Why I study civil engineering: video

YouTube videos inspring me to major in urban studies

While I get some much needed rest before finals studying comes along, I decided to post up a few YouTube videos which inspired me to do city planning / urban studies, based on its crazily interdisciplinary field:

Being an [Asian-American] engineer while maintaining a OUT-of-THE ordinary image? A STORY TO CONSIDER!!

Face it, this nation needs engineers.

Face it, Asian-Americans need a better image in the media other than the "nerdy, passive, desexualized, submissive, kung-fu fighting people," and need to step up to the plate in terms of the political identity and the entertainment world to tell people that we are regular people part of the American fabric with our own stories to tell.

Face it, engineers need a better image in the media so we can have more life-changing moments in our world.

What about the Asian-American engineer?

Why I am pursuing simotaneous degrees in Civil Engineering and Urban Studies

My decision to do a simultaneous degree in civil engineering and urban studies seems really odd, but I think its worth it. I'm still contemplating how this will work out, but given the few weeks I've spent on this life-changing campus, it's best to examine why I chose this path; I normally don't blog this long. The fact that I've gave such a long post shows: I am actually stopping and thinking about the consequences of my actions at Berkeley, and I've been so happy here that I don't do the latter (which can be a bad thing). If you can handle reading this long and want to know a bit more about me, you are kick-ass!

In short, I chose to do the simultaneous degree in those two fields because I want to establish an interdisciplinary curriculum, while creating an urban planning, public policy approach to designing, building and maintaining the built environment around me. I want humanity in my education, and to broaden my way of thinking.

Engineering is tough at Berkeley

Engineering IS tough at Berkeley!

But, if it means changing the world, lets bring it on!

History of Art 24: Looking at Berkeley Buildings!

YES! I'm number 9 out of 10 on the waitlist and can still get into a class of 20 people! I'm really excited for the class I really want to join!

How un-robotic can I become?

What a weird topic to my blog post, but pretty dear to my mind; this is something I ponder almost every minute of my life.

I have no regrets (as of now) being a civil engineering major, given my love for architecture and wondering: how is this building or bridge built?

However, many challenges in life make it really difficult for me to study civil engineering.

For example, two years ago, I wanted to major in Asian Studies because I loved (and still do) Asian culture. I have a strong passion for doing something to contribute to the Asian-American activist movement and contemporary Asian-American culture. Given my involvement in my school's debate club, I'm also into politics and other social sciences (especially sociology!). I'm pretty much somebody who has a open-minded love of the liberal arts that cannot be restrained.

UC Berkeley's College of Engineering, unlike the College of L&S, does not have specific breadth requirements for the Humanities/Social Science requirements. For example, in L&S, there are 6th breadth requirements (i.e. you have to take 1 philosophy course, 1 international/area studies course, one biological course, one social behavior course, etc.), whereas in College of Engineering, there are six humantites courses - two of them have to be English courses, and the four others can be anything you want (well, one have to be related to American Culture and the other has to be American History, but that's just a university-wide requirement). While I can use the CoE requirements and take classes specific to the L&S requirements, I get a bad impression of how the CoE treats the liberal arts. College is where one can be an open minded and well-rounded individual, but the CoE's leninency on the Humanitities/Soc. Science requirements show that well-rounded-ness isn't a priority.

These challenges make me feel robotic because I want to learn more about myself, as an individual. Engineers have an impact on everything in society, positively or negatively, and the humantities explains why people do what they do, especially, but not limited to, engineers.

I chose civil engineering because I wanted to preserve Asian Architecture (as well as promote sustainable design and improve our aging infrastructure). This is the field which allows me to do something about a number problems in our world today, while trying to understand my culture, which I barely understand.

My only hope is that people respect the field of engineering (and, for some, maybe enter it?), while putting out the need for engineers to be well-rounded in other fields. Engineering is very technical-based, specific, stereotypically (and sometimes truthlly) unsocial, and especially difficult; these characteristics make it difficult for people to even accept engineering, espeically when America needs them a lot.

I have a difficult time explaining and defending why I chose civil engineering, given that I sound more like a liberal arts major than an engineering major; I appreciate my open-minded-ness, and my belief is that people will appreciate this rare quality. Engineers can be social scientists too, historians, public policy influences, artists, performers, polticians, teachers, etc! I want people to accept me if I am a citizen-journalist in my free time, an Asian-American activist trying to promote Hmong cultural arts, a sociologist analyzing 3rd generation Asian-American families, or whatever it may be, all while being an engineering major.

While college majors are really specific, I choose to go to college because I want to learn about life in general, not primarily because I want to study a career-specific field just to get a career specific job.

UC Berkeley Class of 2009 Engineering Commencement Speech

What a very inspiring, hilarious commencement speech by Yue Tu, IEOR major at Cal who is graduating this year (Class of 2009!).

He definitely makes a statement that given the economic crisis, we as engineers, with our innovation, are at the best times to make a difference in these tough times. I'll let him say the speech for himself, because he says his statements the best.

This could be all of us in the Class of 2013, regardless of our fields, making a "beneficial, common-good like difference" in this world through any means necessary in the Class of 2013!

Cal Day 2009

Spring Break 09

I normally don't say much about life, but there's so much free time right now that I'm bored (well, except trying to get that 5 in AP Calc so I can likely take Multivariable Calc and Linear Algebra next year in college).

I can't wait to attend UC Berkeley now. The Chancellor's Reception thing was really intimidating though; I pieced together the caliber of people at Cal compared to at my school. At Cal, all the speakers who spoke gave me the impression that everybody has the inherent desire to make a impact, a HUGE one, in society. I wandered around and met random people, freshman applicants and students, and the expectations to be ambitious are huge (I met an aspiring poly sci major who wanted to make a difference in the Phillipines, which does not have a good government, and a current Asian-Am. studies major who really got a lot out of her courses). Nothing wrong with huge ambitions: my ambition and dream is to preserve Asian Architecture, and that's pretty daunting, especially since I know Cal has no Asian Architecture courses (the Asian-Am studies major suggested I should start a DeCal on it, lol). At my high school, that feeling of making a difference in society isn't as apparent, and is limited to like a few group of people.

As of now, I will be heading up to International Night and taking photos, and Cal Day this Saturday is bound to have great action shots.