20130524

They See Me Rollin', They Hatin'

I woke up early this morning, nervous and excited. I'd said I was mostly nervous. At 9am, I had an appointment at the dealership to pick up my car. Went over some papers with sales rep, signed a gazillion pages and my car was brought in for me. The sale rep took the time to teach me the various functions and settings of the car and bam, I was ready to go.  Being the typical Asians they are, my parents insisted on choosing the plate number. I personally couldn't care less, but they insisted on having the number "8" in it. The dealership is located in Brossard, where a large population of Asians reside. Naturally, plates with "88", "68" or "58" were already taken. I was so afraid my parents were going to make a fuss out of it, but thankfully they didn't. They were obviously a bit disappointed that the good numbers were taken, but there was nothing they could've done. I mean, it's no one's fault if other clients bought their cars before I did, right?

As I drove the car away from the dealership, I felt so free. I am now finally able to go out without constantly having to find means of arriving to destination and getting home safely, or relying on someone else to drive me. No more fighting with the siblings over who gets to use the car on the weekend or who has to drive who. While I know this freedom comes with a huge load of responsibilities, I am definitely ready to take them on!

20130520

The Grad Life

Graduation... I never thought I'd finally graduate from university. It all seemed so far away when I started my bachelor's degree. Year after year, I never worried because I kept telling myself I still had time. Still had time to study more, time to improve my GPA, time to start planning my life... But time passed too quickly, way too quickly. Here am I now, a university graduate - finally- waiting to start my career. At first it was all very exciting, but the suddenly the thought of entering the real world is starting to be frightening. As a student, we got away with so much and people seemed to be nicer and more understanding just because we're still in school "Accounting? Oh, good for you! Good luck with your studies, you'll do great!" they all say.

Lucky me, I still have the summer to bum around and pretend to be a student on summer vacation. I still get my student discounts and pay cheap rates for my gym membership - one of the reasons why I wish on wasn't graduating. Life is just so much cheaper as a student!

On the other hand, graduating gave me a legit reason to finally buy a car. A car that I will actually use for work, so I'm not just getting one for the sake of owning a car! Purchasing a car was the very first decision I made as a grad. The moment I shook hands with the car dealer to close the deal was unreal. I felt I was pushed out of the bubble I've been living for the past 23 years, where real responsibilities didn't exists because I always had my parents to tell me whether or not I was making the right decision or simply make decisions for me even though I desperately wanted them to leave me alone. But there I was at the dealership, confused, scared (all the while feeling excited?!) looking at my parents, hoping they would tell me what to do - Yes, take the deal/ No, don't take it. "Dad, what do I do? Should I get this car?" For the very first time, my father, who always has an opinion (especially when it comes to cars) and who lives by the " Dad knows best" philosophy answered: " I don't know, you will be driving it. I can't choose for you. You will have to decide for yourself". I was dumbfounded! At that moment, I did what everyone says to do; I put aside everything and listened to my guts. Who would've known buying a car would be so difficult!