Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!

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It’s the final day of the year. Before I head out to ring in 2014, I’m sticking with tradition and writing my year annual review. I’ve been doing this for the past two years, inspired in large part by Chris Guillebeau’s Annual Review, who I’ve been following since 2008!

In the past two years, I wrote these reviews chronologically. You can see these here: 2012, 2011. I already covered all the travels that I did this past year in detail, but if I take a step back, I did a lot more than just traveling.  Here’s what went well, what didn’t and my goals for the coming year:

What went well?

  1. Friendships and relationships. I think overall this went extremely well. I met a ton of people through various projects, as well as felt like I grew closer to a lot of people, both in DC as well as Penn friends.

  2. Traveling and music. I had to mention this, because travel was a big part of my life this year! It’s crazy to realize that I went to so many (and some new!) places: Istanbul, Athens, Toronto, New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Charlottesville, Chicago, Southern California, Central California, and Las Vegas!

  3. Career experimentation. So many projects and experiences from this year: freelancing, YPFP, APCO, Flat World. I learned so much about myself, what I like, what I don’t like, what I’m willing to tolerate, and what aspects of a job are non-negotiable.

What didn’t go well?

  1. Focusing on what matters the most. I did a lot of different things throughout 2013, and struggled to see how everything was relevant and related to each other.

  2. Financially, I didn’t really save much at all this past year. I did put a pretty big dent in my student loans, but for the most part I spent a lot, particularly on food, drinks, and travels.

  3. Fitness. Although I completed my first ever half-marathon (!), I think I gave too much attention to other projects, which sacrificed a lot of my time to focus on getting more fit for much of the year.

2014 Goals:

Here’s a look at how I fared with this past year’s goals. Below is a partial list of my goals for the coming year. By the end of 2014, I’d like to say that I have:

  • Paid off the remainder of my student loans.

  • Ran a half marathon in under two hours.

  • Completed the minimum requirements of the marine corps fitness test.

  • Launched teamdone.io.

  • Attended mass at least once a month.

  • Blogged about my journeys as a marketer / researcher / traveler at least once a month.

What about you? How was your 2013, and what are your goals for 2014?

2013 Travel Highlights

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I started writing out my annual review, but realized I should probably dedicate a post just to my travel and entertainment highlights. Without a doubt, I did A LOT this past year. Hoping for more excitement in the travel/entertainment department in the new year.

Travel Highlights

  • Visited Istanbul & Athens

    • Saw the Aya Sofya, Sultanhamet Mosque, explored Istanbul

    • Ate and drank in Istanbul: apple tea, soccer game while having nargile

    • Visited the Parthenon and Acropolis

    • Witnessed demonstrations happening at the Greek Parliament

    • Drank a freddocappucino while looking at the Acropolis

    • Watched the sunset over the Aegean Sea atop a hill in Athens.

    • Ate all the delicious feta, gyros, and desserts.

  • Visited Annapolis, MD

    • Ate Maryland crab for the first time!

  • Visited NYC multiple times throughout the year

    • March for my very first Armin van Buuren concert!

    • Headed up for Memorial Day, July 4th Weekend and Labor Day Weekend to meet up with friends, including a trip to both the Jersey Shore and Long Island beaches with friends.

    • Saw my fourth broadway show ever: Newsies

  • Visited Toronto, ON

    • Saw the CN Tower

    • Went to Niagara Falls

    • Visited the largest Asian Mall in North America (Pacific Mall)

    • Visited my very first Microbrewery

    • Experienced the hostel life yet again!

    • Ate poutine and explored Toronto

    • Had the most amazing boba ever — Mango Slush!

  • Went to New Orleans, LA

    • Traveled for the first time with two of my really good friends!

    • Experienced the debauchery of Bourbon Street

    • Ate incredibly delicious food! Dat Dog, Cafe du Monde, Oysters in Biloxi, Gautreau Restaurant (foie gras, rack of lamb)

    • Went on a swamp tour and saw some alligators

    • Went to Biloxi, Mississippi and went to my very first Gulf Coast Beach

    • Visited Ward 9 (Hurricane Katrina)

  • Went to Chicago, IL

    • Explored the city with my roommate and friends

    • Went to the Sears Tower, John Hancock Observatory, Boystown

  • Went to Charlottesville, VA

    • took a day trip with friends down to Charlottesville

    • went to Monticello, hiking at Humpback Rocks, getting chicken at a random gas station, and stopping by a random restaurant for some BBQ

  • Went to Philly, PA

    • First time heading to Penn for homecoming. Made me realize just how long it’s been since I was in college.

  • Heading down the Central Coast and San Diego, CA

    • Drove over 1000 miles in my Chevy Cruze rental along PCH.

    • Visited Hearst Castle. Stunning piece of real estate!

 

Entertainment Highlights

  • Went snowboarding for the second time in my life with friends in Virginia

  • First time watching the Wizards and Capitals at the Verizon Center. Also attended several Nationals baseball games throughout the summer.

  • Saw a lot more concerts than I ever have: Andrew McMahon, National Symphony Orchestra, .fun, Tegan & Sara, Justin Timberlake, King the Kid, Alex Goot, Carly Rae Jepsen, Hot Chelle Rae, Marine Corps Presidential Band,

  • Went to the beach several times: Jersey Shore, Long Island, Rehoboth

  • Went hiking throughout the year: Shenandoah Valley, Charlottesville

  • Attended some awesome events: 2013 Presidential Inauguration, YPFP’s Affairs of State, CAPAL Ball, Embassy Walk, Washington PRIDE, YPFP Annual Retreat, summer beer and festivals, and too many YPFP speaker events to recall!

2013 – The Year Ahead

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Time to start thinking about my goals for next year. After my mixed success with goal-setting for this past year, I’m going to try and make these ones as specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) as possible. Lets go!

Need to happen:

  • Pass the HSK Level 5. I really want to have an official document that demonstrates my proficiency. I found this great website called Skritter to help me practice my Chinese and it’s going well so far. I’d like to sit for the Level 5 by December. Before that though, I hope to test the waters and sit for the Level 4 exam by June.
  • Get at least a 720 or higher on the GMAT. I’m not sure when I’ll head back to grad school, but I eventually want to earn a joint MBA/MA. Hope I can get this out of the way by June.
  • Run a half-marathon. This has been a goal for three years, and it still hasn’t happened. I’d like to run the Philly Half-Marathon next November. Before running the Half, I plan on doing a couple 5/10/15k races just to get comfortable running in a race. Relatedly, I hope to hit the gym at least once a week for strength training.
  • Blog at least once a month. In addition to this blog, which will continue be mostly a log of my ongoing projects, I’m thinking about starting another blog focused on the challenges of urbanization. Hope I can get that off the ground!
  • Go to mass at least once a month. I don’t think I’ll really have any problems getting this one done.

Want to happen:

  • Learn Python and R. Related to my coding goals from last year, but with more focus. I’d like to be competent enough to make at least one submission on Kaggle by October.
  • Dive deeper in HTML/CSS/JS. I launched a landing page earlier this fall, but quickly realized I really have no idea what I was doing. For now, that project is shelved. Hope to continue practicing by completing more modules like those on CodeAcademy or on Udemy.

2012 in Review

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Just three days left this year. Here’s my recap of this past year.

January:

Ringing in the New Year at Taipei 101!

Ringing in the New Year at Taipei 101!

Living the life of a student. I was deep in the heart of my language study program in Taiwan. Classes were challenging, but what I recall most from this month was all the fun I had enjoying my time in Taipei. Whether it was hitting the bars, exploring the parks and neighborhoods, or even just hanging out with friends from around the world, I finally felt like I was easing back into “normal” life, albeit in a foreign country. This was also the month when I was forced to leave Taiwan for Hong Kong due to an expired visa, and when my Chinese skills were put to the test when I served as essentially the translator for my groups’ adventures around Taiwan during CNY.

 

February:

Banana pratha for breakfast in Singapore.

Banana pratha for breakfast in Singapore.

 

Enjoying freedom, traveling solo, saying goodbyes. I had finally decided that I wouldn’t be doing another semester at Taida. I had already traveled around Taiwan during CNY, but made an effort to visit some additional places around the island before l departed. I also visited Singapore and Malaysia before coming back to Taiwan for my return flight to LA. I was traveling solo for most of these trips, but despite that fact I still had an amazing time. So much good food, really interesting people, and I still couldn’t believe that I was living out a lifelong dream. Having the freedom to just go is something that I’ll definitely remember from this month. That, and saying goodbye to all the people I had met in Taiwan. Hope to meet up with them some day.

 

March:
Back to the States. I spent two weeks in LA before heading back to DC. I had considered settling back down in other cities – SF, LA, NYC, and Seattle were on my shortlist – but I chose to head back to DC mainly because I felt like I left the city too soon. Coming back to DC was a great, mainly because of all the people that welcomed me back with open arms. It felt as if I had never left! Catching up and enjoying my time in DC while funemployed is what I remember most about March.

Spring time hiking at Great Falls Park

Spring time hiking at Great Falls Park.

April:

Kicking the job search into high gear. After the novelty of being back in DC had worn off, I was ready to turbo charge my search for an enjoyable job. April was the month that really tested my tolerance for uncertainty. Although I had been out of the workforce since October, it was only until April did I really feel like one of the thousands of recent college graduates (let alone millions of unemployed Americans) desperately looking for work but with no luck. I was growing anxious, but at the same time wasn’t too worried since I still had a backup plan to attend grad school or head back to Singapore.

May:

New job! And a wake up call. Lots of things happened this month. I was offered a job (!) doing research for a public affairs firm. Shortly after starting though, I had to head back to Hawaii for my grandma’s funeral. It was certainly unexpected, and the event was a wake up call to make sure I’m not wasting my time. Life is too fleeting to put up with nonsense.

June-August:

What a blur. This past summer was honestly probably one of the more fast-paced ones that I’ve had since leaving Hawaii 7 years ago. The learning curve for my new job was incredibly steep, and there were numerous times where I felt utterly incompetent and had no idea how I managed to land the position. I spent many of my out-of-work hours trying to get a grasp on how to effectively do my job. Despite the difficulties at work, I had a great appreciation for what I was learning and doing each day, something that in hindsight, is a rarity for someone my age to say about their job.

Endless coding. Summer was also the time that I kicked my coding aspirations into high gear. I spent many weekends and early mornings absorbing as much information as possible. Most days I was confused and had no idea how things worked, but I look back on these moments as periods of perseverance. I had no idea what I was doing, and only a general reason why I wanted to code. Regardless, I’m glad I stuck to it, no matter how slow-going my efforts were.

September-October:

In search of balance. If the summer months was a time of non-stop work, September and October were the months where I sought to achieve more balance. During these two months I traveled all over the country, heading to NYC, Philly, LA and Hawaii once again. The workload hadn’t abated, but I was getting more comfortable with figuring out how to balance work with the rest of my life.

The view of Santa Barbara, California

The view of Santa Barbara, California

November-December:

Appreciation. From a career perspective, these two months helped me realize just how far I’ve come professionally speaking. The workload has abated largely due to the addition of a new team member. Work is much more fun now that I have a decent grasp of how things work. And did I mention how fantastic the benefits are at my work!? So far I have 21 days of vacation for next year — which is ample time to go out and explore the world! Beyond work, these past couple of weeks of holiday parties and get togethers have affirmed my belief that people truly make a place more than just a temporary base. Friends (and family) really do make a place feel like home. I’m so glad that wherever I’ve been, both Taipei, DC, and even as a traveler around Southeast Asia, I’ve been so thankful for being able to share my experiences with so many people – it’s been great!