Blogging is like Photography
You can never capture a true image of reality with a camera, just as you can never capture the essence of someone’s life through reading blog entries.
There’s really no point in trying to take a picture of reality, because you will always get something else distorted. That square frame can only capture a limited portion of the world. The lighting varies depending on whether you have the flash on or off. The aperture and white balance can also be manipulated to change the image of “reality.” Have you ever seen a beautiful scenic view but when you tried to take a picture of it, it just wasn’t the same?
Like photography, no matter how much someone tries to record their lives and enumerate on every little event that happens each day or each hour, not everything will be written the same way that it happened. A moment cannot be relived through a blog post, nor can it be relived through a photograph. A blog is like a photograph in that it is an artistic representation of someone’s life, distorted in a way because information is always left out or distorted. It is written through the eyes of the beholder.
The only way to overcome this fact is to accept it. I cannot possibly show you every aspect of my life through this blog, nor do I choose to. Through analogies, you can obtain a glimpse of how I think and what my life consists of. Hopefully you can gain a deeper appreciation of who I am. But by no means do I expect anyone to be able to live vicariously through me by reading this blog.
This is only a snapshot.
Berkeley is just a brand name
Going to Berkeley is like when you buy a $40 t-shirt that with “bebe” or “fcuk” printed on it. Functionally, it’s just as good as the $5 plain t-shirt from Kohl’s. Quality-wise, both shirts would last you just as long, shrink just as quickly, and fade just as fast. The eduction at Berkeley isn’t that stellar with the 300+ student lectures, bureaucratic administration, and mediocre GSIs. There are good and bad professors, good and bad grading curves, budget cuts, and waitlists for classes — just like any state school or UC. You just convince yourself you can compete with the Ivy Leagues with a name brand that is recognized internationally, just like you think you’ll be able to join the “popular group” by wearing the shirt that’s 8x as expensive.
Sometimes that brand name shirt you buy ends up being an even lower quality than the shirt you could’ve bought from Ross for a tenth of the price. That’s like when Berkeley cuts their East Asian language classes, Business minor, and Journalism electives (because of budget cuts). The brand name just thinks they can get away with it. Berkeley in all its glory doesn’t offer nearly as many majors and minors as some UC’s that are reputed to have less global recognition. There are only 20 or fewer minors offered at Berkeley, most of which are in the arts/humanities and involve subjects that are more likely considered hobbies rather than anything that can be practically applied in the job market today.
Berkeley, get over yourself. Your quality is really nothing more than a state school where the homeless gather. The name can only get you so far.
