It all started with a dream. The American Dream.
It was the summer of 1998 when my father, Jeffrey Chu, decided to bring uproot his career ties in Taipei and start anew in the sunny and opportunistic city of San Francisco. He decided to enroll in college and start a future in the financial industry, looking forward for ways to support the family that he planned to start in the future.
On February 3rd, 2001, 7 weeks before I was scheduled to come out, I was born into the world at a sickly 4 lbs. I had to be put into an incubator right after conception because I was turning purple in my own mother's hands. She said it was the scariest experience of her life, and she's still thankful till this day that I ended up alive.
I spent the first few months of my life dabbling with the loads of toys that were piled in the living room of our cramped 800 square feet apartment. My favorite toy at that time in my life was a weird ball that could expand and shrink at my command, and "ball!" was actually the first word out of my mouth. My parents always said I was a relatively calm baby, and that I would always refuse to suck on a pacifier (sometimes even taking it out of my own mouth and chucking it halfway across the room).
There was a "birthday-grab" that my family did for me on my first birthday. They laid multiple objects on the floor in front of me and apparently the one I chose has some sort of representation for what I'll become. I ended up crawling towards a spatula, so I guess you can look forward to a Chef Ryan in the near future? Just kidding, chef's don't make much money. But I do love eating, researching, and making all types of food, so maybe that spatula did foreshadow something...
It was February 8th, 2002 when I was recorded taking my shaky first steps in my childhood apartment, falling down shortly thereafter. I did a lot of goofy things when I was young, and it probably doesn't help that it was all recorded and stored in a hard drive located somewhere in my current house. After my dad got more money, we moved out into the suburbs in Fremont, and I started attending the Montessori school my mom worked at. My early years were filled with family trips to Crater Lake, more advanced toys like remote controlled cars, IN-N-OUT (OMG), and the obvious mischief that comes with growing up.
My sister was born just three days after my 4th birthday, and I was just outside the hospital room when my mom was giving birth. Sounded painful. I like to think that I was a good older brother because I would always play with her and even smell her diapers when my parents thought she needed a change. Unfortunately, I don't know if any of those memories stayed with her because all Hannah likes to do now is "meme" my face with Snapchat stickers and make compilations out of her never-ending collection. Ouch.
In the summer of 2008, my dad got a job offer with Morgan Stanley in Houston, and our family was forced to move South to a much more boring environment. I attended Colony Meadows Elementary School, where I made a lot of friends that I still stay in contact with today, even though they all ended up going to Fort Settlement and Clements.
Funny story. I actually got put into Gifted and Talented classes because I was faster than my 3rd-grade teacher, Mrs. Snyder, at my multiplication tables. I owe that to my grandparents making me memorize multiplication facts every day when they walked me to school. Other things that happened in elementary school was my involvement with the FCST swim team, the start of my piano career, and even occasional art classes. All things that I ended up quitting. Oops.
My parents ended up pushing me to attend the GT Academy at QVMS against my own will. I didn't want to leave all of the friends and memories that I made in elementary school. However, the choice to actually go to Quail Valley was probably one of the best decisions of my life. I was surrounded by ambitious people who challenged me to push myself and my intellectual limits, making me into a more hardworking and efficient student. These people ended up becoming my best friends, and the people that I knew I wanted to go to high school with.
This led to another move for my family. From the Clements area to the Dulles area. And now we're at my high school career. I have a lot of things to say about it so far that it would probably end up taking all day to write, so I'll save those words until I graduate or after junior year is all said and done. Short rundown: GPA! STRESS! NO SLEEP! SOCIAL LIFE NONEXISTENT! EXTRACURRICULARS! NO WAY TO PURSUE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS BECAUSE OF (you guessed it) GPA!
Now that junior year is hitting full strength, we can add SAT! ACT! COLLEGE PREP! AP'S! to the list. Later on this year there will be COLLEGE APPS! COLLEGE ESSAYS! COLLEGE VISITS!
Yes. High school is stressing me out. I have to pretend I'm all good and fine, but I probably cry internally more than 10 times a day. I do this all in hopes of being successful and being able to have the skills and background necessary to live life the way I want to in the future. Hopefully, it'll all be worth it.
Future me? In terms of college, my dream is to return back to California and attend UC Berkeley to in a sense "relive my glory days." But after researching those out-of-state fees, I'll probably end up reasonably at UT Austin studying IT, Chemical Engineering, or Business. My career goal is to end up working for a big tech company in Silicon Valley, Seattle, or Austin because I've always had a fascination with the newest and greatest developments in consumer technologies. Ideally, this job can score me the Tesla and modern style home I've dreamed of since I was a little kid :)
On the topic of children, I've never seriously thought about it as a high schooler. I do like playing with and caring for babies, but I've never thought about having my own. Maybe that's a conversation to have in the future.
I would like to retire in my 50's or 60's and continue living my life by traveling the world with my future wife? children? Who knows? I just really like experiencing new things and this would be the best way to live out the remaining years of my life while fulfilling my bucket list. Hopefully, I don't die too soon but not too late. I find it kind of depressing to be alive if you can't comprehend the world around you, so dying peacefully in my 70's or 80's would be optimal (if there's even an optimal way to die).
So, that's my life story and what I expect for my own future. Maybe some will come true, maybe some won't. As for now, I should probably make up the hours I've spent being WAY too extra for this blog.
Thanks for reading my madness.
Ryan
It was the summer of 1998 when my father, Jeffrey Chu, decided to bring uproot his career ties in Taipei and start anew in the sunny and opportunistic city of San Francisco. He decided to enroll in college and start a future in the financial industry, looking forward for ways to support the family that he planned to start in the future.
On February 3rd, 2001, 7 weeks before I was scheduled to come out, I was born into the world at a sickly 4 lbs. I had to be put into an incubator right after conception because I was turning purple in my own mother's hands. She said it was the scariest experience of her life, and she's still thankful till this day that I ended up alive.
I spent the first few months of my life dabbling with the loads of toys that were piled in the living room of our cramped 800 square feet apartment. My favorite toy at that time in my life was a weird ball that could expand and shrink at my command, and "ball!" was actually the first word out of my mouth. My parents always said I was a relatively calm baby, and that I would always refuse to suck on a pacifier (sometimes even taking it out of my own mouth and chucking it halfway across the room).
This was my favorite toy...
https://cdn1.fishpond.com.au/0107/992/368/244684175/5.jpeg
It was February 8th, 2002 when I was recorded taking my shaky first steps in my childhood apartment, falling down shortly thereafter. I did a lot of goofy things when I was young, and it probably doesn't help that it was all recorded and stored in a hard drive located somewhere in my current house. After my dad got more money, we moved out into the suburbs in Fremont, and I started attending the Montessori school my mom worked at. My early years were filled with family trips to Crater Lake, more advanced toys like remote controlled cars, IN-N-OUT (OMG), and the obvious mischief that comes with growing up.
Gigi is literally me EVERY TIME I get In-N-Out
https://media3.giphy.com/media/xT5LMBJ7eHiVPaTFYc/200w.webp
My sister was born just three days after my 4th birthday, and I was just outside the hospital room when my mom was giving birth. Sounded painful. I like to think that I was a good older brother because I would always play with her and even smell her diapers when my parents thought she needed a change. Unfortunately, I don't know if any of those memories stayed with her because all Hannah likes to do now is "meme" my face with Snapchat stickers and make compilations out of her never-ending collection. Ouch.
In the summer of 2008, my dad got a job offer with Morgan Stanley in Houston, and our family was forced to move South to a much more boring environment. I attended Colony Meadows Elementary School, where I made a lot of friends that I still stay in contact with today, even though they all ended up going to Fort Settlement and Clements.
Funny story. I actually got put into Gifted and Talented classes because I was faster than my 3rd-grade teacher, Mrs. Snyder, at my multiplication tables. I owe that to my grandparents making me memorize multiplication facts every day when they walked me to school. Other things that happened in elementary school was my involvement with the FCST swim team, the start of my piano career, and even occasional art classes. All things that I ended up quitting. Oops.
My parents ended up pushing me to attend the GT Academy at QVMS against my own will. I didn't want to leave all of the friends and memories that I made in elementary school. However, the choice to actually go to Quail Valley was probably one of the best decisions of my life. I was surrounded by ambitious people who challenged me to push myself and my intellectual limits, making me into a more hardworking and efficient student. These people ended up becoming my best friends, and the people that I knew I wanted to go to high school with.
This led to another move for my family. From the Clements area to the Dulles area. And now we're at my high school career. I have a lot of things to say about it so far that it would probably end up taking all day to write, so I'll save those words until I graduate or after junior year is all said and done. Short rundown: GPA! STRESS! NO SLEEP! SOCIAL LIFE NONEXISTENT! EXTRACURRICULARS! NO WAY TO PURSUE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS BECAUSE OF (you guessed it) GPA!
Yes Percy Jackson, that's me in high school!
https://media2.giphy.com/media/RymEjzTM6IDFS/giphy.gif
Yes. High school is stressing me out. I have to pretend I'm all good and fine, but I probably cry internally more than 10 times a day. I do this all in hopes of being successful and being able to have the skills and background necessary to live life the way I want to in the future. Hopefully, it'll all be worth it.
Future me? In terms of college, my dream is to return back to California and attend UC Berkeley to in a sense "relive my glory days." But after researching those out-of-state fees, I'll probably end up reasonably at UT Austin studying IT, Chemical Engineering, or Business. My career goal is to end up working for a big tech company in Silicon Valley, Seattle, or Austin because I've always had a fascination with the newest and greatest developments in consumer technologies. Ideally, this job can score me the Tesla and modern style home I've dreamed of since I was a little kid :)
That's the dream house!
http://mesirci.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/residential-house-design-for-designs.jpg
As for romantically? That's a bit muddier. I've definitely had experiences in high school that would (maybe) qualify as romantic interests but have fizzled out because either I was unable to dedicate myself because of school or because I just never acted upon them. Hopefully, I'll be able to find someone in the future that I can have a stable and loving relationship with. Until then, I'll just continue working on making myself the best person I can be before trying to committing to someone else.http://mesirci.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/residential-house-design-for-designs.jpg
On the topic of children, I've never seriously thought about it as a high schooler. I do like playing with and caring for babies, but I've never thought about having my own. Maybe that's a conversation to have in the future.
I would like to retire in my 50's or 60's and continue living my life by traveling the world with my future wife? children? Who knows? I just really like experiencing new things and this would be the best way to live out the remaining years of my life while fulfilling my bucket list. Hopefully, I don't die too soon but not too late. I find it kind of depressing to be alive if you can't comprehend the world around you, so dying peacefully in my 70's or 80's would be optimal (if there's even an optimal way to die).
So, that's my life story and what I expect for my own future. Maybe some will come true, maybe some won't. As for now, I should probably make up the hours I've spent being WAY too extra for this blog.
Thanks for reading my madness.
Ryan
Comments
Post a Comment