Week 2 College: Embracing the Small Moments: Finding Joy in the Little Things this Week
“There’s nothing like the peace of the countryside, the quiet, and the lack of distraction. It helps you to focus your mind”
-Jenny Nimmo
By: Hong Bing Tang September 8th, 2024
09/02/2024 to 09/08/2024
Introduction:
Hello all! I hope you all had a great week. Not a whole lot of things have happened this past week. However, since few new things have happened, I have started to reflect and focus on the little things that I often take for granted. Sometimes when we get busy, we get too caught up in life. We miss key things and chase things that we think will make us happier. But in reality, if we just look into our lives at that moment, we truly can appreciate all that we have and be happy. This week I have had a lot of time to reflect on this and appreciate the little things. Lets dive in.
Team picnic and Volleyball.:
We were able to have an extended weekend at the beginning of the week since it was Labor day on Monday which meant that there was no school and additionally practice was on our own. Although on Monday, we had a full team picnic the the whole cross country and track team. In total there were able 85 of us at the picnic and we played a variety of team games. I was able to play in a huge game of volleyball. We had over 10 of us on each time but it made it an very fun expereince. Even though I am a beginner at volleyball I got better. In addition to volleyball, I was also able to cornhole with a few of my teammates as well which again was fun. Overall the team picnic was an awesome experience to hang out with and meet some of the track team as well.
To take advantage of the awesome weather, yesterday we hosted another team volleyball/kickball ball game. We had around 18 of us in total and very similar to Monday we played5 games of volleyball. I definetly could see how much I improved since I was actually able to bump the volleyball up in the air a decent amount of the time. We rarely do these type of team events but being able to play a semi-competitive/fun game reminded me of how fortunate I am to have an amazing group of friends that support me and that I can have fun with. For that I am truly grateful.
Runs/Workouts:
This past week, I have been able to reflect on my mentality on running. This week on Tuesday and Thursday I did workouts by myself since I have class while the rest of the team practices. This Tuesday I had quite a hard and long workout by myself. I was a little bit nervous since I was worried that since I did not know what would happen if things got hard in the middle of the workout and what I would do. Although I had these thoughts during the workout. I could not help but notice how nice it was outside. It was clear skies and 60 degrees which was perfect running weather. In addition, I was doing the workout on dirt roads with truly little traffic. It was almost peaceful to be out there and being able to run. This was helpful since it shifted my mindset to allow myself to be happy even if things got tough. Furthermore, my coach was biking with me, so I was not truly alone, and this really helped me focus and I did not allow myself to give up. I am grateful that my coach was able to bike with me since it really helped me and allowed me to have some laughs during the rest and relax instead of being by myself.
Work:
This week I started off my first job that I have ever held during the school year. I applied for a math tutoring job last December and they finally contacted me over the summer to interview to see whether I would be a good fit for the job. I did my interview during the first week of school and it went all right. Fortunately, I was able to get the job, and I started my first shift on Tuesday. I was working with someone I knew, which was nice, and my first day I only had to tutor 2 people total, and it was fun since I enjoy helping and explain how to figure out math problems to people. I also had another shift on Thursday and while I was a little bit tired that day, I was able to help someone out with their Engineering homework that the person otherwise would be on their own for since I was the only engineer that was tutoring that day. Through these first two shifts I was able to make some money while also helping people out and experience my passion for teaching.
PowerPoint Night
On Saturday night one of my friends’ groups decided to have a PowerPoint night. Many people did a PowerPoint on how their summers were. I was excited since most of my friends studied abroad this summer, so I could see what they did, which was awesome! A couple of other people did work experiences which was insightful into seeing what other jobs are like. Also, my favorite PowerPoint was Eli’s PowerPoint, which explains the correct way to put toilet paper on. My PowerPoint was on my two favorite economic terms which are the law of diminishing marginal returns and the sunk cost fallacy. Overall, it was a good night to catch up with everyone and learn how their summer went.
Family Dinner 🙂
Last week I started a weekly dinner where on Sunday one of us would cook for the other roommates. This week was Carson’s turn to cook us a meal and it was great. He decided to cook us Jambalaya and it is one of the dishes that I really enjoy. I helped him cut the chicken earlier in the week and he quickly whipped up the meal. I really enjoy this new thing that we have since it allows us to all sit at the table and have dinner where we all sit down and have conversations about the week and such. There just is something about having a formal “family dinner.” Additionally, it allows us to learn about other foods that we may want to learn. I am looking forward to next week since Steven will be cooking and while he is starting to learn how to cook, I will be able to guide him through the process.
Conclusion:
This last week has been a really beneficial week. It has allowed me to reflect on the trivial things that bring me joy in everyday life while also showing what I really enjoy doing. Having an extended weekend and the extra time to relax was good for my mental health. Anyway, I look forward to another momentous week and will see you all next week.
Get in Touch
Got questions or want to chat? Drop a line. I love connecting with new friends!