History in the Making.

Let's talk about HOPE.

Hope is when a young Senator from Illinois with the name Barack Obama is a candidate for the President of the United States. Hope is when Obama wins South Carolina by 28 points. Hope is when a Black man is viable for the Presidency of the United States.

Talk about history in the making.

a time of reflection.

I think every so often we need to stop and reflect on our lives. We have to ask ourselves what do I love? What do I live for? What would I die for?

For those Christians out there, this is a powerful sermon by Paul Washer that might help you reflect.

lift heavy object, repeat.

Yesterday, for the first time in a very long time I went to the gym to lift with some friends. Don't get me wrong I frequent the gym quite often to swim and play ball, but rarely to lift. I think yesterday I was reminded why:

1. First of all, why is it that everyone I happen to sit next to while lifting is ridiculously huge. While I'm on my side lifting 20 pound weights the guy next to me is doing the same thing except with weights that are 50 pounds.

2. I think another reason I was never a big fan of lifting is because I'm a big advocate for natural healthiness and muscle-building. I would consider myself relatively fit from swimming, dancing and playing ball. So, it's slightly bizarre for me to go the gym simply to lift heavy objects over and over again.

But today, I am reminded of one thing I do like about lifting: the next day you have the sore, "I accomplished something" feeling in the morning and throughout the day. And this feeling might just be enough to go back and do it again.

Bruised and Broken, Part II

So, I just got back from another day snowboarding at the Poconos and I'm even more bruised and broken. Today the weather was absolutely amazing and the company was great as well. I went with the '09 Brothers and we tore that mountain up.

But seriously at the end of the day it was as if we had gotten in a huge rumble. Here are the injuries that we acquired: jammed pinkey, busted lip, bruised tailbone, and another possible concussion (courtesy of yours truly).

We were beaten up, but you should've seen the mountain. Pictures to come!

January Party!

So last night we decided to celebrate the '09 January birthdays: Mine, Mike's and Ellen's. We went to the Jamaican Jerk Hut, which apparently premiered in some movie starring Cameron Diaz called, "In Her Shoes." As always with the GCC '09 class it was a good time, we know how to party it up.


Our party hats courtesy of the Chestnut girls.


Birthday kids blowing out the unlit candle.


Post dinner - ALL SMILES.

Run Yul, RUN!

So it turns out that my boy Yul Kwon might be considering a run for Congress in California's 12 congressional district. Although most know him for his brief stint on Survivor, Yul is much more qualified for office than one might imagine. Yul graduate Stanford, worked as a consultant with McKinsey, went to Yale Law school, worked as an aide to Sen. Joseph Liberman, and then of course went on to win Survivor.

Here's an article.

But let me be one of the first to go on record to endorse Yul's candidacy and strongly urge him to run. I'm telling you these guys are paving the way for the rest of us. Congress now... but one day the White House.

Any other NERDS out there?

So as you probably know, class began for us on Wednesday. As much as I hate the prospect of getting up earlier, doing work, and exams, there is one aspect of beginning school that I love: buying school supplies.

I know, I'm a NERD. But seriously, it brings me so much joy buying new notebooks, pens, and miscellaneous supplies that will facilitate my learning. In fact, over the years I have developed an affinity towards certain notebooks and pens.

Today I went shopping for this semester and much to my display they didn't have my pens!! My pen of choice is the BIC Atlantis Retractable Pen: "The Atlantis has a super-smooth ink that lets ideas flow freely. The ultimate comfort grip allows stress-free writing. This pen also offers a smooth click action and offers an excellent value. Medium point."


I was quite distraught but I ended up settling with some nice Papermate pens. Should do the job just fine.

and so it begins: OCR

It's funny how powerful letters arranged in a particular order can hold so much meaning. There are many acronyms that strike fear into the hearts of many: KKK, WMD, FBI.

For me it is OCR (On-Campus Recruiting).

It is only DAY 1, but I can already feel the effects from all of the cover letters, resumes, awkward conversations, and dressing up. It's definitely going to be an interesting couple of months. God willing I'll have an internship by the end of this treacherous process.

Bruised and Broken

So I just returned from my trip snowboarding at the Poconos with some friends, it was a great trip and just what I needed before school starts tomorrow. There are two things that I learned on the slopes today:

1. How to carve. After I had perfectly mastered the art of leafing I thought I was ready to take the next big step. It was definitely a tough step but well worth it in the end.

2. I'm not THAT young anymore. When I was a child I thought I was invincible and I lived with no fear. That certainly is not the case anymore. My body is aching and covered with bruises, also I think there is a chance I got a minor concussion after catching an edge.

But it was definitely worth the pain and suffering. Snowboarding is kind of like life... you can spend all your time comfortably leafing on the bunny slopes or you can go all out and try to learn how to carve on the black diamonds. Sure you might get bumps and bruises along the way, but it will be all the more rewarding at the bottom. Let's rock this semester!

winter break: a glance back

I spend anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour writing deep insightful posts pouring out my heart and offering a glimpse into my life. Even so, I find that people enjoy the random posts on vitamin water and finals studying behavior the best. So for all of you who don't really like the reading part involved in reading this blog, here's a photo recap of my winter break:


Me and Eddie in New Hampshire celebrating the win in Iowa.


Doing visibility on the streets of New Hampshire.


Freezing our butts off at the Niagara Falls.


With my cousin Crystal, cutest little girl in the world.


Lee men at my 20th birthday dinner.


Mamma Lee aka Super Woman.


My ice cream cake (with two candles).

Hope you had a great one too! Let's rock this semester.

i'm a big boy now: TWO - OH

We're still on our road trip back to Kansas so last night we slept at our Immo's (Aunt) place in Chicago. But I couldn't have imagined a better way to start my birthday.

Last night, we celebrated first by eating a cake that my cousins (age 12 and 9) made for me. It was this nice strawberry cake drenched with white and pink frosting. They tried to fool me by putting trick candles on the cake, so we had to pretend not to know for a while. After that, we turned off all the lights in the house, lit a bunch of candles and told some scary stories. We decided to do this because when we were young our Immo had told us tons of traumatizing stories and we thought it'd be time to return the favor. The boys had to sleep together last night =) Finally we played "yut-nori" which is a korean board game. We split up into teams: Aunt-Uncle, Cousins vs. Eddie-Me. And of course, the Lee-brothers dominated. Our cousins had demanded from the beginning that we wage some bets so we decided to bet $5 each (high rollers). But when they lost they didn't want to pay so we made them do 50 push-ups each, which resulted in absolute hilarity. Now I'm awake at 8 in the morning because my cousins wanted to play metal-slug for a couple hours before we leave for Kansas.

This has been a great birthday and I think it'll be a great year. Again, any calls and gifts are welcome! http://www.firstgiving.com/jasonlee

Lee Brothers Road Trip Day 1

We left Manchester around 3pm this afternoon... 500 miles, 8 hours, 1 speeding ticket, 1 pit stop later we are in a obscure little motel in Buffalo, NY for a night of rest.

This is just day one of three on the road back to Kansas but already full of adventure and surprise. As for tomorrow, we'll be briefly visiting the Niagara Falls and sleeping near Chicago.

Birthday Giving

Once a year there is a day that the sun seems to shine a little bit brighter and everyone seems to be a little nicer to you, that day being your BIRTHDAY! And mine is only 2 days away!

This year a death in the family reminded me that life is very short and that we must count our blessings. So this year, instead of receiving gifts, I thought it would be nice to raise money so that others may live and enjoy their blessings too.

By no means do I expect you to donate or intend to guilt-trip you into doing so, rather, I hope that you are convicted and will join me for this cause in whatever way that may be: giving, praying and encouraging others.

Please visit http://www.firstgiving.com/jasonlee for more information!

Yes We Can

Life is full of hardships. Yet it is in the midst of the hardship that character is built. It is in the midst of failure that hope emerges. It is in the midst of despair that leaders are born.

Last night we lost the New Hampshire Primary by 2%. While this loss was tough because we had a chance to put away the Democratic Nomination in New Hampshire, this loss is especially tough because I saw a year's worth of work from friends and family I love slip away in a matter of hours. Yet even with this setback, Obama will win this thing.

This is about more than just winning an election, it is about changing the world. And to all you cynics and skeptics I say, YES WE CAN.

Change Begins Tomorrow

As I prepare to fly out to New Hampshire tomorrow for the final week of campaigning for Obama before the NH primary on the 8th, I'm more anxious and hopeful than ever. But I sincerely HOPE and BELIEVE that this movement of change will begin tomorrow with an Obama win in Iowa, then New Hampshire, and will continue until the general election in November.

Today, with the Iowa Polls in a dead tie, it is not difficult to consider the possibility of an Obama victory. However let me assure you this was a much more difficult proposition back in the summer when Obama was down by over 20 points in every poll. But despite the ridicule of many cynics and friends, this is a hope that I firmly clung to. And tomorrow I believe that Hope will prevail.

Here's an excerpt of a post titled, "Dare to Hope" I wrote reflecting on my final day of the campaign in August. Hopefully it can remind you of the audacity of hope.


--
8.27.07

As cliché as it sounds now, (on this campaign) I learned about the Audacity of Hope. In our imperfect world full of imperfect people there is a necessity for hope, a desire and belief of something better. I don’t think that we can live in this world without hope: whether it is hope in the goodness of people, hope in a better tomorrow or hope in God. Unfortunately, these days people are disillusioned by hope. They are afraid to hope because they are afraid of being let down or being wrong, and that fear is paralyzing.

It’s here on the Obama campaign that I once again discovered the audacity of hope. I’ll be honest, before I joined the campaign I was a cynic. I supported Obama but couldn’t bring myself to believe that he could win. I couldn’t bring myself to put my hope in him. But here in Manchester I met thousands of people who had put their hope in Obama, everyone from the staff worker waking up at dawn to assemble the press clips to the single mother who had shown up with her child to volunteer for the campaign. It was remarkable and it challenged me to hope once again. And it was hope that sustained me through the 12 hour days, it was hope that helped me survive the sweltering nights on the couch and it is hope that allows me to believe that Barack Obama can and will be sworn in as President on January 20, 2009.

I double-dog dare you to HOPE.