User:LiucidDreams

//Under Construction//

I, Jerald Liu, born on January 14 1993, am a Panda and a glowstringing, Swede-dating, piano-stomping, hair-fixing, ping-ponging black belt in Karate. Get some...

Courses

• Inductive and Deductive Reasoning.MOR.05.2 (Baby CTY)
• Game Theory.CAR.06.1
• Fundamentals of Computer Science.SIE.07.2
• Mathematical Logic.LAN.08.2

Notable Achievements

MOR.05.2
• having the most acts out of anyone in the talent show
• participating in the "Invisible Bench" act in the talent show
• qualifying to play in the basketball tournament
• participating in kissing the greyhound statue outside the athletic center everyday

CAR.06.1
• being deemed "The Chinese Tourist," which entailed taking photos with everyone and everything with a wickedly wide smile and thumbs up

SIE.07.2
• convincing nearly everyone on the first day that my name was Jimmy Ding
• stomping on the piano during the talent show
• creating an RPG about CTY as a final project in Computer Science
• creator of the name, "Pokerface," for some random who had quite the pokerface on while playing poker. This identity became a joke that permeated the campus within a matter of days
• participant in applauding the pretty fairies on pretty fairy day
• co-creator of the game, Chinboxing

LAN.08.2
• participant in the closing of both North Ben co-ed lounges
• the Sunday Morning Sleepover on the quad
• getting busted for PDA (that is, 'Private' Displays of Affection) in the closed off seminar room in Mull Basement and facing the wrath of DRL Matt for it...twice
• proud member of the Crew
• original performer of "Our God is an Awesome God"
• original composer/arranger of "Our God is an Awesome God"
• stomping on an upright piano at the talent show... without asking
• co-inventor of Tony Hawk Pro Skater: Real Life
• active participant of raves at dances
• participant of "Mike Len and Christ: Remixed" during pre-talent show with Evan Renaud

Our God Is an Awesome God

"Our God Is an Awesome God" is a worship song that is well-known by Christians. And although many cover the song, its message is still the same: Our God is...well...awesome! The Crew, comprised of a motley crew, collaborated and came up with their own rendition of the song. It started out when I heard Danny Rua, Max Lu, Alex Pressman and perhaps a few others singing this religious jingle over and over again. Catchy it was, and I came up with a great idea. I began fiddlin' around on my half size guitar and tried to come up with chords that would fit the song and its holy essence. Once I thought I found the right chords, we put it to the test. As I played, a few would join in singing. And thus, The Crew's rendition of "Our God is An Awesome God" was born. This song made its debut at LAN.08.2. Although played almost everywhere and spontaneously, the Crew with its awesome cover had three notable performances: in the cafeteria in front of Alcovians during lunch, on the quad for open mic night (at which I had accidently wrote on the song list, "Our God Are an Awesome God") and lastly at Passionfruit (a part of Evan Renaud's speech).

Flying Squirrel Forever

As you can see, I am a flying squirrel; however, I didn't really want it that way. On 8/8/08, the "day the music died," the last day of CTY LAN.08.2, I was already imagining and dreaming of the euphoric 3 weeks that I would get to relive in the summer of 2009. I saw the quad, smelled the air, heard the laughs, felt the grass through my fingers and tasted the love in the air. Nothing untouched, everything just the way it was the day I left. I was devastated to hear that I could not attend CTY in 2009 because of a music program I'm in that required my full commitment all year round. Sounds terrible, right? Well, yes, at first I was in tears and almost wanted to quit the music program I was in. My father convinced me otherwise. My thoughts and paradigms shifted the past year, and I managed to survive. What I learned was that not matter how terrible the situation you must accept it, and with whatever cards you have, you must make the best hand possible; you cannot change the cards you are dealt. Thus, I managed to live in the present and live my life the past year to its fullest. Ultimately, things happen for a reason. Let me tell you things I accomplished the past year, which would not have happened had I decided to go to CTY:

• toured the east coast
• toured with Brendon Small, creator and songwriter for the Adult Swim show, Metalocalypse
• played with Denny Wally, former band member of Frank Zappa
• made so many friends on said tours
• played at famous venues/events everywhere, including B.B. King's, Gillette Stadium, Santo's Party House, The Trocadero and Summerfest

The point I'm trying to make is that no matter what happens, you should always make the best out of what you have every moment. Don't let apprehension of the future or past fetter you to the present; live the present.

Here's a fitting quote from a movie called Waking Life:

It's like you come onto this planet with a crayon box. Now, you may get the 8-pack, you may get the 16-pack. But it's all in what you do with the crayons, the colors that you're given. And don't worry about drawing within the lines or coloring outside the lines. I say color outside the lines. You know what I mean? Color right off the page. Don't box me in. We're in motion to the ocean. We are not landlocked, I'll tell ya that.

Thus, my CTY years come to a end on 8/8/08 as a flying squirrel and a nevermore for I never got to be a nomore, but my years as a Forevermore will last as long as I remember CTY.