#50: My List

Tell us about yourself. (University of California)

1. My favourite colour is yellow because it's bright and it makes me happy.

2. I love reading the "It Happened to Me" parts of a Tinkle comic because things in these stories never seem to happen to me.

3. I don't hate math even though I suck at it.

4. I like reading crime fiction most of the time, but I always try to read books of a different genre.

5. John Nash became my idol after I read Sylvia Nasar's A Beautiful Mind. It gave me hope. Maybe, I can still be good at math even though my grades might not reflect my skills.

6. I like to walk down from school while listening to music because it clears up my mind and allows me to look at nature. I hate thinking that I'm missing out on nature when I live in a place like Mussoorie.

7. I always try to do sports even though I hate exercise. I even ran cross-country and came last. Exercise actually makes me feel healthier even thought I really, really dislike it. (I actually do not hate it)

8. I like collecting stationery. Just having a full and organized pencil box makes me feel organized and studious.

9. I really, really dislike criticisms, which could also be why I do not allow most people to read my work. (I've actually gotten two different people to edit my work this semester!)

10. Living in a city like Delhi has made me very aware about the issue of global warming. The place I live in has thus shaped my dreams and goals.

11. I hate the grading system and the way schools work. I find the system unfair, because I've realized that grades cannot reflect on a person's intelligence and knowledge. Some people with the highest grades didn't even know what the Holocaust was. The Holocaust was quite a big thing. (The grading system is deceiving.)

12. As much as I hate the grading system, it is still very important to me. A lot of my future seems to rely on it, sadly. The grading system is also very competitive, and I hate thinking that I’m behind other people.

13. I count the excessive use of a thesaurus one of the biggest lessons I've learnt. I can't just go to a thesaurus and choose the biggest word I see. It makes it hard for me and it makes it hard for the reader. Big words don't equal a good essay. Sometimes, big and complicated words make your work very, very, very hard to understand. I try and avoid the thesaurus now.

14. I really like learning about new things. That's why I know a few very random facts. I also get annoyed when I can't understand something I'm learning. VERY annoyed. (My roommate's proof.)

15. I like doing things that most people don't always do. I play badminton (a sport that only lasts for two weeks a year). I've taken up the tabla (which I'm very bad at). I do my tick signs from right to left. (The opposite way. The common way is more convenient for right-handed people) I still read Archie comics. (It's not a good thing, and the stories are the same, but they're still funny!) I like eating my ice cream scoops in cups with the cone thing crushed on top (or taking a bite of an empty cone with every spoonful of ice cream).

This might not be the "right" way to answer this question, but I feel that this list might tell a lot more about me than my usual background and life story.