Assorted Photos (Link to Gallery)
(yea, the header is cheesy and it's actually the title of a 1992 movie beautifully directed by Nora Ephron, but that's all I could think of in thirty seconds)
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I came into this world on June 15, 1976 at about 2:15PM (according to my parents, as I don't really remember much of anything until I was about maybe 2 or 3 years old). I grew up in the Williamsburg/Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York (pre-gentrification period...though one could argue that we were part of the influx of Chinese immigrants that dotted the apartment complex where we lived in the early 70s to the late 80s). For various reasons (grad school loans, insane New York rents, convenient location to 2 train lines), I have returned to live in the area with my parents, though I hope that this will be changing soon. Of course, I have been saying this for a few years now, and my friends probably have some sort of pool going on about when I will finally move out of my parents' apartment.
Anyway, I am a product of the public school system, having gone to local public elementary (P.S. 250) and intermediate (I.S. 318) schools. I pretty much was considered to be somewhat of a goofy awkward geek, something that still sorta permeates in me today. Following 8th grade, I went to a specialized science high school known as Brooklyn Tech. I have to say that I didn't have the "typical high school experience," whatever that means, but it wasn't too traumatic of an experience. When I went into high school, I had aspirations to go to medical school and "majored" in Tech's Bio-Med program (yes, I did have to pick a major in high school, which was really more of a concentration). I graduated from high school in 1994 and went to Cornell University in scenic Ithaca, New York. At that point, I felt that I have lived in New York City all of my life and needed to break out of this little bubble that consisted of tall buildings, a 24-hour public transportation system, and very little green space to experience a completely different environment. Plus, I didn't want to commute from home and have to deal with my parents for 4 more years. So, Ithaca was the place to be and it was different though definitely in its own little bubble. It was a little liberal bubble in a mostly conservative Upstate New York with some great restaurants and very pretty green spaces and hiking trails that lead to waterfalls.
At Cornell, I didn't really have an idea of what I wanted to focus on as a major (there were just so many interesting classes), so I took most everything that I was interested in (except for Wines...drat) and fortunately found a program that was willing to give me a Bachelors degree. That program was Biology & Society. This major involved taking a bunch of biology and core social science courses, along with a bunch of electives that centered around a "theme" that you created. My interest was in psychology, history, anthropology, and sociology, all with a women and gender studies bent, so I sort of focused on that for my theme and also ended up with a concentration in Women's Studies.
Anyway, up until my sophomore year at Cornell, I was on the pre-med track, having suffered through the evils of Organic Chemistry when I realized that I really didn't want to become a physician when I grew up. I was more fascinated with the helping aspect of medicine and not really the medical part of medicine (although health care, or the sorry state of it in the United States, is still somewhat of an interest of mine). So, in trying to figure out a career option, I landed on social work, had a couple of related experiences in the field, and found that I enjoyed doing the work. So, with that in mind, I figured that at some point in the future I would put the Biology & Society degree to and get an advanced degree in social work, but I did not want to rush into it.
In 1998, after four years of college (and nearly 17 years of some form of school), I decided to take a break and for reasons of wanting to do something productive but not money-making, commited myself to a year of service by being part of the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), an AmeriCorps Program. I did not want to face reality (i.e., finding a job) just quite yet nor did I want to sit around at home all day and do nothing (I couldn't exactly afford to backpack around Europe for a year either). Volunteering while in school for me was very rewarding as I actually was affecting people's lives in a beneficial way. The NCCC program (which still exists) is based in Perry Point, Maryland. Where's that, you might ask? Well, Perry Point is located just south of Perryville (Exit 93 on I-95 in MD) which is actually home to the Veterans Administration Medical Center (well one of them anyways). AmeriCorps or NCCC rather was a very interesting experience, to say the least. It was public service in a semi-military environment, which made for some interesting scenarios here and there. I ended up traveling to various points including Silver Spring, MD, Oklahoma City, OK, and Poughkeepsie, NY to perform various community service projects. It was definitely an experience I did not regret doing, despite some administrative and logistical shortcomings. I met a lot of great people, did a bunch of things that I never thought I could do, and learned a fair bit about myself.
While in AmeriCorps, I applied to two graduate schools for social work and upon completion of the Corps, somehow ended up going to Columbia University starting in Fall 1999 (well, I know how I ended up there...taking out a few ten of thousands of dollars in loans) to begin my Masters in Social Work (MSW) program. Hence, I continued my quest to positively affect the lives of others in need. After relearning how to write a paper (but not forgetting how to do research in a library, a major passion of mine), and recognizing that I was no longer an undergraduate student (the Social Work "building" is separated from the main campus and the social work library), I somehow survived four semesters of classes and field placement and graduated in May 2001 with my MSSW (Columbia just has to be different and give out a Master of Science degree in Social Work...go figure).
I managed to land my first real full-time job (i.e. not a summer program or a temp gig) a week after I graduated from Columbia and a day before I headed off to London for a week of vacation. This was with the Burden Center for the Aging in the Homebound Unit. Currently, I am a program coordinator for a caregiver support program at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House. And after this? Who knows? Further schooling is something that is not in the foreseeable future, as I really want to start working (and get frustrated and burnt out in the process. YeeHa!!). But someday, I might decide to get my Doctorate or PhD (and torture myself some more...part of my masochistic tendencies). We shall see.
For more info about things that I happen to like and delve yourself more into my wacky world, visit my interests page.
What can I really say about my friends? Words cannot begin to describe how much I value and love them for who they are. I honestly think I would not be where I am today without them. They have meant so much to me and we have gone through a heck of a lot together (you know, through good and bad times, through thick and thin, and any other cliché you can think of). They have been there for me and I have tried to be there for them. I am fortunate to have encountered very awesome people throughout the various points of my life that provided me with invaluable support and some great times. Here are some of them.
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| Dom | Heidi | Nina | Wendy | Brigitte |
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| Jen S. | Debbie | Perika | Jeanne | Sus |
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| Jen C. | David | Lauren | Blair | Ben |
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| 1083 | Annie | Carrie | Heather & Lisa | Lushis Funk |
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| Nicolette | Day | Jon | Serh | Nicole |
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| Sarah | Keely | Jenny S. | Michelle | Wendi |
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| Sharon | Suzi | Emilie | Rebecca |
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| (L to R):Me, Tsui Fa, Priscilla, Pak On, Albert |
My Mom, Tsui Fa, originally is from China and my Dad, Pak On, was born in Hong Kong. Through some long series of events, they met each other in 1968, married in Hong Kong, and settled in New York City (more specifically, the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn), where they live today. Both have been there to support me throughout my life in every way and have sacrificed much for their three children. My dad works as a noodle maker and my mom is a seamstress.
I have two siblings that are older than me, making me in their images the so-called spoiled brat of the family (okay, I admit in some ways I was one). But they have been really good to me (despite that fact that they have tortured me for half my life) and I do love them (although I would never admit it to their faces). I have one brother, Albert Chin, who is 24 years old and works as a clerk for American Airlines at John F. Kennedy International Airport (in Queens for all that don't know). The other sibling is my sister, the oldest of us three, Priscilla Chin, Pharm D., who is currently a Medical Information Specialist for Ortho Biotech (a division of Johnson & Johnson). She has been married to William Eng since July 1, 1998 and the couple has one child so far, Bailey.
During the 1997-1998 school year (my final year at Cornell) I lived in an apartment located way down off-campus on Stewart Avenue (114 Stewart Ave. to be exact) with 3 other great people who were very easy to get along with (Hello Brian, Matt, and Vanessa!) and who I now and always consider friends. I actually enjoyed living in this apartment as for the first time in my life I had my own room and there was a gas stove (you can't do decent wok cooking without some sort of real fire. The apartment was (and still is) situated at the bottom of Collegetown meaning that in the mornings when I had little energy to even stay awake during classes, I took the bus. I did manage to walk up the hill many times and I actually grew to like the walk. In some ways, I miss it (not that much though). I lived in the same apartment during the 1996-1997 school year) with many different people, including Chris, Dom, Ben, and Pat.
(<------ Yes, this is the actual shape of my dorm and it has no symmetry no matter how hard you try). For the first two years at Cornell, I lived on-campus dorm known as Mary Donlon Hall.
Something that I have neglected to mention since the inception of this page was the fact that for the 4 years that I attended Cornell, I worked for the Cornell University Library. More specifically, I was a circulation assistant for the Music Library. I have enjoyed working there as the student assistants and all the staff there are great, friendly people. I had dedicated a page for them with lots of shots of the staff and student assistants, but that disappeared awhile ago. I recently went back to the new and improved Music Library and Lincoln Hall and snaped a few shots of the exterior that I will post soon.
When in Ithaca and in desperate need of random food and
supplies, there's this great mega-market called 
, that has about anything you ever wanted in a supermarket; open 24 hours, pharmacy, cooking supplies and great bread (decent sourdough on the East Coast. Who would've dunk?), plus they sell furniture (No seriously, they do, albeit not great furniture). Many thanks to Lauren, Jason, Dom, Barclay,
Vanessa, Brian, and Ben for giving me a ride through Ithaca for a Wegmans run.
