20 Questions

A longggg time ago, Ashley over at A Lady Goes West posted a 20-question “Get To Know Me Better” survey. I thought it sounded like fun, but figured I’d reserve my actual post for later, when I was super swamped, so here it is now! (I frequently blog into the future, har har. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do…)

If you’ve been following me for ages, you probably have picked up on at least a couple of these things, but sometimes, it’s nice to have it all in one place!?

1. What’s your whole name?

I know it seems dumb since I blog about my entire life here, but hard as it may be to believe, I’m a fairly private person. Let’s just leave it at Farrah. :O

2. Are you named after anyone?

Yep! I was named after Farrah Fawcett. I know, I know. You can totally see the resemblance. :O

3. Do you have any siblings?

I have one older brother! (We are 13 months apart, and he’s one of my best friends! :)

4. Where did you grow up?

San Francisco Bay Area! Since graduating from college (UC Davis represent!), I’ve lived for a year in New Jersey, 2 years in West Virginia, and 1 year in Kentucky, and over this past year, I’ve pretty much been all over the country. I’m going back to New Jersey for my residency in Family Medicine, so I’ll be staying there for the next 3 years!

5. What activities did you do in high school?

• Piano!
• Art classes (here’s a hummingbird that I drew wayyy back when–complete with a recipe for Hummingbird Cupcakes!)!
• Gymnastics team!
• Copy editor/photographer/staff writer for the school newspaper!
• Layout editor for the school district newspaper!

I also tutored elementary school kids, taught piano, and volunteered as a science camp counselor.

In my senior year, I found out I needed a fine arts to graduate, so I auditioned for and got into the treble ensemble group on campus + was a chorus member in my high school’s production of Annie Get Your Gun!*

Good luck finding me. :O

*If I hadn’t made it into the musical, I would’ve tried out for track and field because yay for sprinting! :O

…Reallyyyy didn’t look like I was gonna go for med school with that sort of background, huh? :O

6. Where did you go to college?

I went to UC Davis for 4 years! Twas a very well-spent 4 years–I really miss college. :P

Here’s a bunch of my friends from music chillin’ outside the music building for Blue Polo Day! :]

7. What activities did you do in college?

Oh hell. Aside from the 110 classes (here are some of my favorites!) I took? Um…let’s just limit it to the things I did regularly, shall we?

• Future-Career-Related
  • Volunteered in the Therapeutic Recreation/Child Life department at Shriners Children’s Hospital! <3
  • Volunteered as a patient advocate/medical interpreter at Paul Hom Asian Clinic (free primary care clinic staffed entirely by volunteers)
  • Volunteered as an ER receptionist at Sutter Davis Hospital (+ also in Medical Records)

Dames & Fellas A Capella!

• Artsy-Fartsy
  • Dancer/Club Secretary for Na Keiki ‘O Hawai’i, a social + cultural dance group at UCD
  • Started up a no-audition a capella group with a couple friends called Dames & Fellas A Capella! (The “DAMES + F” comprised all our first initials. :P )
  • UCD Music Department’s unofficial emergency accompanist (aka when my friends’ hired accompanists randomly crapped out on them or broke their fingers the day before their recital, I was their go-to person because I’d always find a way to learn their music on time)

• Employment
  • Music librarian! (My boss loved me because she was fairly selective about the people she liked, and really appreciated that I’d deal with everyone for her)
  • Piano teacher (I had two super-cute kids! Their family was super nice and had I had more time, I would’ve been their babysitter as well. I graduated them to my own piano teacher after I could no longer be in Davis to teach them!)
  • Accompanist/Pianist
  • Research subject

8. What did you study in college?

I started college as a Biological Sciences major, but found out on the first day of my classes that if I took the three co-requisites for music, I would be considered a music major, which translated to free instrument lessons! (Oh hells yes!) Ever the avid deal-finder, I decided to go for it (also because I didn’t want to give up on music as a part of my life).

Whilst reading a course catalog for fun (don’t judge me), I wasn’t too thrilled with the courses I’d have to take as a general Biology major, but pretty much every required/elective course in Exercise Biology looked all sorts of interesting, so I officially switched my major and declared my double major in my junior year!

<3

The deans of both my colleges decided to forgo my unit cap and let me take whatever/however many classes I wanted, so long as I promised to graduate in 4 years.

Long story long, I ended up graduating with two degrees: Exercise Biology and Music Performance (Piano). :D!

9. What was your first job out of college?

Not sure I can answer this because although I’m out of college, I’m…still in school. I taught piano and was an accompanist though, so I’d play for events/banquets and for people’s auditions/performances and such!

10. What kind of music do you like?

I’d be somewhat of a failure of a music major if I didn’t mention classical, so I do adore classical (particularly the Romantic period–yay for Chopin and Liszt!), but it makes me sleepy. I also love symphonic metal, instrumentals, video game music, piano rock, and anything with awesome guitar and/or piano solos.

I think my musical taste is fairly diverse. The only genres I forserious cannot stand are rap and country.

11. What’s one hobby that you’d like to take up?

I’m gonna assume this means something I haven’t tried/done before (because that list is endless–see #19). I’m gonna go with fire hooping!

12. What did you think you wanted to be when you grew up?

I was torn between wanting to be a vet or a doctor, but I don’t think I could ever bring myself to put down anyone’s pet, and then I started volunteering at a free clinic as a patient advocate/medical interpreter, so I had to do some soul-searching.

My compromise = becoming a people-doctor so I can have the funds to donate to no-kill shelters. :]

13. What’s the biggest project on your to-do list right now?

For the longest time, it was getting into and graduating from medical school. Now that that’s happened(!!!), I guess it’s to do super well in my residency so that I’ll be an amazing family physician!

14. Do you have any irrational fears?

…I really am not a fan of porcelain dolls. I’m also slightly apprehensive whenever anyone’s holding an umbrella near me, because I’ve almost had my eyes stabbed out at least several times by unobservant people.

15. Have you ever traveled outside the country? If so, where and when?

My mom loves to travel, so luck is with me in that for most of my life, I got to go with her! I’ve been to Mexico, Canada, Hong Kong, China, Macau, Thailand, Taiwan, Greece, Turkey, Italy, England, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Malta, Egypt, Costa Rica, Columbia, Dominican Republic…

16. When’s your next vacation and where are you going?

What are these vacations you speak of? (I’d really love to go to Hawai’i though!)

17. Do you speak any other languages?

Kindasorta? I’m fluent in Cantonese, but that’s considered to be a dialect and not an actual language (haters), and I was fairly competent in Mandarin at one point, but it is now reserved for life-or-death-type situations. I need to learn Spanish, because knowing multiple languages is pretty darn useful in the medical field.

18. What’s one talent that you wish you had?

Singing/Dancing. I can sing, but I lack the ability to project (or just never learned), so people can’t hear me unless the microphone sensitivity’s turned all the way up. With dancing…it’d just be nice to be good at it. :O

19. What’s something that you wish you did more of?

Spending time with loved ones, dancing (pole, hula, Tahitian, salsa, aerial silks), singing, volunteering, reading, cooking, sleeping, working out, having a life…

Pole Silks class!

20. If you weren’t in your current job, what would you want to be doing?

I just started my first year of residency in Family Medicine, but if I couldn’t do that (:[!), I’d probably be a nurse practitioner!

• What’s a talent you wish you had?
• What’s a hobby you’d like to take up?
• (Or just answer one of the 20 questions up there, in the comments…or in another post? :O Let me know!)