THE RULES:
- Display award
- Thank the person who gave this award (and include a link to their blog)
- Share seven things about yourself
- Nominate
ten(we will see) bloggers
I was tagged by the wonderful Wendy @ What the Log! Thank you very much!
SEVEN FACTS ABOUT ME:
1. I live where I work. (And no, I do not work from home)
This is always odd for folks to hear since most jobs do not require their employees to live on. I work at a University in the United States in the residential life office and multicultural affairs office. Part of my job, it to live on the university’s campus to interact with students, attend their programs, and occasionally serve as part of a 24/7 on call rotation. This has it’s pluses and minuses. On one hand, my commute is a two minute walk and I get housing. On the other hand, I live next to hundred(s) of first-year students who on occasion are noisy or make less than optimal decisions. But regardless, I love my job and I love working with university students.
2. I grew up in California but now live on the east coast.
West coast is where my heart is. I grew up in San Jose, CA and went to college in central (ish) California before moving to Seattle, WA. When I was growing up, I never thought I would live on the east coast, but here I am. I came out here for a job opportunity and now my partner is in graduate school, so I am here for a little bit. We plan on moving back to the west coast eventually, although probably not in California.
3. I used to work in software development.
My original field of study was computer science and I used to work in software development for about two years before I decided to change my field. I worked for a large enterprise data storage company, writing application integrations between different operating systems, focusing on Windows. I found out I did not find my work in software to be as meaningful as I wanted my work to be. I did not feel like I was making a positive impact. So I had to reflect on what brought me meaning… and it turned out to be working with student, particularly college students. I left software, went into graduate school to study student development, and never looked back.
4. I love to cook.
I discovered this when I was in college and lived in my first off campus house. I cook usually by taste of feel. I will look up a bunch of recipes or look in cookbooks to get the basic structure of the dish and then I go off on my own. I love how spices work together. I love different kitchen gadgets. I love cooking food full of spice. A lot of the time, I think “American” food is very bland. So I love cooking. I love experimenting. And I find cooking very relaxing and fun!
5. Small clever card games are my favorite types of games.
I really like playing large strategy games that take multiple hours and a lot of thinking power. But the games I tend to gravitate to the most are small card games with really cool twists. A lot of these games tend to be trick-taking games (like Hearts or Spades). I think this is because I used to play a lot of hearts when I was younger and they not only bring me fun with clever strategy/tactics, but it brings me some nostalgia. My favorite small games that comes to mind right now are: Linko!, Arboretum, Parade, Diamonds, and No Thanks!
6. In high school, I played the bass guitar in a punk/ska band.
Our name was The Habit. We wrote two songs. One was about how MTV sucks. I cannot remember what the other one was about. We played two shows. One at a high school and one at a Korean Christian Church. Needless to say, we sounded terrible, did not know how to play music well, and ultimately broke up after 4 months. I really was into punk and ska music growing up (and still like it today). Favorite bands included: Rancid, Operation Ivy, Bouncing Souls, Bad Religion, and Streetlight Manifesto.
7. I am a HUGE hockey fan.
Born and raised in San Jose, CA. GO SHARKS! I attribute my love for hockey to my father. He was a big hockey fan and around the time my family moved to San Jose, the Sharks franchise was formed. I grew up with Sharks hockey on the TV all the time. Initially, I really liked the Detroit Red Wings, because of Steve Yzerman. But the Sharks are my team and will always be my team no matter where I move. Another fun fact, when I lived in Seattle, I played adult rec hockey. It’s tons of fun!
Nominations:
Thank you for reading!
You were in a Ska/Punk band! That’s so cool. I had a huge ska phase in the late 90’s-mid 00’s. I listened to a lot of Streetlight Manifesto… This was a really interesting post. How did you make it from software dev to student affairs? That’s a pretty large leap in my ignorant mind.
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Posted by Jackie B @ Death by Tsundoku | January 11, 2017, 1:19 PMYes! Streetlight is (was?) amazing! I still play their CDs some days I need uplifting and upbeat music.
My transition was a huge leap and when I decided to do it, many people were hesitant in my decision. I think my reflections had a lot to do with finding meaning. What was meaningful to me and in what field can I use my skills. Working for social justice was that passion I found meaning in and I knew I was not enthusiastic about doing that work in software. When stepping back, I wanted to affect people before they enter the workforce. In college, I was a student leader in orientation programs for four years and worked on the diversity & inclusion workshops. After doing some research, I found that during college (18-22) are some of the most formative years of a person’s life (for many reasons I won’t go into now). While higher education has many many problems (like it was made for White straight men), it is a institution I can work in and maneuver to help support & advocate for marginalized students as well as help educate around privilege & systems of power.
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Posted by Brendon | January 12, 2017, 9:45 AMThat’s great! I’m so impressed you took the time to thoughtfully consider your career change and do research about it. I personally feel that education in general needs significant reform, but it can’t be done by gutting it and starting over. People like you give me faith that we will change the narrative one step at a time.
Thanks for sharing your story, Brendon!
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Posted by Jackie B @ Death by Tsundoku | January 12, 2017, 1:07 PMThank you 🙂 I hope I can make at least some positive change!
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Posted by Brendon | January 13, 2017, 7:59 AMSmall, clever card games are pretty wonderful. Recently I played Hanabi, which is a great cooperative card game. You should check it out. Great fun facts about yourself! 🙂
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Posted by Sarah @ Reviews and Readathons | January 11, 2017, 9:10 PMThank you for the rec! I have played Hanabi a couple of times and think it is a brilliant game. However… Hanabi is a game that frustrates me the most out of any game I have ever played hahaha 🙂
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Posted by Brendon | January 12, 2017, 9:47 AMHaha it is really frustrating. I played it late at night on New Year’s and my friends’ memories were not what I hoped they’d be ;).
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Posted by Sarah @ Reviews and Readathons | January 12, 2017, 10:28 PMAw congrats on this. You’re one of my favourite bloggers so I’m glad you’re getting the fantastic recognition you deserve. 😊
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Posted by biblionyan | January 12, 2017, 6:04 AMWow! One of you favorite bloggers 🙂 🙂 !!! Thank you so much!
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Posted by Brendon | January 12, 2017, 9:52 AMCongrats on the award! It’s pretty cool that you get to work in the multicultural affairs office of your college, I always thought that would be a nice job. I worked in the bookstore on campus for a while and then I got to work for the college newspaper which was a lot of fun! I miss playing card games, I used to play them all the time when I was younger, but now not so much. I feel like playing card/board games is something I should get back into this year, it brings me so much joy!
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Posted by Life of a Female Bibliophile | January 12, 2017, 8:47 AMMy job is definitely rewarding and also comes with many challenges. Challenges we all see in the book & blogging world around diversity, inclusion, & social justice. Yes! You should start playing some board/card games again!! I’d be happy to recommend a couple 🙂
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Posted by Brendon | January 12, 2017, 9:55 AMI love these facts! I had no idea you worked at a university – as a uni student who had a live-in tutor, may I thank you for everything you do (and apologise for the drunken shouting)!
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Posted by whatthelog | January 12, 2017, 8:56 AM🙂 Thank you for the nomination!
Hahaha no worries. I love my job (although I do not want to live on campus forever) and I am pretty laid back with all the noise late into the night! As long as folks are safe!
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Posted by Brendon | January 12, 2017, 9:56 AMYou’re very welcome! 🙂
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Posted by whatthelog | January 12, 2017, 10:29 AMThis is amazing. I especially loved learning more about your job and that you’re in a band (!!!!). First year (first semester, really) students are my favorites. They’re so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It’s great. Not sure how I’d feel living next to them, though. I remember how obnoxious I was at that age, haha.
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Posted by Akilah | January 12, 2017, 10:27 PMHaha… yea the living part, I could take it or leave it. But I really do enjoy working with first year students, getting them involved on campus.
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Posted by Brendon | January 13, 2017, 8:01 AMI can’t cook. My brother can, but I totally can’t. The microwave is a life-saver! Lol. I’m always slightly jealous of people who a) can cook, and b) don’t end up completely stressed out and swearing at the oven/stove/bowl of food-like goop! XD
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Posted by Cee Arr | January 17, 2017, 9:36 AM