About Me

Me and Liza (Quite a Novel Idea)!

I am a twenty-year-old student who is currently in her third year of undergraduate studies. I have loved reading since I learned how to read (but I think many of us can say that!). I am slightly crazy, definitely OCD, and I abhor wrinkled paper.

Fantasy is my favorite genre. Like, high fantasy. Or epic fantasy. I made up a subgenre - medieval fantasy. You know Kristin Cashore's books? Or Alexandra Bracken's Brightly Woven? That kind of fantasy. I love that kind of fantasy. Fire by Kristin Cashore is like, my all-time favorite book. Recently, I've been fangirling over The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. Book two, please!

I am of Indian descent (Indian, as in INDIA, not Native American). Pet peeves related to that:

- Indian DOES NOT EQUAL Native Americans. You cannot say you are Indian, and mean you are Native American. You are either Native American, as in the native tribes of America (U.S., I suppose), or you are Indian, as in from India (unless you are of mixed heritage, and therefore, both. But that's a different story)

- India is IN ASIA, and therefore, I AM ASIAN. NO, do NOT look at me to see if I'm Chinese, or Japanese, or Korean. Those countries are Asian countries, and they are also called Far Eastern, or Oriental. India, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Butaan, and so on, are ALL PART OF ASIA (and of course, there are more Asian countries. I'm just giving examples).

Do you see my point? Indian and Native American are NOT synonymous. I am Asian and NOT Chinese. You stick with those two "rules", and you're fine with me :)

*end rant*

I've lived in Maryland my entire life. I was born in Baltimore (City), grew up in the County, and now live in the City again. I attend Johns Hopkins University - my freshman year began in August 2013. This university has been my dream school since I was little, and I am thrilled to have the dream of attending the school come true.

My favorite color is purple (surprise, surprise!). I love watching tennis (go Serena Williams! Go Roger Federer!), soccer (¡Hala Madrid!), football (go Ravens!), and ice hockey (big sweaty dudes slamming into each other while chasing a tiny object? Sure thing!).

In the past, I've had a whole section devoted to my high school academics, which I was very proud of. But given that I'm three years out of high school, high school seems insignificant. Those achievements feel so irrelevant. But what I will say, to all of you in high school:

- I took 13 AP classes. And 13 AP tests. And four subject SAT tests.
- I was President of at least four clubs, captain of one sport, and officer in two other clubs.
- I had as close to a 4.0 (out of 4.0) as you could get without actually having a 4.0. ;)
- I've never missed a day of school, since I started attending school (Pre-K). This extends to this very day, as a junior undergraduate.


Here at Hopkins, I'm double-majoring in environmental engineering and Spanish, minoring in Earth & Planetary Science. I also have a job and work ~13 hours/week. It's not easy - check out my post on time management and scheduling - but it can and will be done. 

Hard work, y'all, it pays off. I love it here at Hopkins, but I'm also in a never-ending state of stress. I feel bad/anxious when I'm not working. But never feel bad when you work hard and it doesn't pay off, okay? This is the story of my life. Remember, life IS hard, no matter how hard you work. Take a step back and appreciate what you have, enjoy what you have.

I really didn't think I would get into Hopkins, for various reasons... but apparently, they thought I was good enough. Dream do come true, kids. Dream do come true. And don't forget that academics are not everything. I can promise you that.

I'll leave you with that ;)


P.S. - Don't fall for you best friend. Also? Don't fall for the guy who is too popular, too good-looking, too cocky, too self-absorbed to see past the superficial. We book nerds deserve better... because we are so much more. Seriously, my personal life, for the first two years of university, was a cliche, nerd-girl YA contemporary story.