Debatable

What is beauty? Merely a point of view that anything with a bit of light is worth more than a second's thought. Secret is, there is beauty in failure and death. Beauty in failure is greater than success.

What is fear? Ego. Fear stems from the idea of potential of something better. That "better" is our ego talking to us. Fear is good but in small doses. The discrepancy between potential and reality should be the focus, not the thing you fear.

What is anger? Belief in something's potential only to be letdown.

Okay, what is potential? It's limitless. But why does it so often fail us?
Go back to question number one Carol :)

Temporary like me - Miss Vintage

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

-Charles R. Swindoll 

Endeavors Please

I want the vision, the ambition, the failures, and the experience.
Grant me the push and pull, the hustle, and the desire to want nothing less.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what is the worth of a picture with words?

Photographs with text from my Flickr account from the past year:





















If you're interested, I also put together a personal photography projected called "Dear BU," which is essentially the same idea. Check it out! :)

"It never gets easier. You just get better."

This is definitely the mantra that recently has been looping in my head for days upon days. What is so powerful about this saying is that it can be applied to basically all aspects of life. Below are some from the top of my head:

Relationships
Heartbreak never comes in a neat package. Usually it's messy and hits you straight in the gut when you least expect it. I don't know if you can ever get "better" at dealing with broken hearts but you learn with experience what you should or should not get yourself into. However, I find that it just gets harder and harder as we grow older -- but we will save that for another post (so I can build the anticipation)!

Career
Since I'm still in college, I can only really focus on everything that builds up to your career. For example, dealing with all the stress of job searching, resume building, class acing....it makes the experience of applying to college look easy. But remember when we high school kids bent over backwards to perfect our applications to point detail?

Obstacles/Challenges
Whether it's learning to play a perfect barred chord on the guitar (still can't) or public speaking...with practice you just get better. When you finally master that challenge, you'll most likely forget the pain and struggle you went through. Like playing the guitar...what Asian guy can't? Just kidding, really!

Thing is, in whatever circumstance, the situation itself never actually gets easier. So all you awesome readers, here's a line or two on optimism: remember that you're improving every single day. Be proud of your accomplishments and keep going! But never let it get to your head -- always offer advice and encouragement to others. A pet peeve of mine are people who sit on high horses and look down on people who may not be as skilled as themselves. You once started off as nothing, you weren't born on top of a pony. :)

You might despise doing something, but if it's something that can make you into a more equipped or better person, stick it out! Or, if you feel it's pretty much the end of the world and you really don't want to get out of bed...just remember it's going to get better. I know this sounds so obvious but sometimes it's hardest to see what is right in front of you because we're frantically searching everywhere else for answers.


Well, that's my two cents on happy living. What other sayings have you heard recently that you can relate to? Or find inspirational? Please share! If you know me, I thrive on quotes.

What is the extent of social media?

As a typical college student, it’ll be pretty hard to meet someone who doesn’t have a clue what social media is. How often do you come across a parent now who doesn’t know what Facebook is? Or maybe even a commercial or website that doesn’t include a link to their Twitter account? But because we are the typical American young adult, we don’t realize that nationally…barely majority of people are really connected through these popular internet outlets. That comes as a surprise to me because I don’t have a single friend who ever said to me “Sorry, I don’t have a Facebook.”

Now looking at this from a business standpoint – most small businesses don’t even realize the benefit of online marketing. And surprisingly, many larger companies are also afraid of social because it’s difficult to harness and control. Here is an infographic that provides a prospective we don’t usually see. So how do you think these statistics will change in the next 5-10 years? How will that affect the way society operates?

I’m excited to live during this era of innovation and new reaches of technology and networking. Facebook helps “connect” me with friends that go way back to elementary school. And Twitter gives me real time updates of world news (and what my friend had for lunch). However, will these sites really benefit us in the long run as national usage continuously increases? I am afraid that we will drown in all the noise that social media provides and unconsciously lose sight of what is truly important – human interactions and deep relationships. Without a doubt, these social platforms have provided me with convenience, efficiency, and interaction that would’ve been lost otherwise. Nonetheless, I don’t think anyone can compare the connection felt from a hand-written letter to what we merely feel when we receive a message in our inbox.

I can’t help but admit that these social platforms are my guilty pleasures. However, it's summer and I need some good old face to face, let’s-have-a-good-talk-over-tea, kind of interaction. Just like I want to believe that chivalry ain’t dead, I hope that traditional means of communication and relationships never go out of style – despite how cool Google+ hangout may be.


What’s your take on social media in regards to personal and business relationships? Will you be tweeting about this (not a real question, just trying to be funny)?

Good Morning Blogger! I promise I'm here to stay...

With a little inspiration from my good friend, Wonmin Lee and increased time spent on social media platforms...I decided to create this little public blog! Honestly, I'm still unsure of how this will be different from all my other not-so-secretive/personal 

blogs but I'm very excited to see where this will take me!

It's the height of summer time here in NYC and I've already done some exciting (and then some pretty ordinary but still exciting) things:

1. Spent over three weeks in Hong Kong where I survived the monstrous humidity and the temptation of awesome cheap buys. While inbetween all of that, also experiencing the night life, the tourist spots, and pre-modernized Asia -- which sadly includes in-floor toilets.

2. Currently it's week three into my internship. I've spoken with more than 50+ different people on the phone, and learned more about social media and start-ups than I ever thought there was to know.

3. I've started on my fall internship with College Fashion this week. (Sophia was my first interviewee -- and she was a great model.) I'm super excited because it includes both photography and creative writing as well as fashion.

4. Reconnected with old friends. AKA talk about nothing until 2-3am in the morning, or wake up at 9am to fit each other into our busy schedules. And yes, it feels super duper amazing to Cheers to 10+ years of friendship!
5. Paint, and then sing some. 

Now I must prettify this thing. I promise the next entry will be more intriguing and possibly less personal (?). What are some topics you want to see in the future?

Hello there!

Thanks for visiting my blog! Its a pleasure to have you here.

My name is Carol Chan, and I was born and raised in New York City. However, the quaint city of Boston is my second home. I am a student studying marketing at Boston University. I will be graduating in May 2013 with a degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing. 

My interests lie in creative writing, singing, and graphic design. I enjoy meeting new people, and seeing things in new perspectives. I live on social media so connect with me! 

I also love brands that inspire change and tell stories. Post-grad, I would enjoy working with brand planning and strategy. Although I am open to exploring different career paths, I am drawn towards advertising agencies, start up companies, and non-profit organizations. Later in life, I  plan to write a novella and open a cafe.

If you want to connect with me on a number of other social networks, click here.