Rock & Republic Mustang

Only $308.51 after tax!

That's what I want for Christmas. Buy it Megan.

Hello invisible audience!

I say that because I'm convinced that no one reads this. But I like writing in it for myself. And in 10 years, when I'm a 3-time WSOP Main Event winner and billionaire, people will search my name and find this and laugh at how gay I was in h.s//college.

So Cal is amazing. Exceeded my expectations completely. The two downers is lack of diversity [99.9% asian] and homesickness. But it's not that big of a deal. I'm going back home October 19 for the Cal game @ UCLA. Should be sexy. So I'll see my family soon. And again for 5 days for Thanksgiving. And again for a month+ for CHRISTmas. Can't wait for the holidays :].

Remember when I said I was gunna be a waiter in college? I found a better job. Poker! haha no seriously. I've made a good 200 bucks since I've been here online and another 200 in live play. 400 bucks in a month. Not bad...and it doesnt even feel like a job! So if I can keep this up I wont have to work. And I'm fairly confident I will. I mean, I've always been good but I feel like I've really improved in a lot of areas of my game that were lacking. Number one has nothing to do with actual poker play: discipline. If I have a losing day the old Stephen woulda played higher limits to try to win it back. Not now. I accept my loss and realize that tomorrow is another day. And the next day I win haha. So like I said, I've never had this kind of consistent success before. Hopefully it's here to stay and not a fluke :].

K now to write a little bit about my classes. Brief summary followed by rankings in terms of ease, my interest in the class content, and how much work I'll be spending outside of class. I pretty much know all this after a month even though I haven't take a midterm.

STAT 21:
Its known as a weeder but it doesnt feel that way. Basically its a pre-req for business majors, or Haas Hopefuls as I like to call them. So all pre-reqs for Haas are going to be on a strict curve. And since they're Business majors they overacheive. So like the class content itself isn't difficult [it's probably equivalent to an AP Stat course in h.s.] but if you make a stupid mistake on a test youre screwed. So I'm not worried cuz I dont do that haha. But still I gotta take my time on exams and check my work and stuff.
Ease: 1
Interest: 1
Work load: 1
[haha c'mon it's ME, math genius]

PHILOS 12A:
Ah philosophy. The classic college course. But this isn't your philosophy class where you argue the meaning of life. And I'm glad it's not. It's a lot more like a math/science class. There is no ambiguity. There is no "no wrong answer." It's a course on Logic and it's pretty straightfoward. I like it actually. The discussion with the GSI [TA in Berkeley terms] is kinda annoying though cuz as nice as he is, his heavy Argentian accent makes him hard to understand. So I just play poker in the discussion and kinda pay attention haha.
Ease: 2
Interest: 2
Work load: 3

ENGLISH R1A:
This is about as basic an English class as there is in Berkeley. So it's a cake walk right? Not really. First, we're ranked first in the NATION in English. I didn't know this coming here. So, the teachers are tough. I've always been fine at English, but you really gotta be on top of it in this class. It historically gives around 30% A's 60% B's 10% C-F. I want that A so I gotta work a little harder on my essays than I normally do. I got a 4/5 on my first one. I just turned in my second one worth twice as much so we'll see how that goes.
Ease: 4
Interest: 3
Work load: 4

ESPM 2:
Environment Studies and Policy Management 2: The Biosphere. Sounds hard right? It's really not. I thought this would be way tougher, but a couple things are working for me. 1. No textbook, only reading from online sources [which have yet to prove relevant to ANYTHING we do]. 2. We've taken 2 quizzes already and I aced the first one and the second one was easy too so I think I'll be fine. The hardest thing about this class is staying focused and interested because frankly, I'm not a tree-hugging hippie like half my class. But I'm definitely smarter :]. So it's about even considering they LOVE this stuff. But I'll still get my A
Ease: 3
Interest: 4
Work load: 2

So there you have it. I like my chanees at a 4.0. Well see if I'm this confident after my midterms. Laterr.

Cal Classes

Yup that's my schedule. I'm pretty happy with how everything fell into place. I start at 11 AM M-F which is perfect for me so I can sleep in a little. Fridays I end at 3 which is good for parties and if I want to work Friday nights at a restaurant. The English R1A lass is a standard english class to graduate. ESPM 2 is Environmental Studies something something...basically a class for tree huggers. I'm taking it for a requirement. Same with Philosophy 12A, although that class looks interesting. And Stat 21 is a pre-req for my major, Economics.

wowwww its been a while.

i just need to post and reflect a little on what's going on. for all i know, ill be the only one reading this but thats fine.

why am i up at 5:11 am? well #1 my sleeping schedule is all jacked up and #2 i just had a poker game end like an hour ago haha it started at 11:30. i went to the dodger game today [i also went yesterday; they lost both games <///3] with cuties jason, jon, and tom. they all came over after and we had a mini tourney that was supposed to be a couple hours but of course took 5. thats poker. i got my money back and 2nd place :[. bad beats.

tyler robertson came over so we had 5 people. it ended up being us 2 in the end. i could tell he was really tired and he was being really aggressive and stuff. but he always plays that way. we were just talking, mainly about college and stuff. he was so impressed that i was going to Cal. he was like dude u deserve it u worked ur ass off and now look ur at CAL! i smiled and was like thanks but i dunno it still hasnt hit me yet. maybe it will when im studying 24/7 and i realize how difficult it is. i know Cal is a HELL of a school, but i dunno i had bigger expectations for myself. Harvard Stanford Columbia? no no no. those were kinda my big 3 and i just wanted to get into one. but i feel gay complaining when most ppl didnt get into Cal. what makes me happy is knowing ill be with four AMAZING friends [steven pat song and cho :] and that ill finally be on my own. ive been waiting for this for a while.

but seriously everyone i talk to mentions Cal in some way from my mom to acquiantances i see. i was at my brothers old work BJs in burbank [honestly the sexiest restaurant ever, if uve never been u need to go and no it doesnt count if u go to the one in woodland hills. totallly different] and talking to a lot of his old workers. i know most of them since he worked there for so long and from my bros poker games. this one cool bartender matt who only met me ONCE remembered that i had braces like a year ago and was like nice smile.  that was really cool. hes a really nice guy and was asking about my school. i mentioned Cal and he went crazy. "hell yea man!!! im so proud of u! u could teach ur bro a thing or two " hes the kind of guy that u talk to and no matter what ur mood u feel better. the more i talk to people and they realize where im going the more im starting to figure out that Cal is no small deal. it took years of hard work and dedication. and people close to me dont even have to tell me to focus on school over parties; they know that wont be an issue. i went to the first dodger game with my bro Gonzalo, and he was just reminding me to be careful and stuff. but he said, "Stephen, ur the most determined person I know. I know i dont have to lecture u on staying focused and keeping school first. u realize how important ur grades are, especially those first few semesters. im really happy with my life and where im at but man i would trade just about anything to switch places with u"

thats when it hit me. i really got something going here. high school was only one chapter in my life. college is next. and for the first time, im excited