Archive for category Personal
Going onto 2010!
Posted by Steven Chia in Personal on December 30, 2009
2009 flew by in a heartbeat. It was one of the best years of my life. Here’s why:
- After five years at Simon Fraser University I completed my Bachelors in Business Administration and a certification in Computing Science. During this time I also completed three terms of Coop Education.
- Earned 2008 Dean Student Service Award for demonstrated exceptional leadership in the SFU Business community.
- Successfully executed CaseIT 2009, a four-day international undergraduate MIS case competition. It took an entire year of planning including 12 executive members that planned the event with me for at least nine months, 13 volunteers who lend a helping hand during the event, and the largest budget for any case competition at SFU.
- Landed my first post-grad position at HSBC.
- Owned my first real estate… well, co-owned.
- Went to Las Vegas for three days with my buddies.
- Went south of the border (USA’s border that is) to Cancun, Mexico for a week. This was during the swine flu epidemic! Here it was my first time snorkeling, sea-dooing and swimming in the ocean.
- Ran the Sun Run for the 2nd straight year. Achieved a time of just under an hour: 59 mins 31 secs.
- Learned to swim at least one lap at a time!
- Attended Toastmasters.
- Helped with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler! I assisted in business continuity planning.
- Found true love.
2010 will be another great year with another set of goals.
- Learn as much as I possibly can at work. Touch on all aspects of the software development lifecycle including all tasks related to planning, analysis, design, development and testing. Be promoted to full time status before contract ends.
- Volunteer at least five times in the year, either at work or elsewhere.
- Here’s a big one: Save 60-70% of my net earnings each month. This does not include using my savings on investments.
- Obtain a certification of some sort. Perhaps a CAPM certificate?
- Read at least one book per month. This means reading at least 5 hours per week!
- Work out at least two times a week.
- Continue to swim at least once every two weeks.
- Try a new restaurant at least once every month.
- Learn how to cook one new dish each month, starting with Kimchi udon?
- Run the Sun Run in under 55 mins.
- Learn something new everyday! This includes the most random things.
- Attend Toastmasters at least once a month, probably starting in May/June.
- Visit my sisters in Toronto and travel somewhere outside of Canada–hopefully Hawaii!
- Enjoy each day to the fullest.
I’m sure there are more goals that I forgot to put down. I’ll keep adding to this until the first of January!
I hope your 2009 was as eventful and fulfilling as mine! If not there’s always 2010! Happy New Years everybody!
And this is what I’ve been doing
Posted by Steven Chia in Personal on December 5, 2009
I’m still here (if you were wondering where I was this whole time)! I just have been crazy busy doing nothing and getting ready for work on Monday! Yep! WORK! Finally… after five years of schooling and five months of job-hunting I’ve been able to land a job. Therefore, over the past few weeks I’ve been reading up on design patterns such as abstract factory pattern, frameworks such as Spring and Hibernate, and going through Java concepts. I’m super excited to learn and master all these skills that I will be using on the job.
I have also been busy with closing my jointly-owned condo in New Westminster. It’s called Plaza 88 at Marinus and it’s a two-bedroom and two-bathroom 817 sq ft apartment. I’ve learned so much on how to choose a mortgage, the buying and closing processes of getting a property, and all other relevant things that I needed to do. Just a warning to all of you who are planning or will be purchasing/renting a property later on–be careful with your attorney fees! That’s all I’m going to say… you can speak with me if you want more details.
I have also tried to stay healthy and fit over these past couple of months. A month ago I purchased the Nike+ sensor that tracks my run time, distance, and how much calories I lose (I don’t really look at this because I’m trying to gain weight!!!). I love this piece of technology! It also allows you to set goals so that you are always motivated. Other than running I haven’t been doing much weight training, which I’m hoping to start doing soon…
Well that’s it for now! I’m currently at Delani’s, a coffee shop in North Vancouver, and am going to go eat Indian food with my love. Happy six months babe!
New Condo for Rent – 2 Bedrooms & 2 Bathrooms – New Westminster
Posted by Steven Chia in Personal on November 23, 2009
The Marinus condo above New Westminster skytrain station (and shopping mall) is near its completion date — December 4th to be exact! I’m looking to rent this 817 sq ft, 2 bedrooms and 2 washrooms condo for $1450 per month. It also includes a 117 sq ft balcony. For more information on this rental property visit my ad on craigslist.org.
Crystal Reports class DONE!
Posted by Steven Chia in Personal on October 20, 2009
Woot! I’m writing this post before my final exam at BCIT. Over the past six weeks I’ve been taking a course on Crystal Reports. Why, you ask? Because I think it will be useful in the future, that’s why! It’s an awesome reporting tool owned by SAP that allows you to create very informative and complex reports for just about anything. Whether it’s for financial reporting, HR reporting, consumer reporting, or business intelligence reporting you can create it with ease using Crystal Reports.
The class I have been taking is a level one course and may be the easiest course I have taken in post-secondary! I did, however, learn a lot from this class and have no regrets taking it. I know that in the future when I am asked to create a business report of any sort the first question I’ll ask is not “What is the purpose of the report?” (which is the first question you should always ask when creating any report so I learned), but “Do we have Crystal Reports to generate such a report?”. Next up: creating a report for my investment records.
Song of the day to cheer me up is Up Up and Away from Kid Cudi.
After 5 years I am graduated!
Posted by Steven Chia in Personal on October 15, 2009
My family and I at my convo
October 09, 2009. This was the day I crossed the platform during the Convocation Ceremonies at Simon Fraser University. I received a Bachelors degree in Business Administration, concentrating in Management Information Systems and Management and Technology. I also received a certification in Computing Studies. It was the day I started a whole new chapter in my life…
It has definitely been a great five years since I sat in my first class and met my first friends at SFU. I had a lot of great moments. But I also had some not-so-great moments. That is what’s so interesting about life. You can never predict what’s going to happen. But if you just persevere then everything will turn out OK. Like the infamous sayings, life is “…like a box of chocolates” or “…like a rollercoaster”. Just enjoy it!
My graduation ceremony was like any other graduation ceremonies–mind you, I’ve been to four others. I dressed up, went to school with my family, received my gown and degree, walked across the AQ gardens, sat down and listened to various people speak about our successes and the future, and finally walked across the stage. The best part about the whole process was actually, believe it or not, walking across the stage. When you get to that stage, you realize that you’re actually finished. That you’re no longer a university student. That you need to get a job. Quick. Overall, I had a fantastic time and it was definitely a highlight of my life. Thank you to everyone who came out and a special thank you to those who have supported me in getting this far!
So what now? What does my degree mean for me and my future? Theoretically it means I will get a better chance than the average person who doesn’t have a degree or any sort of post-secondary education to land that dream job. I guess we will have to wait and see…
Let’s do this!
Edit: I forgot to give a special thanks to the amazing coat rack that smiles.
My coat rack that smiles!