1:26 AM 5/16/04

Wow! My first blog! So, let me start by introducing myself... My name is Quyen Nguyen. I'm a junior @ Cal State Northridge majoring in viola performance. I'm Vietnamese, 5'8", 133 lbs., with long black hair and brown eyes. I have a b/f named Chris who I talk to almost every nite... So, I guess that's where this blog begins...

I'm writing tonite to recount the convo we had... We were discussing more effective strategies for arguing... One of them being that whenever someone is hurt, to ask them why they are hurt and give them a chance to explain their feelings and thus validating their thoughts... This would prove to give each other a deeper understanding about the situation as well as make the person who is hurt feel like they are being cared for and listened to... The other thing we talked about is what we can do to empathize with each other more... By understanding that the other person is an intelligent individual, we can say that whatever that person is feeling must be valid for it makes sense to them... Because they are intelligent, we can safely say that how they feel is valid and logical to them and not just imagined or superfluous... So, because we understand that, we can better appreciate the ability to want to know where the other person is coming from and respecting the other person's feelings and ideas... This proves to strengthen the relationship by promoting communication, trust, empathy, and openness. haha That totally sounded like an essay...

But anyway, I've also been thinking about in which direction I want to take my career... And it's sort of like looking back and saying "Gee, I wish I had done that this way (etc)" I guess right now, I know I love helping people achieve what they want to achieve... My job as a writing tutor is very rewarding to me... It helps me help others as well as do something that helps me know I'm affecting the world... So, I guess the next thing I know is that I want to contribute to society and the world... Now, whether that's through fame and talent or reputation and merit, I'm not sure... All I know is that in some way I want to make a contribution to a body of knowledge (I guess we can rule out political figure then :P) So, let's see what jobs I've been thinking of: respected music pedagogue, governess of a music school, nun that runs a research facility (j/k on that last one) I'm not sure... But right now, we'll put my goals as: help others achieve what they want for themselves and contribute to society by expanding a specific body of knowledge... Anyway, it was nice talking to all of you tonite... I'm going to go to sleep now :)