words from serena

A Friday Afternoon Adventure This week felt like a long one, to say the least. Even though I didn’t have any major assignments due or any midterms, I took it upon myself to get ahead on work for my current job and also get to applying to summer internships as well. Late Thursday night, I got a surprise Slack message from my boss-- “No meeting tomorrow! Have a good weekend :-)”--and instantly felt a warm feeling wash over my body. No more work on Friday meant I could sleep in, and since I had no other scheduled obligations, I could spend my day relaxing however I wanted to. So, I woke up at a languid 12:15 pm, checked my phone, and saw that my roommate had texted me 10 minutes earlier and asked if I wanted to go to Spoon by H with her--a beloved LA restaurant located in Koreatown that sadly announced on Monday that it was closing this week after not being able to hold itself up any longer from the effects of the pandemic. After the restaurant announced the news on their Instagram, hoard...

 As I touched on in my previous post, I chose to read American Like Me by America Fererra because I was really interested in hearing about many of the personal and childhood experiences of some of my favorite public figures who also grew up in immigrant households, just like I did. I have to say, even after reading the first five chapters of the book (which included essays from America Fererra herself, Reshma Saujani, Al Madrigal, Jenny Zhang, and Bambadjan Bamba) in just one evening, I was extremely satisfied with the book choice that I made, as I found each of the stories and essays unique despite each talking on the same topic. I loved it so much that I finished reading it in just 2 days, and feel like I may read this book once again in a few months. Out of all of the stories, I think I liked Anna Akana’s the most (even though, once again, they were all amazing). I actually watched her Youtube videos religiously from the ages of 13-16, and as a young, confident, accomplished, an...

For my book, I chose to read American Like Me by America Fererra. I chose this book for a variety of reasons. Originally, I was actually planning on choosing Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi since I am a huge foodie and love reading and discussing the cultural significance of food around the world, especially as a Chinese American girl who heavily connects with her native culture through food and food-related customs. However, once I looked at the cover for American Like Me, I noticed (1) that Padma Lakshmi actually wrote a chapter in Fererra’s book, and (2) there were many other major figures that I was interested in hearing stories from, such as Jeremy Lin and Michelle Kwan who were both huge athletic inspirations for me growing up, Anna Akana (who I grew up watching on Youtube), and Randall Park (who I actually got to hear speak last year at a USC event).  I have not started the book (since my package was unfortunately stolen), but based on what I have read online, i...

Turn Your Vices into Virtues like Water into Wine A simple guide to turn your bad drinking habits into a skill to impress. If you’re reading this, chances are you either went to college or are currently a college student. Let’s be honest—I’m sure those memories of shotgunning Natty Lights, sipping on White Claws, and ladling mysterious tropical-flavored battery acid from a plastic storage bin into a sticky red Solo cup aren’t too far gone. During these glory days, drinking was something you did to lose your inhibitions, get wild with your friends, and add a little extra chaos to your night. Perhaps you’re like me, though. Perhaps, after a long and lonely quarantine, barred from going to social gatherings, fraternity houses, or bars, you’ve become interested in the beauty in the alcoholic drink. You’re older now. You don’t want to wake up with regrets and a hangover anymore—you want to sip with sophistication and learn how to be a true adult. Why not turn what was previously a childish ...

Turn Your Vices into Virtues like Water into Wine A simple guide to turning your bad drinking habits into a skill to impress. Let’s be honest. If you’re reading this article, chances are you either went to college or are currently a college student. I’m sure those memories of shotgunning Natty Lights, sipping on White Claws, and ladling mysterious tropical battery acid from a large plastic storage bin reminiscent of storage in your parent’s garage aren’t too far gone. Back in these days, drinking was something you did to lose your inhibitions, get wild with your friends, and add a little extra chaos to your night. Perhaps you’re like me, though. Perhaps, after a long and lonely quarantine, barred from going to social gatherings, fraternity houses, or bars, you realize the beauty in the alcoholic drink as a concept. You don’t want to drink to get wasted and wake up with regrets--you want to sip with sophistication and learn how to be a true adult. Why not turn what was previously a chil...

Currently, I work as a Technology Innovation Fellow at startup called Identity Review and have been working there since August. Identity Review is a media outlet in the digital identity space, which deals with the data economy, cybersecurity, biometrics, and more.  My job as a Tech Innovation Fellow can be broken down into two categories: Journalism Design I’ll talk about these roles using examples from my work from the past few months. Journalism Most of what I do for Identity Review is related to writing. Here are my main tasks: Write articles and reports Conduct research and outreach Draft tweets for Twitter Let’s take a look at how I wrote my article that was due last Tuesday: First, I went into the Identity Review content pipeline, which is updated weekly with assignments. This time, I had to write an article about Equifax acquiring Kount for $640M. After reading a related press release, I shot a quick email to the Kount press team with one question about the news. While waiti...