Start writing your post here. You can insert images and videos by clicking on the icons above.You know that feeling of wanting a good intro when you start an essay but end up wasting like a good half hour not coming up with anything? Maybe it’s just me and I’m just a low key perfectionist when it comes to writing things that I find meaningful, but in all honesty I wish it was as easy as how I could generate dank memes (example: goo.gl/OjITfx). I’m not sure what I’m going to talk/write about below, but I’ll do it on the fly (like a Freudian stream of consciousness) and hopefully it ends up somewhere good. I’ll put the link here just in case if any formatting or stuff gets messed up: bit.do/alz_rotablog1 . Feel free to comment as well.
Anyhow, hey everyone, my name is Aaron Zhong, a fourth year CSE major and this year’s Vice President. I’ve been in Rotaract all four years here at UCI. I interned my first year for what is now the Mentorship Committee and was co-web admin my second year. I’ll be graduating after spring quarter and going to brace for the turbulent winds of the life of “adulting” as some people like to call it. Whether those winds will be a gentle effer or a Bermuda Triangle of hurricanes and tornadoes, we’ll just have to wait and see. We might live in SoCal for the time being, but I’m not much of a wave rider. I’d much rather coast on the winds of life. But enough about the boring fact stuff. Let’s discuss why someone like me ended up here and how I’ve come to see Rotaract the past four years.
In all honesty, there’s a good handful of people who come into Rotaract not knowing what to expect. I think most people are like that when they join their first time. Of course there are exceptions, and “those” who seem just to know exactly what to expect because they’ve done the walk and the talk before. For me though, I definitely fall into the first category of not really knowing what to expect. There definitely was Interact at my high school, and a few classmates and friends I knew were in it. One of the co-presidents was even a cute girl that I liked, but that's another story. SO basically there were a lot of reasons to join, but I guess the non-excuse I always use is that I was more focused on boosting decimals in my GPA count and playing on my school's tennis team. Maybe that’s something I might have changed in retrospect.
I say “might have” because if I had done enough back then, I don’t think there would have been the same feeling eating at me the first day I went to Anteater Involvement Fair. I definitely wanted to join something and I was able to see a Pedro and Paulina, our former President and Vice President from many years back, along with a few other board members boothing. They were at a small little corner (typical boothing spot at things like this). I think I remember just the red banner being put up. Everyone there was talking to each other and so I was curious and went over to ask about it. They said it was kinda like Interact in high school. I think it was Pedro that handed me a flyer and said a few things. I told him I would come out and check it and went to look at other booths. And the rest is basically history.
Stories like these I feel are just a fragment of a bigger picture. Everyone has a different first Rotaract moment. I think this one is mine, although I remember it a bit fuzzy. There are only three fuzzy first Rotaract moments that I can distinctly identify. I’m sure others remember their distinct first moments if they just think about it a while.
So, I think this post has gone on far enough. If you did read everything thanks a bunch. We’ll probably try adding a comment system to these soon after. Probably next time I write something that’s more focused on how I’ve come to see Rotaract my past four years. Until then, Peace.
