Thursday, May 14, 1998
Real bruins
PEOPLE: Procrastination, surfing, midterms, friendship and Jerry
Springer:
A typical day in the life of Steve Wong, your average Bruin
By Rachel Munoz
Daily Bruin Staff
Walking up the steps of his apartment on Landfair, it’s amazing
that the furniture ever made it through this narrow corridor.
Entering into the sparsely-furnished living room with wooden
floors, he drops his keys onto a side table and sets his skateboard
down in its usual spot. Making his way down the dark hallway, he
enters into his bedroom of two years.
The ocean-blue comforter is the first thing to jump out at
anyone who enters the room, then the wood desks, one on either side
of the bed, and a little green table in the shape of a turtle’s
back in the corner. The walls are adorned with various posters of
surfing, the Cranberries, REM, Oasis, the Lakers and one of his
favorites – a blown-up picture of his tortoise, Jerry.
Steve Wong, a fourth-year economics student aspiring to be a
doctor, tells the story of Jerry. He received the tortoise as a
gift when he was young and decided to name it after his neighbor,
Jerry, because he was his best friend. Wong’s Crest smile brightens
his face when he quietly laughs at why he really named the turtle
Jerry. His mom claims that he chose that name because the tortoise
and the neighbor ran the same way: funny and slow.
Jerry is often the first thing that catches his glance after he
makes the familiar trek home into his room every day. What often
breaks up that monotonous walk home for many UCLA students like
Wong is the smile of a friend who stops to chat along the way.
Luckily for Wong, he ran into two of his friends today.
"On campus it is kind of hard to see people you know," Wong
said. He says that during the day he sees most of his friends when
he is walking around campus or to and from school.
After coming home from Rieber where he studied for a couple
hours, Wong threw down his backpack in its familiar spot. He
carefully laid down on his bed next to his books and, like many
students, hoped for the relief of a nap.
Unfortunately, the nap just wasn’t in the cards for Wong today.
Instead he further avoided studying for his economics 171 midterm
by picking up the newest surfing magazine with Taylor Knox gracing
the cover.
Minutes later, Wong is using his second device of
procrastination: talking on the phone. "It’s not that I need the
breaks but my concentration is very limited," he said. "When I have
stuff to do, I tend to talk on the phone more because that is my
way of procrastinating."
A hungry stomach soon alerts Wong that it is time for a mom-made
dinner.
Wong admits that his mom still makes him most of his dinners and
drives up almost every weekend to deliver her home-cooked delights.
He has told her many times that she doesn’t have to do it, but he
argues that since he is the youngest of three it is to be expected
that he would be babied.
The menu tonight is stir-fry chicken and bok choi with rice. A
toasted bagel also accompanies the meal, which he eats in front of
the hockey play-offs on TV.
Roommate Ken Szeto, a fourth-year history and political science
student, joins him with his own dinner as Wong kids, "all Szeto
ever does is sleep and watch TV."
Dishes and more phone calls to friends continue to delay the
studying for tomorrow’s midterm. When he finally makes it into his
room, Wong seats himself down at his desk and begins to study as he
has intended to do all night. To set the right mood for his brain,
Wong listens to the classic rock station Arrow 93.1.
"I can’t sing because I don’t know the words so then I can
concentrate," he said.
Often while studying, Wong paces the room with his book or
notes. His mind wanders to what he will be doing this very day a
year from now.
"My future is in serious flux," he says in a concerned voice.
"I’m on a wait-list for med school in San Antonio but if med school
doesn’t work out then your guess is as good as mine as far as what
I’ll be doing."
Wong could be waiting on pins and needles up until a week before
school starts in San Antonio. He must wait to find out if someone
else’s decision not to go to the school will give him the
opportunity to pursue his dreams.
He understands that there is the possibility that he won’t be
going to San Antonio and if that is the situation he will apply
again next year.
"We’re in what, the 16th grade? I wouldn’t mind taking a year
off," he said. "But the whole application process sucks."
For as outwardly nonchalant as Wong appears, he admits that not
knowing what he will be doing bugs him.
After a couple hours of studying, the bed beckons once again,
this time for real. Wong’s head hits the pillow only to be awakened
seven hours later by the buzzing of the alarm clock at the early
arrival of 9:00 a.m.
If it was Monday, Wednesday or Friday and El Nino permitted,
Wong would have been surfing. While at school he usually hits
Manhattan Beach or South Bay for a couple of hours. For the two
years of surfing experience that Wong has, he feels that the
surfing at those beaches is never as good as the surfing in
hometown Huntington Beach.
However, since it was Tuesday, Wong headed for campus, facing
six hours of economics and a midterm.
When 5:00 p.m. rolled around, his usual route home was slightly
interrupted with a stop at the computer lab to check his e-mail.
Although he was relieved to have just finished a midterm, he was
anxious to get out of the rain and get home to study for a little
bit before the Lakers/Sonics game provided an excuse not to
study.
Wong, Szeto and two friends arrived later and spread themselves
across the living room’s two couches. They began a critique of the
basketball game, deciding who was good and who was not.
Pepsi, Chips Ahoy! and beer somehow become spread over the
coffee table. But Wong won’t be drinking any of the beer. He kids
with friends that after one beer he would become bright red and
would most likely be drunk. He blames his inability to drink on his
Asian heritage.
Commercials provide for time to talk about everything from
weight to women to relationships until Wong temporarily disappears
to his room. Then Szeto tells the story of when Wong got mad at him
over not mixing the orange juice before he poured it into a glass,
leaving all the pulp at the bottom of the pitcher.
Not only does Szeto relay that Wong is sometimes pretty
particular about things, but often times he is a downright
nerd.
"He studies all the time," Szeto says. All of his studying has
paid off; Wong will be graduating cum laude this June.
Szeto gives more insight to Wong as a person, claiming he is not
only funny but very easy to get along with.
"He’s just a nice guy," Szeto continues. "If you had a daughter
you’d want her to go out with him."
Despite being a nice guy, Wong is currently single and prefers
athletic women. High school friend Denise Lieu, a fourth-year art
history student, claims that Wong has an interest in Latina women,
calling Wong a sensitive guy and a great catch.
"He doesn’t try to be anyone he is not," friend Dennis Ruebsamen
said. "He is like the average guy that everyone wants to be
like."
After Wong’s return to the living room, he joins in on the
conversation about himself.
"I’m just doing what everyone else is doing: getting through
school, trying to get good grades and be a support to my friends,"
he said.
The Lakers’ victory over the Sonics leaves everyone in high
spirits, including Wong. Ruebsamen decides to order pizza, the
traditional pepperoni and mushroom they always order, and before
long the notorious Jerry Springer show is turned on. The night’s
topic "My Uncle Is Sleeping With My Wife," produces laughs and a
lots of "oh my gosh’s" out of the group.
Springer’s "final thought" cued Ruebsamen that it was time to
clean up and for Wong, it signalled that bedtime was soon
approaching. After socializing for so long, Wong decided that his
best bet was just to go to bed and get up early the next day to
study.
After going through the motions of the usual nighttime hygiene,
Wong’s head hit the pillow.
Photos by LYNN NISHIMURA
Steve Wong and friends relax and watch the Lakers/Sonics game at
Wong’s apartment.
(Above) Steve Wong prepares his board for a surf session with
friends at Manhattan Beach.
(Left) Wong studies for an economics midterm.
LYNN NISHIMURA
Steve Wong studies for his Economics midterm.