely want to escape from. But life has a funny way of doing, as it keeps bringing signs or reminders into your life that you want to leave behind in the past, to close that chapter for good. Those reminders actually help you grow even when it feels like you're walking backwards into your history all over again. They are to keep you moving, to make you face those moments again. They are to make you deal with the pain they once gave you. Now, how are you going to react to those reminders? Are you going to face them head on or divert until the next time you encounter it?

As much as a person wants to leave the past behind, the past finds its way back at some point in time, bringing all the feels, pain, anxiety back in. Your past wants to keep teaching you on how to react and reflect on those moments in your previous chapters until you have learned everything you need from them. They aren't here to suffocate you, to tear you down. They are back in your life to encourage you to learn from them and to overcome. Create YOUR own peace from them. But remember, peace comes in waves, everything comes in waves. The peace you find one day may not work the next time you encounter your past, that reminder, that sign. That is okay. You will find another peace that works for you each time.

Just remember, each reminder, sign that brings you back to the past, that keeps you tied to the past, is only back because it hasn't finished teaching you all that you need to learn from it. You will find the peace needed in each moment of your past that comes back into your life.

To Change

Change in inevitable. A co-worker once told me, "everything is temporary, nothing is permanent." This is so true. One minute a person can be sad. The next minute the person can be happy. There is a beauty and ugly in change. No one likes change, but change is happening all around, whether we like it or not. The truth is, instead of being opposed to change, we need to welcome it.

It can be scary to accept change. Letting go of our familiarity or even letting go of what we thought could be. If we don't bring in the change as change occurs, we actually prevent ourselves from moving forward, holding on and being stuck in the past. By welcoming change in, we allow ourselves to explore what is meant to be for us.

Change doesn't have to happen in an instant. Rather, accept change, allow it to gradually come into your life. It also allows us to start anew. To start fresh in any capacity/form it takes. Just like clouds. Every second, the clouds are changing their shapes causing each person to see different forms in the sky.

Take that deep breath. It's the first of September. First day of the month. To new beginnings. To do things differently. To change.

Summer 2019 Is California Dreaming

The title of this post says it all. This summer is truly "California Dreaming." Landing myself this summer at Greenway Arts Alliance (GAA), in the department, Greenway Court Theatre (GCT), as a producing intern had been a beautiful, beautiful dream. But to get HERE wasn't as beautiful as you may think...

Surrounded by peers full of talent and accomplishments, I was feeling a bit defeated when I applied and reached out to a number of different internship positions in California and did not hear back from them at all. I began to question how will I gain the knowledge and experience I needed if no one took a chance on me. I kept reassuring myself with positive thoughts and that my time will come. But of course, the worries and fears always crept in. It was weeks later when a tiny speck of hope peeked through; I got an interview at GAA. Two weeks later, I received the offer of the producing intern position, along with the words, "your business background and passion for the arts and community would be a great fit." These words alone meant so much to me. Throughout my undergraduate college career thus far, I have come across so many individuals who did not see how business and creativity fit together. Each one questioned why a person who is interested in the entertainment world of theatre, tv, and film be a business major. It was upon seeing those words upon my screen, staring at me, that I knew that someday, what I do will be understood. That someday was May 13.

This full-time ten-week internship was full of growing, learning, and continuous self-discovery I will never forget. As a producing intern, I learned so much that goes into putting on a production in a non-profit theatre. It was incredible to see what I learned in my business classes in a real-world setting and put the skills I learned into action. I was able to do the best of both worlds theatre: the business aspect and the creative/production aspect. It allowed me to immerse myself in the theatre world, where my passion for production began. Being a part of the pre-production stage, whether it was creating marketing plans for the productions for the 19/20 season, doing community outreach, assisting in casting auditions, and drafting various contracts and agreements, was beyond what I could imagine. Seeing the building blocks of each production and how much theatre affects and connects people in a lasting way different from film and television was quite something.

It took this summer internship to make me realize how much art has been a part of my life. Early on, it's been there when I needed it, whether to get through the tough times to understanding myself better. It's crazy how everything I do, from my past to my present has always been related to art in some form of fashion its in and much more. The beauty of it is it comes in so many different forms, allowing each one of us to be artists even when we don't realize it. Bakers, architectures, writers, producers, accountants, and scientists are all artists, among many others. Art can be found in every facet of life and community. For me, I know art will always be in my life, be my escape, and be my future. 

I want to thank GAA for being my second home in the summer. So grateful for all the wonderful people I’ve met throughout this internship and all the memories and stories I’ll keep with me for a lifetime. Big shout out and big thanks to Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture for giving foster and adoptive youth and undergraduate students the opportunity to experience full-time 10 week internships in non-profit arts organizations. Honored to be a part of 203 LACDAC Interns, Class of 2019. A bigger shout out to my family for putting up with my new schedule this summer. My family is my biggest support system and I am honestly don't know what I do without them, always believing in me. 

The reason I want to share this story with you all is that there will be so many times in life that will knock you down. I want you to know YOU are not alone on this. It's a journey every single person goes through, just differently. Keep doing what you are doing and know things will work out on their own. Always believe and always dream your wildest of dreams. 

June Adventures Recap

Two months and nine days ago, I started my internship at Greenway Arts Alliance. I can't believe it's almost over in just one week. So much learning and growth along the way. Stay tuned to that post in this coming week!

It's been a whirlwind two months with my internship, writing, more writing, and learning what it's like to be having a full-time internship (job in a sense) with the commuter life. BUT definitely still trying to juggle family and friends time too! And of course blogging! Still a bit behind in blogging but trying to do at least one post each week and I have to say, it's been going well so far. Woot woot!

Greenway Court Theatre

During my week off from work, I caught up with friends and hanged out with my dear mumsy.

June 14: I spent the day with my bestie, Kim, at Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong. We caught up on college life and life in general while eating radish kimchi cold noodles and prime beef belly. It was good! The cold noodles wasn't too spicy and the beef was great with the cheesy corn, eggs, and sauce that went with it.

June 15: With eggs on our minds, my sister and I went to The Benediction by Toast for brunch and ordered the Crem Brûlée Crunch and House Benedict. It was perfect: one sweet and one savory. The french toast tasted like a creme brûlée, with the cinnamon, chocolate, and the crisp. The eggs benedict were delicious. It was a combination of hickory smoked bacon, avocado, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce. A perfect amount of savory for me. As for our side for the eggs benedict, we got the hashbrown chips. They were so good! They were like mini versions of fries but in a chip form! Some had more potato in it, so some were soft and some were crispy. Just like fries! Definitely a great sister date!

June 17: Caught up with a high school friend, Colette, with my dear bestie at Uniboil. I must say the food was good at first but definitely did not corporate with me as I had several days of stomach aches. The conversation was great though, with exchanges of lots of college life stories! To top it off, we headed to Bubble Crush for drinks. I got the Roasted oolong milk tea with tiramisu puffcream. It was good! A great meet up and looking forward to more in the future!

June 18: I was still on my break from interning as my boss was still on vacation, so I decided to take a day trip to Hollywood again and get Korean soup at Sulga Jinju Got Tang House of Beef Soup! Been loving Korean soup. I got the organic beef bone broth brisket and my mom got the organic beef bone broth knee cap. They were amazing! The beef was tender and juicy. The soup was flavorful but clear and simple at the same time. I loved it. It's probably my favorite one of the Korean soup places I've been to. The service was amazing too! Definitely would come back!

June 26: Arts Summit day! Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture held an Arts Summit event for all the 203 interns of Class 2019. It was incredible to be able to meet other interns who were in the arts internship program. To hear the inspiring and encouraging words from so many was icing on the cake. It was amazing to hear their stories and their journeys and paths to where they are today. It made me feel so grateful to be part of this program and to be able to see how so many people are connected through art. Art has made a mark and lasting impression in all of our hearts in ways that beautiful and expressive. 

After the introduction speeches and two workshops, we were able to branch off to our peer groups and meet our peer group leader and peers who had similar interests to ourselves as each group was based on a theme. It was so nice to meet them and get to know them a little bit during lunch. Then we had three tours: the Broad, Colburn School, and Grand Performances. It was amazing to see art in so many forms, from artworks, to music, to spoken word. Art is so diverse and versatile. To end the day, we got to see a performance by a Cal Arts graduate, Miwa Matreyek. She presented her piece in a projected animation with shadow silhouette. It was incredible to see how so many different forms of art in a single performance. It was very experimental and surreal. 

To top off the day, my sister and I went to see The Farewell premiere as LACDAC offered free tickets and I was lucky enough to be one of the few. The movie was wonderful, funny, and beautiful. I laughed and cried. It was also incredible to see a story about an Asian family that can be relatable and hit home for so many in the feels. But of course, we had food beforehand to fill our tummies. We got the appetizer, takoyaki, tonkotsu ramen, and tsukemen ramen. The takoyaki was very fresh, hot, and soft. My tsukemen was something new to me, as it's a dipping style ramen. It was really good. The dipping sauce is somewhat similar to a gravy. I really liked how it wasn't too heavy. One of the best days this girl can have this summer. 

June 29: After a Wong Fu Warehouse Sale, in which my sister got three bears, we got lunch at Bonchon, ordering the Japchae and soy garlic fried chicken (drumsticks, wings, and strips). The Japchae was really good, very chewy and flavorful. The chicken was amazing. Very flavorful as well, crispy skin, and the meat was very tender and juicy. A very messy meal but two very satisfied tummies. After that, we stopped at Dot and Dough for malasadas (three earl grey, one matcha, one taro, one cappuccino, and one dark chocolate).