pattiez's blog

I've been neglecting this blog for far too long. Come to think about it, I've been neglecting me. Too often have I been going back and forth from meeting to meeting. Sure, it builds my portfolio, but do the benefits weigh out the effort?

Yes and no.

I've learned a lot, but I've lost a lot. I miss hanging out with my family. I miss the Sunday morning dim sum time with my parents. I see my partners in crime, Helen and Carson, more than I see my parents--and I live with my parents! This experience has taught me a lot. It's helped me confirm what I'm passionate about. And most importantly, I've strengthened my people management skills.

Some highlights:

IMC OC Photoshoot

Amazing bonding experience. Huge thank you to our amazing photographer, Theresa.

YWiB SFU Project GIVE (Generating Innovative Visions of Entrepreneurship)

So proud of Katie P and Steph for launching this unique program. Amazing speakers!

YWiB SFU Wine Tasting Event

Hosted by Society and Richard Goodine. Photography props to www.604foodtography.com

IMC Fundraiser: Gloop Show

Our messy, but fun fundraiser.

And no pictures yet... but YWiB SFU SOUL (Supporting Our University Leaders) Workshop and Orientation. This program has been the most challenging thing I've ever taken on, but it has been the most rewarding so far. I can't wait to see how every mentee develop professionally and personally. Eight more months to go! =)

YWiB SOUL and IMC are my babies. I sleep and dream about them. <3

Labels: hmm, imc, YWiB

I just had a 3.75 hour meeting today for IMC. This week, I was in meetings for 7.25 hours. Thankfully they were very productive.

I can do it!

Next week will be intense. I'm actually looking forward to it. =)

Now, should I bother making dinner or just have a big breakfast. Hmm...

Labels: co-op, imc, sma, YWiB

I have two babies that will be born in 9 months... from different partners: YWiB SOUL and IMC.

I think if I can balance good grades at school, create a successful SOUL program, have a well acknowledged IMC, keep a steady social life, maintain a healthy relationship with the family, and have "me" time, then I can do anything in life. Confident? Maybe. Ambitious? A tad too much. But the big question is, can I actually do all that without any breakdowns?

Only time can tell. Check up on me in 9/10 months.

(By the way, if anyone can purchase Starbucks Double Shot on discount, please help me buy a case.)

Labels: hmm, school, sma, YWiB

Stephen's comment made me chuckle... and I only say chuckle because giggle seems too silly for the content. Although I must say that chuckle isn't the right word either. *Remembers the short ramble by Miss Eisner about how words cannot be used interchangeably* I digress.

Are we both doomed to be insanely busy or is that how we enjoy our life right now? I think we're both ambitious in our own ways. I'm not clear on what I'm ambitious about, but it's something to do with benefiting my future. (That's good enough, right?) I must admit I need to take extensive breaks to recover from my life.

I just went on a retreat on the weekend. It wasn't much of a break though. It was an all YWiB retreat. (I'm in the SFU chapter, but there's a UBC chapter and a Greater YWiB as well.) The SFU-ers left Friday night and came back Sunday afternoon. Everyone spent Saturday working. We had meetings after meetings, with only meals as breaks. Intensive! Most of us did head out to Garfinkels after quiet time started. (We were staying at the UBC lodge.) As a huge group of girls, needless to say, we didn't have any trouble going in. It was fun and funny. We had each other so we were pretty awesome at getting rid of unwanted guys. Although at the end of the night, it was... different. Most of the stagettes left near the end of the night and all that was left, in terms of females, was our group of girls and a sprinkle of girls who were paired off with guys. Now imagine a club filled with males and a group of girls dancing with each other. It was like vultures checking out their prey. The dork in me immediately thought of Foucault's theory of the panopticon, and then the male gaze ideology. Yes, I'm a true Communications student.

Work hard and party hard. YWiB ladies are the best.

Now back to my notes... meeting with my Co VP tomorrow and then with the board on Sunday. Ahh.

10. work, meeting w/ Co VP
11. work, dino
12. dino, work CTS, out with CTS-ers (pending...)
13. YWiB meeting, grocery shop (pending...)
14. work, purchase world map+colour ink for work
15. work, site visit, meeting with site people, meeting w/ OC
16. work, out with Gor
...best thing about work is that there is not homework

Labels: trip, YWiB

After reading Stephen's new post, I figured I should write one too. I've been insanely busy this semester. I've confirmed that the busy lifestyle is what I love. I love the feeling of going from one place to another. The need to have a continuous to do list. It's so fulfilling to see a page of "to do's" all checked up and having it spill to another page. It's weird, but I'm not exactly "not weird".

It sure doesn't feel like summer though. The weather has been horrible. Toronto gave me a real summer to compare to, so Vancouver is disappointing me right now.

May highlights:

I'm not sure if I mentioned about my first official day of coop. Well, the wind blew out the power... twice. I ended up going home after 3 hours of work; two and a half of which we were out of power.

We spent our first anniversary in front of the television watching the very disappointing round two game four playoff game. Oh, and he made steak dinner. Yum.

Toronto! It was nice and relaxing. I really appreciated the luxury of taking Friday off from coop as well, so my trip was Friday to Monday rather than just Saturday to Monday. The concert was amazing. Our last meal before returning to Raincouver was outside in the patio. We enjoyed a nice meal with a cocktail and 27 degree weather.

Just on Friday, I went to a meeting with the organization that's paying for my coop. I found out when they were introducing me that they wanted me to do a short speech. Improvising in front of 23 established professionals is not exactly a easy thing.

The past week, I've had about 5 hours worth of meetings for YWiB (www.ywib.ca). Come to think about it, compared to the amount of work that has been done, 5 hours isn't a lot. I'm excited to see our programs and events launch by the end of the summer. The hard work will be worth it!

I finally tried the new ramen place: Hokkaido Ramen Santouka. It's a ramen chain that originated from Japan. I really enjoyed the soup. The cha-shu was delicious! It melted in my mouth. Om nom nom. I didn't enjoy the noodles too much, despite the apparent claim by Japanese people that Santouka cooks their noodles perfectly. I would prefer it if it was a tad softer. Just a tad. Oh, and locals claim that Santouka is the most authentic ramen shop in Vancouver. That may be true, but I've had ramen in Hokkaido and well... it's not the same.

Labels: canucks, co-op, concert, food, food adventure, him, holiday, Japan, trip, vacation, YWiB