SCHOOL RELATED POST #6 - Official Blog Assignment #4: Visions (The Power of Visions)

My first vision is a vague one but a very important one. It is of me doing something fulfilling; essentially, helping other people. It does not matter whether it is volunteering at a hospital, being a Baruch Buddy, or doing work in the peace corps in South America. I just want to give people a chance they otherwise would not get. This vision is rooted deeply in my high school past. I used to be on the track team in high school but I quit in my junior year because I wanted to do something more fulfilling than running around in circles. This is why I decided to volunteer at a hospital. However, one day I felt lazy and decided not to go. This started a vicious cycle of me not going, which eventually lead to me not volunteering at the hospital for a while. I felt too embarrassed and awkward to go back, so I never did.



My vision of helping people exists partly due to wanting to make up for my failed hospital volunteer experience, but also because I believe the best thing you can do in this world is to help people who cannot help themselves. I will admit that I have not done much so far in making my vision actually happen, but I know the steps I have to take and I am willing to take them. I have to do my research on the different volunteer opportunities out there, and furiously pursue what I want to do. While I fulfill my vision, it is important to stick with it and follow through with my obligations, which I no doubt will do. What an incredibly noble vision to start off with, eh?



I’m going to continue my vision posting quest with a very common vision. I see myself working at a job with a lucrative salary in the coming years. The reason for this is that I want to be able to support my family so that my parents will not have to work anymore. However, the steps I have to take to make this vision happen are long and arduous. I have to stop slacking off in my academics and start studying. Though your GPA is only one measly line on a resume, it is a very important line to employers who are contemplating on whether to hire you when you’re still in or straight out of college.



I am also interning at a tax department right now to gain experience in taxation, which will help me in finding a career in that field. I have also volunteered in Baruch as part of VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance), which has really helped me learn a lot about the IRS. Through a combination of doing well in school, interning, and community service, I feel I have taken/will take the right steps towards my goal. My vision, when combined with those actions, will transform my vision, like a caterpillar metamorphosing into a butterfly, into a beautiful reality.



Being a person with some free time, I have tried to fill that void with various things. One void-filler that has stuck, is physical exercise. Working out gives me an outlet for my anger and other negative feelings. It also pushes me to my limits. I feel the good pain and end up feeling good overall. This is why one of my visions is being able to do thirty straight full hang pull-ups. Not only does it work out my favorite muscle (the latissimus dorsi), but it is also a great test for physical fitness.



For my birthday last year, a close friend of mine gave me a pull-up bar, and I must say it is one of the best presents I have ever received, as I use it every day, getting ever closer to my goal. Every morning I wake up and before doing anything else (sometimes I pee first), I do sixteen to eighteen pull-ups. It’s a great way to jolt myself awake and to get some calories burned right as my day starts. Also, before every workout I have at the Baruch gym, I always do at least sixteen straight pull-ups. I know that as I do more and more, my body will adapt to it, making it easier to do even more. This is why I am willing to continue waking up every morning to a brutal set of pull-ups. My morning routine is a recurring action that I am willing to commit to in support of my vision. Reaching thirty pull-ups is a huge milestone which I know will eventually become a reality.



One cliché dream I’ve always had is to travel the world. I envision myself traveling to each of the seven continents (there ARE seven, right?) and spend at least a day (twenty four hours) in each of them. I want to live in different cultures and enjoy the different experiences the world has to offer. By taking action, I hope to turn this dream into a vision.



One medium in which I hope to turn this vision into a reality is Baruch College. This fine school offers many outstanding study abroad programs which I plan to take advantage of in the time I have remaining here. On the surface, being an accountancy major at Baruch may not be the career best geared towards travel. However, by taking the five year accountancy program offered here, I expect to finish my fifth year with a MS (Master of Science) in taxation. Now, taxation may not be the most interesting or exciting career, but my goal right now is to focus on international taxation. I plan on obtaining an internship in international taxation, which will hopefully open up doors for a career in international taxation, which will hopefully open up opportunities for me to travel the globe. If I end up being stuck in an office all day with no potential for traveling anywhere as part of my work, that would run quite contrary to my vision. But hey, that’s what vacations are for.



Traveling doesn’t have to be limited to the globe, it can be limited to a country. This is why one of my visions is of myself riding across the country on a motorcycle. Is that not an awesome idea? Having just got my license in the mail yesterday, I am excited. Before I divulge more into this goal, I’d like to give share the origins of this vision. The thought of even getting a motorcycle, much less a motorcycle license, was a foreign thought to me less than four months ago. They seemed dangerous, complicated to control, and my parents would murder me in cold blood before I would even get on one. I just did not see the point. However, as I drove around more and more with a car, I felt the pain and anger of attempting to find a parking space. I got parking rage, as a certain special someone might call it. Getting a motorcycle, if even just for the easier parking, did not sound like such a bad idea. The only thing stopping me was my laziness. However, as it so often is, the actions of a friend instilled in me some drive, some ambition, some determination. A close friend of mine decided he wanted a motorcycle, and had taken the necessary preliminary steps in getting one. I realized, this is my life, and I only get one shot at it. It was now or never; did I really want to go through life never riding a motorcycle? I did not want to become an old man and look back thinking “damn, I could have been young with a motorcycle, I should have just done it.” So, as a spur of the moment thing, I got my permit, signed up for lessons, took lessons, passed the test, got the waiver in the mail, went to DMV with the waiver, and now I have a license.



Buying a motorcycle is a big investment, but I do plan on buying an actual motorcycle soon when the prices are at their lowest. Eventually I will drive across the country when the time presents itself. If time chooses to play hard to get, well, I’ll just have to make time.

- Your friend, Kwok