I once believed a long time ago that magical people only existed in fairy tales and fictional television shows. That all stayed the same with the presence of important people in my life such as Julia Peng. Sometimes you need a little bit of honesty, a little bit of toughness, and a little bit of meanness in your life. You taught me that sometimes being a jerk is actually better in the long run (that’s mostly transparent in the way I treat my students and coworkers).
Our paths collided when we met in a simple event-planning group called Programming at Warren. Despite her being a commuter, we were able to create a friendship planning random events all over the Warren Campus of UCSD (such as PAW’s haunted house), as well as having occasional board game nights and random experiences.
My favorite memory of our friendship occurred in the summer after we met, when we decided to marathon the television series 24 and CSI together. We ultimately failed in accomplishing our goal of finishing any seasons, but we had fun with the time that we had, despite the fact that we kept arguing over which show was ultimately better.
You know what was actually even better? ALL THE TIMES we went to Phil’s BBQ together, of course. It could have just been the food, but being at Phil’s with the best company possible just makes the experience 100x more exciting and memorable. And eventually we succeeded in leaving UCSD simultaneously with our inevitable graduation and departure.
Even though we have been less in contact post-graduation, I am glad to still have her at the edge of my life, as rare as our hangouts are. I know how busy law school is, but I imagine things won’t change much once you start entering the lawyer profession, but I know no matter what you do, you’ll ultimately be successful. Thanks for the Boba and Tofu House Runs, and hopefully we’ll get to go to more musicals in the future. (Never forget Les Mis or The Book of Mormon)!
Thanks for the rude and honest memories. Hopefully we’ll make new ones in the future. #26reasonswhy
