The Chronicle of Trevor Nguyen

       For those who didn't know my actual name is Trieu and not Trevor. I'm pretty sure my grandpa picked out that name for me and my parents agreed with it. When I was a kid I didn't really like it cause it was different and didn't necessarily fit in. When I moved to Troy in kindergarten I was a pretty shy kid, and did not have the easiest time fitting in. Having a "weird" name didn't really help my case, so I begged my parents to call me Trevor and to my surprise they agreed. Over the years, however, the name Trieu kinda grew on me. It's slick, clean, one syllable and quite distinguishable. Makes me wish I never changed it in the first place.  Having one actual name and a name I go by proved to be rather confusing and have costed me a bit of money. For example, when I signed up for the ACT (I ended up never taking it) I signed up under the name: Trevor Nguyen. I quickly realized after the whole registration process that Trevor Nguyen technically doe...

 I watched this Netflix documentary called "Seaspiracy". It began on the topic of how us killing whales and dolphins have an extreme negative externality. You would think that if people knew about the significant impact that these animals have on literally the ocean it would cause air tight restrictions on killing these creatures. Sike, countries like Japan are dolphin and whale hunting illegally, regardless of the worldwide ban. In the documentary, the videographers went to this region of Japan where fishermen lured in dolphins just to kill them. The fishermen are literally shown backing the dolphins up against the shore and proceeding to wrestle them like barbarians. You would think that the authorities would find out about this black market type stunt and put an end to it relatively quickly. However, the authorities are the ones covering this up. Then the documentary moved on to talk about how the labels that say "dolphin safe" on tuna cans or any seafood product...

This is going to be one of the most confusing blogs I will write, it's literally an insight into my thinking process and what goes on in my head. ( all sections relates to the prompt in some way I think)  Recently I got accepted into Ross, which is UofM's business school. Now don't get me wrong, I am fully aware of how sick this is and how fortunate I am to be in this position. However, something just feels a little off. I don't know, just didn't think I would get it so maybe it hasn't registered in my head yet. Last 8 months have been pretty crazy, I've been getting hella fortunate in a lot of situations. Still, even after all this I still feel like somethings missing. Maybe I'm just getting greedy at this point, who knows.    Alright, lets stray away from first world problems for a bit. I caught myself in a moral dilemma a few days ago (well really for a few months now). I've been purposefully ignoring the Asian hate just because I know I'll ge...

 Link to annotations:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z0pH-hd10LsuBi0GyB0EtjeI2AowDyUiYCEPMTNoCN4/edit?usp=sharing        I’m definitely going to get made fun of for writing this, and it might be a little personal. However, whatever. This masterpiece by Jermaine Cole is nothing short of greatness. This song/poem talks about how important and impactful a person can have on another. The central message I got from this is that J Cole is so hurt and scarred from his past that it takes him longer than usual to open up to someone. But as he does he discovers that it's the most liberating and peaceful change he’s ever known. He goes on to show his love for a girl who is portrayed as a balance, someone who he is willing to trust after isolating himself for so long.      How this appeals to me you might ask? Well, I guess in a way, maybe a more extreme way, I have a really messed up tendency to not let people get too close to me. I just can’t tru...

       It was a cold and wintery night in the city of Troy. Everything seemed so peaceful but fear not, Trevor Nguyen and Mr. Ramadurai decided to hit the streets at 12 am. We were coming from this place that sold brownies and I was delivering some off at this girl's house like a simp. However, Navneet got hungry and ate those brownies like the cookie monster before the girl even came out of her house. As I was driving away, Navneet and I got into a verbal altercation in the car. That was when it hit me and I put all the pieces together: Navneet definitely liked this girl. I fished out all the locked memories from my brain and all the evidence suggest I am indeed correct. 100%, margin of error: 0. All the evidence I have are pretty explicit and just straight up unethical for me to share. Navneet recently got nominated as the class president for our grade and I would hate to stain his reputation like that.       In the midst of the heated argument ...

 This prompt reminds me of the first day of school. If I recall correctly we went around the class sharing our favorite word for whatever reason. Everyone's answers seemed so cool sounding and then I came in and said "Sauce". At the time this word was in heavy rotation within my vocabulary (not as much anymore but it makes an appearance here and there), it was just so versatile. For example, it can be used in a demeaning way-like an insult almost. Let's say Girish just got his ankles taken in basketball, my first instinct would be to scream "oh my god Girish just got sauced". Another utilization of this word would be to ask for something. Let's say you are having a picnic and wanted some napkins, you could say "Hey [insert name], can you sauce me the napkins?".  Anyways, for this prompt I kind of wanted to come up with a different answer so I went on YouTube and searched up "best sounding words in english". There I came across this bl...

 Recently I started hoopin again at Lifetime Fitness, catch me tearing up the hardwood floors between 1-2pm. I'll play anyone that dares to challenge me for $20, nothing less (my venmo is Trevor-Nguyen-10). I actually really missed how fun and relaxing this is--it's incredible how much anger or energy I can get out in an hour. I usually take my anger out on this bum ass named Navneet, he's like a ragdoll whenever we play 1v1. The kid cannot touch me, I'm too good, too fast, too strong and that is the truth. Picture an older sibling beating the ever living crap out of their lil brother; that is what Trevor Nguyen vs Navneet Ramadurai looks like. Occasionally I actually have to try a little bit against these so called D1 commits, but even them cannot hang with the big dog. Search up "The next Michael Jordan" on google and I swear my face will pop up as the first image, if it doesn't then your search engine is outdated.  Anyone believe in astrology? Apparentl...

 The reading and work load in 12 AP was definitely more than what I am accustomed to, but I expected it to be like this ever since I put a check mark next to it on my scheduling card. I was in 9 honors freshmen year and that class traumatized me in terms of work load. So overall, the work load was just about where I expected it to be, even though I haven't had to work this much for an english class in 3 years. The midterm was definitely one of the most enjoyable projects I've worked on in a while; the open ended structure  allowed me to free lance and I haven't had that opportunity ever (based on my memory). Granted I did have to meet some of the requirements like incorporating the sources to support my thesis, but after I hit those requirements I was able to throw in my voice and style. Speaking of voice and style, the blogs this year was actually awesome. I look forward to doing blogs every week, I guess you could say I heavily mess with them. The Harkness model of discus...

     Within my family, including my cousins and distant relatives, I have always been labeled the "Wild Card" as my parents and cousins have said. Rightfully so as well, comparing me to my sister is almost the same as comparing a spawn of satan to the perfect child (it took me 15 minutes to think of an analogy and I could not come up with a really good one, I apologize). That definitely is an exaggeration, but you get the point. I never really conformed to what anyone else was doing (as cliche as that sounds), and always beat to the sound of my own drum. My entire purpose or life motto for a majority of my adolescent years was to remain as unpredictable as possible (this is not an exaggeration).        A story that often gets passed around a lot involves me, my cousin Ken, and a pool that we were not supposed to get in. If I recall correctly, we were celebrating my grandma's (whatever age she was) birthday. I have a pretty big family I think, abou...

I recently got hired as a sales associate at The North Face. It was a long and thorough process to get hired, but it was expected due to the brand's reputation. On literally my first shift, my very first day, I was greeted by an interesting character named Orion. I thought he was a very uptight person at first because as he was teaching me how to work the cash register he kept saying, "You're doing a great job, I don't care what anyone says about you". In my head I thought "what were they saying about me, who can possibly say anything about me it is literally my first shift". So I was immediately traumatized right from the gate. How was I already screwing up? Anyways, as he was ringing people up at the register he was executing great customer service so I was quite intimidated by him, thinking he was some sort of experienced professional. Fast forward to 7 pm (when the mall closed) and I, along with Orion, had to "recover" the store (which is w...

 The first act followed the story of Jerome Ellis and his experience with temporal expectations. The podcast highlighted the difficult life of a person with a stuttering problem. The most intriguing and admiral aspect of Jerome's personality is his fearlessness. Even though he has severe stuttering he still decided to regularly partake in public speaking, hence as the title suggests, breaking the rules of societal expectations. Overall this section of the podcast made me reflect on my daily life and process of thinking. Seeing a man with the odds stacked against him, facing an enormous amount of anxiety every-time he steps on stage, continuously expose himself to this uncomfortable situation opened my eyes of what it really means to step out of your comfort zone. All my life I've heard the saying of how a person will never grow if they stay in their little bubble of comfort. I would like to think that I make an effort to step out of my comfort zone every day, but after hearing ...

  ("Series of Regrettable decisions" ~   Trevor Nguyen, Oct. 31st, 2020. The entire backseat of Toyota Camry was filled with an unnecessary amount of Halloween candy. )  The sight of this image would impress a lot of people, leaving many in awe of the sheer amount of candy in the back of my car. However, to me it is a sign, a sign to chill out and to think before I act. The events that transpired this night was definitely fun in the moment, but as soon as I got home at 3 in the morning, I regretted every last bit of it.  My Halloween day started off as just another stressful Saturday, having tons of homework and essays to write for college applications. Originally, I was supposed to study for my AP Statistics test, and then complete a draft of one of the portfolio essays required for The Ross School of Business. However, I only completed 1 of those things, and the other (way more important) is still left undone. The reason for this is that as soon as I completed...

 Any piece of work is Satire when it uses humor, irony, or exaggeration to highlight an issue going on within society. In this image, we can see Bansky portraying something rather unusual and somewhat humorous, as it seems like the elderly are being carried across the street by the young. This single piece of art consists of many characteristic moves that make it a great form of Satire. For starters, it employs the use of exaggeration since we all know that this image would never happen in real life since it shows the elderly riding the backs of adolescents across the street and inflicting pain on them. However, the exaggeration used in this piece of art brings light to an issue in society: The elderly being too dependent on the young, and as a result, hurting the younger generation. I think this art-work is trying to show how the elderly benefit through programs like Medicare and Social Security, but the people paying for these funds are tax-payers. These tax-payers are working in...

      Mr DECA President himself and apparently one day "Mr President", Navneet Ramadurai says as he looks forward to continue his future at the University of Toronto. Let me talk to you about my good friend Navneet or "Navy" for short. He is probably the dumbest smart person I know, meaning he excels in all facets of life when it comes to important stuff like grades, school and jobs. But I have never, ever, in my life meet someone so incredibly dense. This man just speaks about any topic like he invented it and is convinced that he is correct 100% of the time. And when he starts speaking it is like the flood gates of words just unleashed. Hearing him speak is like reading a whole 650 word personal essay with no periods, it hurts my head trying to keep up with him. When this boy speaks, it's like listening to "Rap God" by Emnimen, but on two times speed. Dude's just weird, I don't know how else to describe it; I doubt there is even a good descri...

     Having your perception of a character change dramatically throughout a story is one of the most satisfying things a reader can go through. The usage of complex characters is nothing new to writers throughout the history of story-telling; some would say it is vital to a story in order to gain the audience's undivided engagement. Two recent embodiments of complex characterization that come to mind are Odepius from Oedipus the King and Prince Zuko from Avatar The Last Airbender.        Before reading Oedipus the King, I thought it was going to be another version of Hamlet, so I was dreading to begin. I have always struggled with literature from ancient times because they utilize Latin, which I am not comfortable with; however, when I started reading, I was immediately captivated by the character more than the actual story itself. My captivation for the individual did not come from his heroic actions, but his egotistical nature and god-complex. M...

This post is solely dedicated to the menace named Srujan Koneru. He is a Michigan State freshmen now, but attended Troy High last year. And since we are on the topic of complex characters I thought this boy would be fitting. I've seen this kid around Troy for literally all my life, but I've never really talked to him until last year at cross country. Before meeting him, I always thought he was a quiet nerdy kid. My assumptions were totally false. In fact the opposite was true. Everything from his goofy personality and just lack of functioning brain cells, attribute to this unusual character. He is by every definition a thrill seeker: someone who looks for trouble and a surge of adrenaline whenever he can. The most recent event I could think of was Friday night. So the night started off pretty wacky, we both played soccer with like 30 other people at Oakland University. The lights, however, were not on; so 5 of us thought it was a great idea to drive our cars onto the field and ...

 On Monday, I found out some pretty crazy news: I got a 1510 on my SAT. This was literally the only one I took and probably the only one I will ever take. You do not understand the amount of trauma this stupid little test put me through. Legitimately felt like I was stuck under a pile of sand, but now I rose out of it like a beast. Thank god I got a good score, if I didn't I don't know what I would have done with my life. I literally drove to Ohio for this test, and payed 92 dollars for an unnecessarily boujee hotel room. I drove out with 4 other people- Navneet was actually one of them. It would have been deathly embarrassing if we all did bad; imagine if we payed all that money, traveled that far and study that much just to average scores. Dude I took a $1,500 SAT prep course, you know how much effort that is? Too much is the answer....too much. I swear I've been riding a happy train all this week, but instead of being motivated by the happiness I just feel like I'm d...