We all know 2020 was crazy and there was a lot of change. I decided to take a break from the blog and focus more on my mental health, friends, school, jobs (yes jobs with an s), and applying to medical school.
January– It was a start of a new chapter of my life. Everything was falling into place. During this month, I secured a new job, research position, while continuing my older job and postbacc. I made a Youtube vlog about it so check it out!
February-I continued to train more in my research and enjoy it. I often do ELIZA and make slides from brain tissues so it required a lot of good hand work. I have experience making jewelry, so I found doing this repetitive work relaxing as it takes my mind off things. My roommates from college came to socal this month as well and we celebrated Vday together at a bar near the beach. I also finally left my previous job after my successor was trained.
March-My mentor for med school got accepted to his top school and I am so proud of him. I got him these flowers as a congratulations present. Around mid March we were in lock down so I was off my job. I was able to still contribute to my lab with doing data analysis remotely. I also bought my first products from Em cosmetics and I highly recommend the magic hour collection, especially the blush and eyeshadow!
April-As a introvert, lockdown was kinda nice so I enjoyed staying at home all the time. I had time to play with makeup so I made this kitsune inspired look, using red lip liner and liquid lipstick. I had no red eyeliners sadly, haha. I also made failed attempts of dalgona coffee. I think the brand/type of instant coffee I got was not it. I also bought the Animal crossing edition of the Nintendo Switch and I was playing Animal crossing avidly. I had a honey butter chip phase, and with lockdown, I thought why not buy a giant bulk of them?
May-This was such a busy and hectic month. I spend most of this month finalizing and filling out my medical school applications. With the pandemic and riots, sending transcripts was mayhem. I discovered one of my top favorite artists that I stan so hard and support- Teflon Sega (Link to his Youtube). His purple/anime aesthetic along with his self made music is amazing. He is the second artist I ever bought merch from and the pandemic caused delays in production. He himself sent an email update on it to his customers and he shared my IG post on it!!! His music has helped me so much coping with my demons in 2020. During this time, I also invested in more home products such as this light projector and an actual projector so I can watch shows on a bigger scale. I started working out every other day and cut condensed milk/ high sugar since I was getting more unhealthy and acne. I did zoom workouts with my college roommate so we can stay motivated and accountable!
June-I submitted my medical school apps! Now on to letter of rec hell. It was really stressful trying to make sure all the letters were submitted in time. I also had a hard time starting secondary application essay prompts and was kinda hard on myself. But, I made a lot of effort being kinder to myself and eventually secondary writing got easier. I did have some fun this month– I went to a park in rave for Seven Lions in AZ! It was super hot that weekend and it was a unique rave experience nonetheless.
July-I was deep in secondary hell, haha. I spent most of my days writing and turning in secondary apps. Midway, it was my bday and I had fun playing kendama, listening to music, and reading on the beach. I also saw a good friend of mine before she moved to NYC. We went to Steel craft and got beer, tacos, and icecream.
August-I lost a best friend in order to have self respect. I found a new group of friends, or technically my gaming friends I had over lockdown but meeting in person for the first time. This was the start of Tennis Saturdays, where we hang out and play tennis! I am also almost done with secondary hell, prepping for interviews for med school. In addition, I interviewed and started a new job at PT clinic.
September– I spent labor day weekend with a group of friends in San Diego had a great time! It was super hot and fires were raging, and it was definitely a different experience with COVID measures in the hotel. I ate a lot of good food and found some sand dollars on the beach! It was such a good omen which you will see in October!
October-I got accepted to med school! Literally all of my hard work and not giving up the past 5 years came into fruition. I reconnected with a college friend and celebrated my acceptance at a lovely restaurant in Venice, called The Rose! I stopped by to say hi to my cousin with boba at work, and I hope his coworkers did not think of me as his girlfriend LMAO. This month, I found out I still needed to heal before dating again. Friend group tennis saturdays has been a routine thing, which I am so thankful of. If not for it, I would be antisocial at home. Finally, I started playing geinshin impact, a super popular mobile and PC game.
November-I hung out with my college roommate more since she started school in LA. I got into picnicking (after the season is over lol), got into board games during Tennis Saturdays (MACHI KOROO!!). Pictured is a homemade curry for dinner before tennis. Also, I was getting the hang of work and liking my job. I had a covid scare since one of my coworkers was positive, but I was negative, thank goodness.
December-Tennis saturdays were still a weekly thing. Krispy kreme donuts Xmas edition was so cute I had to get a box. The PT at the clinic had to close down since we didn’t have a lot of business and rent was going to be increased. Hence, I had to find a new job and found a full time one at another PT clinic. Management was terrible but I still tried to hang in there. I had another covid scare since one of my coworkers was positive, but I was negative, thank goodness. Around Xmas, I looked at Xmas decorated houses in Long Beach and was able to capture my favorite constellation, Orion with night sight on my Pixel. This year’s Xmas was super special and this mug was one of my favorites, thank you roomie!
If you read through this whole blog post, omg thank you so much. Thank you for thinking I am an interesting person, haha. I made a similar yearly recap post for 2019 if you’re interested in that as well. I plan to make yearly recaps a tradition here and its great to look back and reflect.
The Kaiser Karen Space 