#nofacenobitches

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No Face, No Bitches

Trainers : Kimberly Kam and Mandy Xia

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Kimberly Kam

1. Name, Year, & Major

Kimberly Kam, 4th Year, Managerial Economics

2. If you were a luxury brand, what would it be and why?

If I was a luxury brand I would be Rolex because issa Rolex… gotta have that ice on my wrist ya feel me LMAO

3. Who is your personal hero and why?

My personal hero is my mom because I really admire her notable qualities and the values she holds. I have seen her learn from her mistakes and grow from them while passing on that knowledge to her kids. She genuinely cares about her children and I wouldn’t be who I am if it wasn't for her.

4. How do you react after a conflict occurs, and why?

If the conflict got nothing to do with me, I would be interested in what happened but I wouldn’t be too pressed to find out about it. If It involves me then I would initially be stressed but then I would be thinking of ways how to resolve it with the other people involved. 

5. If you were granted 3 wishes, what would it be?

If I was granted 3 wishes then it would be to learn all the languages, travel around the world, and eat at every Michelin-star restaurant available.

6. What would you Google about your life?

I would want to google how long would it take for me to be content with my life.

7. What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

My favorite thing about myself is that I am adaptable and don't take anything to heart. Like if something goes wrong it isn't the end of the world. 

8. What's your toxic trait?

My toxic trait is that I am really competitive and an impulse spender.

9. Would you visit the future or past?

I would want to visit the past because there are instances where I would want to relieve and memories can only go so far =/

10. What are the biggest differences between you today/now and five years ago? And what advice would you give to yourself from five years ago?

Five years ago, I was a  junior in high school hustling and struggling with life. I had to juggle school, sports, and sports all at the same time. I was living day by day and was not thinking too deeply about my future. Don't get me wrong this was a fun time in my life but also extremely stressful. I just did what was fun. I think that was the time in my life when I was the most social. Even though not a lot of things changed within the last five years, I am more focused on what I wanna do and I don't have as many commitments as I did before. I am currently taking the necessary steps to go into the field I want to be in. I put a bigger priority on spending time with my family and friends to have memorable experiences. I would also say now that I am in college I really would love to travel a lot more. Before when I was in high school, I did not have time to travel due to school and other commitments.

The advice I would have given myself was that I had too much on my plate and I should put my personal health first. Don't slack off on sleep because you not going to get a lot in the future. If I really cared about my future, I would have advised applying to more schools and putting more effort into deciding what to do for my future career. Find more job shadowing opportunities and just explore more.

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Mandy Xia

1. Name, Year, & Major

Mandy Xia, 4th Year, Human Biology

2. If you were a luxury brand, what would it be and why?

Van Cleef & Arpels; I don’t have a specific reason why but I like their jewelry. Despite being a brand name, it’s super simple yet pretty. I have a knock-off necklace that looks like their jewelry and I wear it the most often. I like the clover design a lot. :D 

3. Who is your personal hero and why?

My personal hero would be my mom. Although it is not a very unique answer, my mom has impacted the way I process and react to life. Even though my mom has her shortcomings, she tries her best as a parent and an individual. I feel like oftentimes we forget that our parents are also people too. As I get older, I’ve learned to understand how she is and acknowledge the efforts she gave to my siblings and me when we were growing up.

4. How do you react after a conflict occurs, and why?

If it’s a personal matter, I always like talking it out. From my perspective, communication is always been important, especially if the conflict involves someone you deeply care about. I am someone who is not great with confrontation but as I get older, I realize that it is quite necessary to resolve any tension and issues. Usually talking it out works, but if it does not, it just means that the other party and you were different people with different vibes and personalities. I used to want to get along with everyone but honestly, I have learned that I rather put more of my efforts into the people that matter to me nowadays. From a professional standpoint, I am more confident in facing the conflict from a more logic-driven point of view. I like to listen to the other party and hear from their perspective. If there are points that I disagree with, I would refute them to have them try to understand where I am coming from. 

5. If you were granted 3 wishes, what would they be?

Be rich, have my loved ones be healthy, and be super smart/intelligent. 

6. What would you Google about your life?

Will I die alone, but rich?

7. What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

Something I love about myself is my vulnerability to others. I have people tell me that being vulnerable is often too hard for them and that they wished they could open up to others as I have. From my point of view, I chose to be vulnerable so others feel comfortable to open up to me, whether they would like to or not. I enjoy letting people be themselves around me so that I can understand who they are as an individual. As BBLB chair, I was super grateful to be able to interview everyone individually to learn who they were and what their personality was like.

8. What's your toxic trait?

A toxic trait of mine is being racist LOL. Just kidding. Only when it is necessary of course. According to my best friend, they said that I shit on people a lot and then proceed to call it a joke. According to my brother, he said that I would always be saying yes to everyone and then getting pissed off when I got too much shit to do. Lastly, my big said that I guilt/sympathy trip people. Honestly, I will neither confirm nor deny any of these accusations BAHAHAHA. I believe it is up to people to view my toxic traits as they want to. I personally think a toxic trait of mine is my lack of punctuality. I don’t know where it stems from but holy shit I am late a lot. Like I can be early initially AND still make myself late. Like ???? Anyways, I am trying my best to be on time but so far, I am still very much terrible at it LOL. Only the real homies know what’s up and it’s ain’t me because I am still in bed when I was supposed to leave like 10 minutes ago oops hehe

9. Would you visit the future or the past?

I would visit the future. I want to see where I end up and how I am coping with life. If I am not satisfied, at least I know that there is an aspect of my current life that I have to change to not be disappointed in the future. 

10. What are the biggest differences between you today/now and five years ago? And what advice would you give to yourself from five years ago?

That would be 17-year-old me. First, my back didn’t hurt back then and I was still relatively young. I was able to run on minimal to no sleep just fine throughout the whole day. My appetite was much bigger back then, but it made sense since I was doing a sport. I was more focused in school or at least tried harder than I do now. My mindset back then was a bit more optimistic, but I feel like that is just the joy of being younger. It felt like time was slower back then and things did not feel as rushed as it does currently. I was also definitely more ignorant about the real world and was more focused in the little bubble that was high school. Now that I am older, I am more aware and less hopeful for a brighter future. Not that things are terrible, but things aren’t as happy-go-lucky as they seemed when I was younger. An advice I would give myself five years ago would be to cherish the moments as they are and not think too much of them. Dedicated to one of my favorite shows of all time, The Office, a quote that I resonate with is, “I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them”. That would be something I would let my younger self know.

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Kylie Lallak

1. Name, Year, & Major

Kylie Lallak, 1st Year, Computer Science

2. If you were a luxury brand, what would it be and why?

If I were a luxury brand I would be Prada, because I like clothes that look professional and polished and Prada is always a slay. Most of Pradas products are black and I think that the color black looks cool.

3. Who is your personal hero and why?

My personal hero is Princess Diana. She is my personal hero because she did not take shade from nobody and did what she ever wanted all while looking slay af.

4. How do you react after a conflict occurs, and why?

If there is a conflict I will typically cry and go to my roommate and tell her all about my issues. Then once my mind is clear I will talk about the issue with the person.

5. If you were granted 3 wishes, what would it be?

If I was granted 3 wishes my first wish would be to have 50 million dollars in my bank account tax free. The second would be that I would have the ability to read minds. The third wish would be so that I never need to sleep so I can get more work done.

6. What would you Google about your life?

I would google “does she ever get a boyfriend?”

7. What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

My favorite thing about myself is my sense of style.

8. What's your toxic trait?

My toxic trait is that I am a computer science major.

9. Would you visit the future or past?

If I could choose, I would visit the future because I want to know how much longer mankind is gonna last. There are a lot of issues in the world right now like climate change and I want to know if it ever gets solved. There are also a lot of things like movies and games I would want to watch and play in the future. I can look at things that were made in the past but I can never see what the next great film or video game will be.

10. What are the biggest differences between you today/now and five years ago?

The biggest difference between me now and me five years ago is that I am a lot taller and better looking. If I could give myself advice I would say to not take any AP classes because the UC will scam you and say it transfers when it really doesn't.  Also I would tell myself to buy bitcoin.

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Valerie Cheung

1. Name, Year, & Major

Valerie Cheung, 2nd Year, NPB

2. If you were a luxury brand, what would it be and why?

If I were a luxury brand, I would be Hermes because they make the best purses and it’s very uncommon and unique like me.

3. Who is your personal hero and why?

My personal hero would be my mom because watching her from the sideline, I see she does so much for me, my sister, my family and for her work. She has so much on her plate, but she remains strong through it all.  

4. How do you react after a conflict occurs, and why?

Usually, I first ask myself why this conflict started and try to understand it from all points of view. Then I face it head on because I hate when conflicts are left unresolved.

5. If you were granted 3 wishes, what would it be?

If I were granted three wishes, I would wish for a bright and successful future, good health for my family and friends, and to travel the world.

6. What would you Google about your life?

I would Google how many kids would I have in the future or what type of job would I have. 

7. What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

My favorite thing about myself is how empathetic or emotional I am as a person. I feel  like in times of sadness or happiness, it’s good to know that a person shares the same sadness and happiness as you.

8. What's your toxic trait?

My toxic trait is constantly comparing myself to others and trying to match myself to other people’s energy or goals. Currently, I am practicing and learning how to stop myself from going down that black hole.

9. Would you visit the future or past?

I would visit the past because I would like to go back to the good memories I had as a  child. I would not want to visit the future because I would be too stressed out about how to get to that idea of the future when I go back to the present.

10. What are the biggest differences between you today/now and five years ago? And what advice would you give to yourself from five years ago?

Some of the biggest differences between me today and me five years ago are being more outgoing, more vulnerable, more independent in certain aspects of life, and living life to the fullest. Five years ago, I was a shy private middle school kid, entering a big high school with one friend. Coming from a small school, I stuck with the same group of people for 9 years. It took me a while to learn how to communicate with new people and make friends. College definitely taught me how be more outgoing and vulnerable at the same time. I learned that making new friends in college was harder than I thought. You must be able to be completely transparent and vulnerable from the start because this will allow others to do the same. Another thing I learned is that going to the coffee shop or going grocery shopping alone is normal. I was able to experience my own independence away from my parents and apart from my friends. I now know I will be fine on my own without having people constantly surround me. I can entertain myself or treat myself without feeling out of place because I’m not hanging out with a group of friends. Aside from my independence, I learned to live life to the fullest and give myself breaks from school. I used to be so focused on school only and never went out to hang with friends in high school. I now know that I can take school seriously but at the same time, have fun  with my friends. From five years ago, I would tell my future self to work hard, play hard  and don’t just work hard. Life is too short to focus on academics only when memories and experiences are what shapes the person you are today.

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Weimen Yang

1. Name, Year, & Major

Weimen Yang, 4th Year, Computer Science

2. If you were a luxury brand, what would it be and why?

I would be Chanel because I’m too sexy.

3. Who is your personal hero and why?

My personal hero is Snorlax because he can eat a lot and is built like a sumo wrestler with the strength of a powerlifter.

4. How do you react after a conflict occurs, and why?

After a conflict, I try to understand the other person’s POV. Then I take a look at my actions and see what I could have done to prevent it.

5. If you were granted 3 wishes, what would it be?

Wish 1 would be to have a high paying full time job. Wish 2 would be for me and my family to be healthy. Wish 3 is to get a girlfriend so my parents can stop asking me when I’ll get one.

6. What would you Google about your life?

I will Google when I’ll find happiness.

7. What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

The favorite thing about myself is that I can eat a lot. Whenever there are leftovers, I’ll eat all the food like a garbage disposal.

8. What's your toxic trait?

My toxic trait is overthinking because anything that happens will result in my thinking about what I did wrong. When things happen, I immediately blame myself.

9. Would you visit the future or past?

I would visit the future so I can better prepare myself for what is to come. Hopefully it is good so I have something to look forward to.

10. What are the biggest differences between you today/now and five years ago? And what advice would you give to yourself from five years ago?

The biggest difference between today and five years ago is how I am starting to accept who I am. I know I am a big person but now I am starting to work on it. I am trying to eat less and start exercising more. I picked up weight lifting because it would help me build muscle and burn more calories. 5 years ago, I would not have touched a barbell in my life. I would have just done swimming and waterpolo. However, being in the water makes me even more hungry so I would end up eating all the hard work I put in. I am also starting to find what makes me happy. Things that make me really happy are making people laugh. If I see my friends having a good time, then I’m happy inside although I may not show it. In the past, I didn’t have many friends and just lived day to day. Now, I want to see my friends regularly and know that they are having fun when I’m around. Another difference is five years ago, I would not have been as outgoing as I am now. During high school, I was very introverted and never reached out to people first. This would mean I stuck with the same group of friends and never talked to anyone else. Today, I would say I’m still introverted but at least I make an effort to make new friends and talk to them. It is hard because I am shy. One advice I would give myself five years ago is don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, you’ll never know who you might end up meeting. I like this advice because this just happened recently to me and I am very happy I put myself out there because I met someone who I can call a friend and be comfortable around (you know who you are)

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Brandon Wong

1. Name, Year, & Major

Brandon Wong, 2nd Year, Computer Science

2. If you were a luxury brand, what would it be and why?

I would be Burberry, because I like their coat styles.

3. Who is your personal hero and why?

My personal hero is my dad because he spends so much time caring for my mom and me on top of work. When I was younger, I didn’t realize how much he did in terms of housekeeping chores, but I am very grateful now. 

4. How do you react after a conflict occurs, and why?

After a conflict occurs, I usually take a little bit to think about it as objectively as I can, then I try to resolve it as quickly as possible. I like to confront my problems because I find that letting them fester only creates resentment and doesn’t solve anything.

5. If you were granted 3 wishes, what would it be?

I would wish for an internship, assurance that the future is secure, and improved social skills.

6. What would you Google about your life?

I would Google what the future holds for me.

7. What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

My favorite thing about myself is that I am persistent enough that I can succeed if I put my mind to it.

8. What's your toxic trait?

My toxic trait is thinking that I can solve a lot of problems that I might not be able to, which can be intrusive at times.

9. Would you visit the future or past?

I would visit the future because I want to see technological advancement.

10. What are the biggest differences between you today/now and five years ago? And what advice would you give to yourself from five years ago?

I think the biggest difference between myself now and five years ago is that my social skills have improved. In my freshman year of high school, I pretty much only hung out with a small circle of friends and never really tried to branch out. I wasn’t very good at meeting new people and got very lucky with finding friends in cross country. Now, I think it’s much easier to talk to people, probably just from built up experience doing so. I still have a ways to go before I’m really comfortable with my social ability, but at least I’m making progress. I think another difference is my general outlook on balancing all the different aspects of life. This has had good and bad effects. I think that now I focus more on things outside of education, but in the past I used to spend much more time focused on school. It feels like college has introduced me to a lot of new things, and I’ve had to divide my time between them all. I spend less time focused on school now, with internships becoming my main focus. I’ve also spent a lot of time on APO, which really broadened my social circle, but probably at the expense of both education and internships. I’m glad that I don’t only focus on schoolwork as much now because there’s so much more to experience, but I also regret that it feels like my work ethic isn’t what it used to be. My advice to myself from 5 years ago would be to be more open to new experiences and to put myself out there more.

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Esther Lee

1. Name, Year, & Major

Esther Lee, 1st Year, Nutritional Sciences

2. If you were a luxury brand, what would it be and why?

If I was a luxury brand, I would be Chanel because I love Chanel.

3. Who is your personal hero and why?

My personal hero is my dad because he taught me a lot in life and I can rely on him for almost everything.

4. How do you react after a conflict occurs, and why?

When a conflict occurs, I often complain and then I just deal with it and go with the first solution I think of.

5. If you were granted 3 wishes, what would it be?

If I was granted three wishes, I would wish for a lot of money, like a lot, good health for my family, my friends, and I, and a cute chowchow.

6. What would you Google about your life?

I would google about my future life.

7. What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

My favorite thing about myself is that I don’t cope with drugs. Also I like my hair occasionally. 

8. What's your toxic trait?

My toxic trait is that I am really impatient.

9. Would you visit the future or past?

I would visit the past because I don’t really want to know the future but since the past happened already,  I want to revisit things.

10. What are the biggest differences between you today/now and five years ago? And what advice would you give to yourself from five years ago?

Five years ago, I was 13 and in 8th year. I was still a naive child who thought the world revolved around me. If I wanted something, all I had to ask and I was able to get it. I also wanted to go to UCLA and UC Berkeley, but that was just because my family wanted me too. I used to prioritize my friends from swimming over my friends in school. Now as an 18 year old in college, I realized that things don’t always go your way. I’ve learned to accept that everything happens for a reason and people won’t work things just to fit my schedule. I would tell 13 year old me to enjoy high school while I can, don’t be afraid to talk to new people, and hang out with your friends more. Don’t be sad that you didn’t get into Lowell, those tears aren’t worth it. You’ll meet amazing people at George Washington High School and they will be part of your favorite memories and your lifelong friends. I feel like I didn’t cherish my four years in high school, and I miss it so much. I would also tell myself to talk with my parents more and spend more time with them going out and having fun because 5 years later, you won’t be able to do that anymore. Spend less money so five years later you have more to use in college, where finding a job is hard. I would also tell myself to go to BTS concert in Oakland.