So I’ve noticed recently that more people who I don’t know have started to follow my blog. I’d like to welcome all of you and let you know that you’re welcome to learn more about me! I’m glad that you stumbled across my site, and I hope to be able to provide interesting and insightful posts on a (semi) regular process.
I guess when I write and link out my posts, I don’t realize the diverse set of people reading my blog. Apart from the Berkeley people, there’s also people from high school, church, and from all walks of life. And of course, my family (Hi mom and dad! Sup Alan!).
Now would be a good time to give a quick intro about my life and my blog. Maybe I’ll throw in some other interesting things about my blog-writing process.
So my name is Glen. I’m currently a third-year undergrad studying Business Administration and Media Studies at the wonderful UC Berkeley. It’s funny because to anyone who doesn’t go to the school, Berkeley is automatically the place of the hippies, protests, and bleeding-heart liberals.
In the three years I’ve been here, I’ve found that to be mostly a myth. And I mean mostly because there is still the occasional protest, plus plenty of very “interesting” people. But I like it – I think Berkeley is unique and has a lot of history and character. Plus, you get used to the area pretty quickly, so it’s not a big deal.
I was born and raised in SoCal, West Covina to be exact. It’s a medium-sized city 40 minutes east of downtown LA, nothing too fancy, just a pretty standard suburb. I went to South Hills High School, was an active member of Key Club, CSF, and NHS. Played basketball on the frosh team, and swam varsity three years.
I have a pretty standard family, but some very extraordinary family members – my mom (Shelley), dad (George), and younger brother (Alan) are all very awesome and loving people. My mom’s a college instructor – she teaches parenting classes at a local community college. My dad’s an entrepreneur – he’s had like three very successful businesses (all in China), and he’s been traveling there every other month since I was three. My brother is the resident computer/music genius, just learned how to drive, murdered the SATs, and needs to get through junior year so he can apply to Cal (forget Stanford).
I’ll share a bit more about my history in a future post, so for the time being, I’m going to switch gears and talk about my blog, my blogging style, and my reasoning behind starting a personal one.
I started blogging my second semester of freshman year at Cal (about two years ago). I had wanted to do it a long time, so I decided that the new year would be the perfect time to start. I can’t believe how quickly time has passed – I think I’m on my 515th post or so, and blogging has been one of the best things to happen to me.
I’m naturally an introverted person, so blogging became a means for me to express my thoughts, unfiltered (as opposed to my words, which go through a complicated series of filters much of the time). When I write, I’m basically jotting down exactly what I’m thinking. It comes very naturally to me, and it’s a very rejuvenating and healing process.
When I first started to blog, I tried to find my “voice,” a way of communication that’s unique to me. It took a few tries, but eventually I found it, and it’s pretty much what you’re reading today. I don’t like writing in very flowery or prose-like language – I’m a pragmatist at heart, so my words are much more conversational and direct.
Apart from being a means of expression, blogging is also a way for me to share my thoughts, which I realize I tend not to do when interacting with others (ISTP trait, working on it as we speak). People could learn not only more about Glen, but also new insights or interesting news. Blogging was also an amazing way to document my life, so I would be able to look back in 20 years and relive good memories and re-learn things about myself.
So there you go. A bit about Glen, and a bit about my blog. I’m looking to expand these two topics in separate posts in the near future, and since I have a bit more free time this semester, you can expect to see more posts soon!
Drop a hi in the comments, or feel free to subscribe to my blog. No spam, I promise, just emails of new posts. Welcome to randomtidbitsofthought, and hope that you continue to enjoy!
The Chen family at Laguna Beach, circa summer 2011.
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