Did you know, if you have a scratch ticket and "win a million bucks," after taxes and all, it turns out to be $710,000? Yes. How do I know this? Not by winning a million bucks myself, sadly. But one of my physics lab partners came into class yesterday, and told us that his friend just won a million on some scratch ticket. I actually heard a commercial on the radio for it later, and the odds of winning the million are like one in six million something. So it would be extra dumb of anyone to go out and buy a ticket hoping to win, knowing that someone just won yesterday.
Anyway, we did some math, and if he put all his money into an account that pays 6% interest, he could live off of the interest happily for the next 10+ years.
And then we talked about what we would do with that kind of money. The other girl in my group said she would not be smart with her money and she would go blow it all on useless things. The two guys in the group would drop out of school.
I've actually thought about what I would do with a million bucks before, and it doesn't involve anything extravagant. I would buy a car that's actually worth something, but nothing too fancy. I just want it to go in reverse and not break down after 5 miles, be a stick shift, and have ABS (That's my current car's flaws ha). And then, I would put the rest of the money into a bank and just go to school for the rest of my life. I would probably still get a job somewhere down the line, and I wouldn't buy a ridiculous house or car or anything. I would just go to school forever. :) Always learning, always becoming better.
At some point, I would probably take a really nice vacation.
I would also like to give some of it to some charity or good cause, just so that way I'm not selfish. You know, help the needy, be a good person, blah blah blah.
Or-- if I decided that school's for fools (look at me!)-- I would instead put my grand 2-year traveling plan into motion. I haven't really looked at the cost of this, so a million might not be enough, but this is just a fantasy, so I can do whatever I want. It would involve: Live in France for about a year (perfecting my French-language skills), and then spend 3 months visiting the rest of Europe. Germany, Spain and Italy are specifically on my list. Maybe a month in each of those. Then I'd want to go to spend about 6 or 7 months in South America, visiting Chile and Argentina, and working my way up to Brazil, maybe Peru. Then for 1 and a half or 2 months, I'd go to Jamaica, and finish off the year with Quebec (which would be quite a climate change), and polish off my French a little more. Then I could come home and be thoroughly traveled, and then I would buy my car and go to school with whatever money (if any) I had left. That seems like the better option between the two, probably.
Feb 10, 2012
Feb 2, 2012
10 Things
So, MJ. Ten things you probably don't know about me... I think this will actually be pretty hard.
1- While I was in China, we ALWAYS had free time. We only worked for 3-4 hours a day, and then we were done. Yet somehow, we still couldn't make it through the day without a nap.
2- Now that I'm back home, I rarely have free time because I have so many credits [16] at school. But I wouldn't want to take less than what I have (or more-- already made that mistake). I'm a hardcore nerd. I love learning. One of my favorite classes this semester is physics. And even with that class, I desperately miss my chem classes.
3- I love foreign languages. And I'm pretty good at them. In high school, I took French, and now in college, I'm taking Chinese. I hope to learn Chinese a little better when I go back to China next year, then when I come home, I want to take ASL at Metro. And eventually, just so I can get better at French, I'd like to buy Rosetta Stone.
Oh yeah. This doesn't count as another number, but I think about half of you probably don't know. I'm going back to China next year, if I get accepted back into the program. I'll leave late Jan/early Feb, and come home the 3rd week of June. Chances are very good I won't be in the country when I turn 21. I find this totally acceptable.
4- Sometimes, I really miss having super short hair that I can spike, but I don't want to cut it, because I want long hair for my wedding. I don't even have a boyfriend, but I'm growing my hair out for my wedding. Haha. Yes, I know I'm ridiculous.
5- I don't watch movies, apparently. It never fails to surprise someone that I haven't seen Star Wars or Indiana Jones. Or Elf. My roommates tried to get me to watch Elf, but when they downloaded it, it was too jumpy to watch (I think it's a sign). But I'm not opposed to watching these movies, just no one has ever sat me down to watch them.
6- I never thought I was a "typical college student" food-wise. You know, always eating ramen and nutella and frozen pizza. I mean, I know how to cook. Grilled chicken, Chinese food, tacos. All the awesome stuff. It wasn't until mom and dad were at Disney World for a week when I realized, despite KNOWING how to cook, it was days before I ate anything that I couldn't cook in less than 2 minutes.
7- I really love learning. I think, after I graduate, I'd like to continue going to school forever. Just taking a couple classes a semester. Again, I know, I'm a nerd.
8- When I watch movies with my friends, we dig into them and pull out really philosophical meanings. I don't necessarily think the directors intended for us to do that, but it's what we do. (Come to find out, Moulin Rouge is very deep ha.)
9- It actually makes me really sad when I let someone over (while driving) and they don't wave at me. Such a simple gesture.
10- All this new technology really freaks me out. I don't like feeling like I have to have my phone on me all the time. Some of my friends literally can't have a conversation with me without checking their phone, and that makes me sad for them. I wish I wrote to people more often. It's so much more awesome than emailing. Facebook literally steals souls from people. Except I think "steal" is too harsh. I'm pretty sure the souls it has were willingly given up.
And despite not liking all these advances, I still do find them really convenient. But their convenience is such a trap! Can't we just be independent?
And there's my 10 things. I tag everyone who hasn't done it yet.
1- While I was in China, we ALWAYS had free time. We only worked for 3-4 hours a day, and then we were done. Yet somehow, we still couldn't make it through the day without a nap.
2- Now that I'm back home, I rarely have free time because I have so many credits [16] at school. But I wouldn't want to take less than what I have (or more-- already made that mistake). I'm a hardcore nerd. I love learning. One of my favorite classes this semester is physics. And even with that class, I desperately miss my chem classes.
3- I love foreign languages. And I'm pretty good at them. In high school, I took French, and now in college, I'm taking Chinese. I hope to learn Chinese a little better when I go back to China next year, then when I come home, I want to take ASL at Metro. And eventually, just so I can get better at French, I'd like to buy Rosetta Stone.
Oh yeah. This doesn't count as another number, but I think about half of you probably don't know. I'm going back to China next year, if I get accepted back into the program. I'll leave late Jan/early Feb, and come home the 3rd week of June. Chances are very good I won't be in the country when I turn 21. I find this totally acceptable.
4- Sometimes, I really miss having super short hair that I can spike, but I don't want to cut it, because I want long hair for my wedding. I don't even have a boyfriend, but I'm growing my hair out for my wedding. Haha. Yes, I know I'm ridiculous.
5- I don't watch movies, apparently. It never fails to surprise someone that I haven't seen Star Wars or Indiana Jones. Or Elf. My roommates tried to get me to watch Elf, but when they downloaded it, it was too jumpy to watch (I think it's a sign). But I'm not opposed to watching these movies, just no one has ever sat me down to watch them.
6- I never thought I was a "typical college student" food-wise. You know, always eating ramen and nutella and frozen pizza. I mean, I know how to cook. Grilled chicken, Chinese food, tacos. All the awesome stuff. It wasn't until mom and dad were at Disney World for a week when I realized, despite KNOWING how to cook, it was days before I ate anything that I couldn't cook in less than 2 minutes.
7- I really love learning. I think, after I graduate, I'd like to continue going to school forever. Just taking a couple classes a semester. Again, I know, I'm a nerd.
8- When I watch movies with my friends, we dig into them and pull out really philosophical meanings. I don't necessarily think the directors intended for us to do that, but it's what we do. (Come to find out, Moulin Rouge is very deep ha.)
9- It actually makes me really sad when I let someone over (while driving) and they don't wave at me. Such a simple gesture.
10- All this new technology really freaks me out. I don't like feeling like I have to have my phone on me all the time. Some of my friends literally can't have a conversation with me without checking their phone, and that makes me sad for them. I wish I wrote to people more often. It's so much more awesome than emailing. Facebook literally steals souls from people. Except I think "steal" is too harsh. I'm pretty sure the souls it has were willingly given up.
And despite not liking all these advances, I still do find them really convenient. But their convenience is such a trap! Can't we just be independent?
And there's my 10 things. I tag everyone who hasn't done it yet.
Feb 1, 2012
Older than the Internet.
For the record, I have no idea what I am still doing up. I have class tomorrow. A long, long day of class. In case you don't know, my day starts at 8:20-8:25 am when I have to leave for my 9:30 class, and doesn't end until about 8:50 pm, when I get home from my last class that ends at 7:45. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it. I'm currently choosing to be optimistic), I have a nice, big 3 hour break from 10:45-2. Anyway, it's later than I should still be awake, I just want to announce this properly, before I head off.
In 3 days, it will be my birthday, and I will officially no longer be a teenager. So far in my life, I've graduated high school, worked 1 or 2 jobs (depending on if you count ILP), lived on the other side of the world, totaled my car, started learning 2 foreign languages, held the lives of many living creatures in my hands, started writing a book (which has a solid plot, but only a couple physical pages. I think I'm too afraid it won't turn out to be as awesome as I once hoped it would be), and I've lived through a year that's divisible by 100, but was still a leap year. I think it's been a successful life so far, and I intend to keep it going in awesome level.
Mostly, though, I think I've hit this point where I don't really care that my birthday's on Saturday. It's just another day. To be fair, nothing exciting happens when you turn 20. Still can't book a room at picky hotels. Still considered an adult by society. And it doesn't really seem that far off since I turned 19.
Come to think of it-- something exciting is happening this Sat. Mom is going to Disney World! Not with me, though. I wasn't even invited. Ha, I'm kidding. Well, no I'm not. I wasn't invited. I just don't mind. I would've turned down the invite anyway. I have too many awesome classes this semester. Which reminds me... I should go to sleep ha. Night everyone! Happy February!
In 3 days, it will be my birthday, and I will officially no longer be a teenager. So far in my life, I've graduated high school, worked 1 or 2 jobs (depending on if you count ILP), lived on the other side of the world, totaled my car, started learning 2 foreign languages, held the lives of many living creatures in my hands, started writing a book (which has a solid plot, but only a couple physical pages. I think I'm too afraid it won't turn out to be as awesome as I once hoped it would be), and I've lived through a year that's divisible by 100, but was still a leap year. I think it's been a successful life so far, and I intend to keep it going in awesome level.
Mostly, though, I think I've hit this point where I don't really care that my birthday's on Saturday. It's just another day. To be fair, nothing exciting happens when you turn 20. Still can't book a room at picky hotels. Still considered an adult by society. And it doesn't really seem that far off since I turned 19.
Come to think of it-- something exciting is happening this Sat. Mom is going to Disney World! Not with me, though. I wasn't even invited. Ha, I'm kidding. Well, no I'm not. I wasn't invited. I just don't mind. I would've turned down the invite anyway. I have too many awesome classes this semester. Which reminds me... I should go to sleep ha. Night everyone! Happy February!
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