Countdown 95 Days: Busy, busy, busy.

Hi! I know I have not been blogging since ... err.... 2 months ago? Such irresponsible person I am, so please don't be like me!

For Winter break, I went to Florida and visited Disney World! This is the 3rd Disneyland I've been to, and I was still really excited about the rides and performances! I also went to Universal Studios! I spent more than 12 hours in each theme park-taking water rides at 12.30am, and almost got sick for the rest of the trip :3 All in all, it was worth it cause I had so much fun! Mainly because I spent Christmas and my birthday in Florida, what more could I ask for when all I need is warm and sunny weather? :)

Ever since classes started, I've been really really busy. Brief overview of my daily schedule:

Monday: 3 hours of class, 3 hours of work, 1 hour training, 2-3 hours of meeting
Tuesday: Class from 9.30am-9.30pm, with breaks from 12.30pm-1pm & 5pm-7pm ONLY
Wednesday: 2 hours of classes, 4 hours of work, ~5 hours of research, 1 hour of meeting, 1 hour of occasional training
Thursday: Class from 9.30am-5pm, 1 hour of meeting.
Friday: 1 hour of class, research for the rest of the day
Saturday: 8.30-2.30pm work, few hours of research, homework
Sunday: 9-11am training, few hours of research, 1.5 hours of meeting.
+ Weekly lab reports
+ Weekly pre labs
+ Endless Midterms/Quizzes

Days got real bad when everything happens at the same time. Like the past week, I had 1 22-page long lab report, prelab report, 3 Midterms, and 2 assignments, and I actually camped in UGL for the whole night and got super tired.

Kays, done with reporting/ranting about my tired (but meaningful) life. For I4K, we are having a much more intense workout as compared to last year. I still remember last week we did all sorts of jumping workout for like 45 minutes. @@ And we run a lot too. I haven't talked to people for donation yet, but I know I gotta start (again) soon. I'm currently at $3004.97 for my individual fundraising (ugh so close to $3500!) while for the team, we're currently at $48405.73! I'm so proud to be part of this team because everyone is working so hard-to reach fundraising goal, training, and stuffs ! I'm also involved in The Portraits Project board, hopefully we'll be able to expand this organization and make it better-known in the community!

On a side note, I have had a plan for my Spring break! I'll be going to Florida again, this time not for me to have fun, but instead to have fun with kids! I'll be volunteering at Give Kids the World and I'll be working with kids with life-threatening diseases. :/ A part of me is glad that I'll be able to volunteer to help, cause I really love kids and would definitely want them to be happy; however, I'm afraid that I'll not be able to handle my emotions when I actually see them, cause... I just can't. :( Anyways, I'll take this as a challenge and hopefully from there I'll learn to be a better person!

It's almost 3am now, and I've been up since 7.30am and never had the time to nap. :3 Also, I just went for broomball competition with MASA and actually won 2nd runner up! So proud of team C! The bruises are all worth it haha! Hopefully it will not hurt too much cause I'll need to go for training tomorrow morning TT.

Btw, Happy Valentine's Day! Hope everyone had a good one with his/her valentine!

"When you have love, spread the love, and someone will fall in love with you. When you two fall in love, both of you should spread even more love, so that the society will fall in love with you two, and eventually everyone will be spreading lots of love. The society needs more love." 

Countdown 168 Days: $10,000 achieved!

It has been two weeks since I last blogged, guess I'm really bad at keeping things updated. Hah but here I am, writing this at 1am, still kindaaaaa dedicated right? :P

P/S: not really I4K related, however I wanna share it here too, cause it's related to my volunteering experience.

It was Thanksgiving break last week. For the very first time, I decided to join a volunteering trip. YAY. I signed up for one of the ASB trips, and spent 5 days in Goshen, Indiana. We, 11 of us, worked with this company called La Casa Inc. which focuses on remodeling houses for medium or low income people. The building we worked with was actually a huge factory, and now La Casa Inc. is turning them into 35 apartments, called the Hawks building. We worked from 8.30am till 3.30pm, with one hour of lunch break in between.All we did is basic painting and taping work, which is really simple. Mark was our supervisor and he's really nice and hilarious, and annoying at times. When he got to know that I'm from Malaysia, he kept calling me "Malaysia", when in fact I told him to call me Jane. But he was like, "No, Malaysia, come here."  It was a nice experience anyways. It was nice having those people as my group members for that trip! :')

Taping: Putting the tapes around the parts that will be painted later so that the wooden part will be less likely to have ugly black paint on it..

 La Casa de Goshen, Fall 2014, at the Hawks Building after work.

 The group at Mark's office/warehouse. 

Our last dinner. Heavenly-nice Chinese food! :')

  ABC soup cooked by me! Why is it named "ABC" ? Because it's very simple to cook, as easy as ABC. :)

Now, I4K related stuffs. 

We had a team meeting last Tuesday, and I have finally gotten my quarter zip! So excited! If I'm not wrong, that was our last team meeting for this semester. I just had my (probably last) midweek training just now at CRCE. I have no idea how sore will my muscles get tomorrow, we will see... 

Quarter Zip and I = LOVE

Update about our fundraising, we have successfully collected more than $10,000 ! YAYYYYYY!!!! *throw confetti* It's so exciting to see everyone is working towards the same goal! Hopefully we'll be able to achieve $150,000 this year. We can do this! And we'll do this together! 

I got my second biggest donation (thus far) from Professor Wilfred van der Donk! I've heard that he's super generous and nice. Well, I met him and had lunch with him at Allerton Conference, and he said he remembers me :') I set up an appointment and went to talk to him yesterday. He's so patient in listening to what I say, at the same time ask a lot of questions about I4K, which shows that he really cares about it. :') More surprisingly, he had worked for 5 years in Damon Runyon Cancer Research Center, one of our biggest beneficiaries. WOW. Regardless of the connection he has with Damon Runyon, I would say he's really supportive and generous. Thanks for the big donation Professor van der Donk! I'm so grateful. :') 

With his donation came in, it puts me at $2444.97 right now. I'm kinda annoyed by the 97 ending, guess I'm a lil OCD huh? :3 

I have no idea what's wrong with the figure. Probably Narwhal was too excited to see the figure hits $10,000 and went crazy I think..

Just $1000 more to hit my required goal! I'm really excited! However, I'll try to reach $5000 as my personal goal. This is the biggest fundraising amount I have ever gotten, so why not make it even bigger right? :)

To all of you kind-hearted human out there, I'm really thankful to have met you in my life. I am thankful, and will be thankful forever. My journey (read:life) wouldn't be so interesting without you guys in my life. God bless you all beautiful souls! :') 

And because I'm thankful, I want to start something--to feature you guys on my blog. So, if you're reading this (whether you did donate or not), and wanna show us your support towards the team's effort, write this on a blank paper (picture below), with you holding it, then snap a picture and send it to me via email: xyphang93@yahoo.com! Many thanks!

Current favorite song: Blank Space (Taylor Swift)

It's a really catchy song! 

~Learn to appreciate, and you'll find beauty in everything you do and everyone you meet.

Countdown 181 Days: A month of Fundraising

October 21st.

That was the day I started posting about me being in I4K and started all sorts of fundraising activities. I did not keep track of the amount of people I talked to about I4K, but if I were to put a figure, I would say 100, at least. 

Last Sunday, I made a post on facebook about this guy, Jacob. People like him makes everyone's life more wonderful, makes the world more colorful and beautiful.

I start to lose count of the amount of touching-and-thankful moments in my life, but I remember every of you, in my heart. Because of I4K, I learn to appreciate-I appreciate every kind word, support, donation, and smile I got from everyone. I have never imagined myself being here, talking to people randomly, asking for donation, explaining so many things (in English), and getting support from so many people. 

Before I was officially accepted into I4K, to fund-raise such a huge amount of money is my biggest concern. Quite a number of people I talked to think that the hardest thing is about the physical strength. But for me, it's different, I'm more worried about not getting donations. :3

Undeniably, weekly training is indeed very intense for me. I used to play sports a lot, but nothing could compare to the physical training in I4K. For me, training is on Sunday and Wednesday. Sunday's is a two-hour-weekend training. Every Monday and Tuesday, I just feel like I couldn't move at all-my quadriceps, calves, butt. and abs are so sore. Every single step I take, my muscles hurt so much; every time I sneeze/laugh, my abs hurt so much; every time I try to bend down/squat down, or even just sit down, every single piece of my muscles hurt. Before my muscles fully recover, next training session approached. Heh but I'm not writing to complain, just for sharing purposes. :D

Nothing could compare to the torture that every patient (not only cancer patients, but people who have any disease in general) experiences. No one is stronger than them who fight every single second to stay alive. 

It has been only a month, and I am more than halfway through my fundraising goal. Just in case you guys are wondering, I am currently at $1919.97. :)  Even after I touch my goal, I will still continue to ask for donations. I mean, the more, the better, isn't it? :) I am more than touched to have received support from every of you guys who have been so supportive towards me, and also towards the team. You have no idea how much I appreciate your support and effort in making our mission a successful one. I (we) will continue to work harder on both individual level and team level. 

Also, I want to thank Z-group for being so supportive towards me. I'm like a baby in Z-group, cause I'm the youngest in term of age and qualification. haha. Thank you Professor Zimmerman, brothers, and sisters from Z-group, for making me feel like home. You guys are definitely one of the best groups of people I have here in the UofI. Thanks! :') 

I sincerely thank all of you, who have helped and supported me all the way. For all the good deeds that you've done, only God could repay you. I wish you kind-hearted people to have the best that you could ever wish for, because life is beautiful because of you, ANGELS. :')

I wanna specially thank Far East, Z-group, Jacob, Heng, Sam, Tee, Zhong Xiang, and Uncle Cravings (Uncle Sze Toh) for the huge amount of donation. Also Siang Kee, Chee Hau didi, Yinan, Fifi, Tina, Yong Wei, Yi Yi, SinFang, Pave, Wen Lin, Cheng Han, Munish, Marcus, Hang King, Nithya, Pika, Kevin, Syahir, Jawai, Wen Xuan, Syaza, Wei Ping, Hui Jun, Yen Ming, Sally, Chee Hoe, Suffian, Andrea, Adrian, Dav, Fara, and Patti for your kind donation! Last but not least, I wanna thank VVVVVVIP Encik Tan Kit Siang for supporting me always! :D 

P.S: Sorry that I did not update for quite some time, cause I was caught up with other chores. Also, I will be going on a volunteering trip by ASB tomorrow! See you guys soon! Once again, thank you! <3

P.P.S: Also, I'm addicted to this song recently! Zayn Malik OMGGGG :D Chose this version because the full MV is too long. This acoustic version is nicer! :D

~Without your strong support, I am nothing. Jane is nothing. 

Countdown 188 Days: Never stop trying!

188 days, the number "188" reminds me of the donation I got from this close friend yesterday. This guy, Heng Wen Kai, donated $88.88. Damn I owe you so much.. Just a quick update, My personal fundraising has achieved more than $1500 in less than a month! I could not be more thankful than having each and every of you in my life. Without any of you, I am nothing. You guys are truly amazing! :')

P/S: the $0.88 comes from Heng! :'D

When I first talked to Heng about this, he's very excited for me. I remember he said that, "I'm very rich. I will surely help you." But I'm very confident he ain't that rich, he just wants to help me. He's the guy that will go all out to support his friends, in my case, both mentally and financially. I'm really thankful for that :') Also because of him (and Tee), I planned on organizing a similar biking trip in Malaysia as soon as I graduate and get home, which is... in 1.5-year time. Time flies. :/

A year ago, I came to the UofI, finding that it's so hard for me to fit in. I have never been in an environment with 100% of English usage. It's just... so hard. After two semesters in the UofI, I tell myself, I want to make a difference. I want to push myself. I have to get out of the comfort zone that's set by myself. 

So I applied to work in Organic Chemistry lab last summer, Z-group is the place that I feel the safest and most comfortable in. I feel so blessed to have them Z-group members and Professor Zimmerman. Also, I signed up for a few RSO-s on quad day 2014. It's time to get out of my shell, I told myself. So I signed up for Rotaract Club,Illini 4000, Volunteer Illini Project, Illini Mentor Program, and Tzu Ching. If you realize, those organizations focus on volunteering work. I have always been wanting to get involved in community service/volunteering, because I never had the chance to do volunteering work when I was home. In the end, I settled for only Rotaract Club and Illini 4000. 

The more I found out about Illini 4000, the more I admire the team. I spent about two weeks drafting my application essay, and finally when I got an email from Tory on October 5th, I cried. At that moment, I honestly could not believe that I made it to the team. 

The one and only concern that I had about joining this team was the minimum fundraising amount of $3500. I have never done fundrasing event before-not even $35, and now I have to do $3500?! I have been so worried about this. For locals, it's easier to ask for donation from high school friends/teachers, relatives, parents' colleague, friends' parents, etc. While for me? With a currency exchange rate of $1=RM3.33, how do I get people in Malaysia to donate to me? 

You know there's a quote saying, " If you wanna achieve something impossible, you have to do something impossible" ? It's no longer a choice for me whether to ask for donation or not. I spend quite a lot of time walking everywhere, enter every shop/restaurant that I see, and just introduce myself and ask for donation. There are a lot of people ignored me, and those really pulled me back. At times, I'm just like, I can't do this, it's impossible for me to raise enough money. The next day I wake up, I just grab my purple paper file with personal letters, documents, etc in it, and continue to ask around. As soon as my first biggest donation came in, it was $1000 from Far East grocery, I felt a huge relief. I'm just like, "it finally paid off." This has really boosted my confidence. 

Today, again I did something I thought I will never do in my life. I basically just walk the whole RAL, reaching out for professors and graduate students. I'm also thankful that Julio keeps encouraging me, and always say "JUST GO". I really appreciate people who actually listen to what I say, and ask questions, at least I know that my message is conveyed. Sometimes I just got really discouraged by people who didn't even look at me while I was explaining things, also people who just kinda like walked away and ignored me. For that, I really appreciate people who let me know how amazing am I doing, how amazing my team is, or how great our mission is. Honestly my biggest fear is that I don't speak good English, and I wouldn't want my words to be ambiguous. If only I can speak better English, I will never fear asking around. It really takes a whole lot of courage.

Despite the setbacks that I have, I am truly grateful for having support from many of you. I believe that towards the end of this project, I will have learned and grown up a lot. It's definitely a very valuable learning experience.

I still believe, as long as I don't give up, nothing can bring me down.


~ Be bold. Be sincere. Be optimistic. Believe. 

Countdown 191 Days: Thanks for the encouragement! :')

Looking at the amount of blog post I make, I think you should know that I'm kinda free right now. Yes, indeed. I will be free until Thanksgiving break, but it'll be a roller coaster ride all over again right after Thanksgiving.

Since I'm free, I decided to start to my fundraising project again this morning. It's so hard to get everything started again-it's so hard to talk to people. :3 I have started asking around since morning and no one seems to be interested in this project. C'mon man...

Later in the evening, I decided to drop by RAL to inform Z-group members about this I4K project. I'm really touched seeing everyone being so supportive ! :') Honestly, Z-group feels like home. This is the first group of people I knew in UofI, and not a second I regret joining this lab. Everyone there is like my brother/sister, giving me inspiration, guidance, advice, support, and this has definitely shaped me into a better person. 1.5 years left, I'll definitely cherish this limited amount of time. :') 

Later at night, I took saferide home. Apparently I am very close to one of the Saferide drivers, Auntie Lin. She has been fetching me home since my first semester here. She's like a mom to me. I have not seen her for quite some time, so I asked her what had happened. She has a terrible migraine that has been giving her a lot of troubles, I hope she'll be fine though... :/ 

So when I hopped on the van, the first thing she asked was, "What did you do last weekend? Did you have fun?" 

"Yes... kinda." 

"So what did you do?"

"I went for training." I actually didn't want her to donate because she has helped me a lot, and I don't want to ... put a burden on her. :3

"What kind of training is that?"

So I gave her my personal letter and explained to her about Illini 4000, and told her what we did/do/will be doing. 

She replied, "So you now have a group of friends right?" 

"We'll  eventually be close friends. It was hard for me to actually talk to people when I first got here. I'm lost. I don't want to risk my results, so I ended up studying a lot and not socialize much." 

"I know. Which is why every time I wait the Union, hoping that I could see you every day. I want to talk to you, and want you to talk to me too. If you realize, I have been helping you since long time ago."

"You know what? Actually I knew it. And I'm really thankful for that, Auntie Lin. I think I'm getting better now. However, sometimes I think it's kinda awkward-I don't know what to talk about."

"Good to hear that. You know, just chat. Just get to know each other better." 

Before I get off the van, she said, " It takes a lot of courage to do this (the ride and maybe socializing too? ) I'm really proud of you! So, I wanna support you for this project and how could I do that?"

I showed her the links, but she said she doesn't know how to use a computer. One second later,  she said, "I'll figure out how. I wanna support you." 

With that, we bid goodbye, and hopefully I'll see her tomorrow night. She's the reason I take the 9pm and 10pm saferide, or else she won't be driving the South direction van, and I wouldn't be able to see her. 

Just when I thought that today I wouldn't be able to even get people to engage in what I am talking, I met Z-group people and Auntie Lin. You guys have no idea how much has that helped me-to boost my confidence. I couldn't ask for more. I just know that being able to study here, and being able to meet you guys, it's FATE. God has granted me with so many nice people around, people who bring me up when I'm down, people who unconditionally support me, people who want me to success. I don't know what I could do to repay all the good deeds/words I received. 

You guys are the sunshine of my life. Once again, thank you so much sunshine-s.  :')


~The only way I could thank you, is by being a better person, and pass on the good deeds that you guys have done for me.