SP20 Member Spotlight 4: Ethan Tan

Our communications director Vincent You had a chat with Ethan Tan, a member of ACM!

1) Hi Ethan! Welcome to another Weekly Member Spotlight! What have you been up to lately? How has the first half of the quarter been treating you?

Besides the fact that I’ve been basically holed up in my room for almost 24/7 besides going out for food, actually pretty good! I’m trying to make the most of the time I now have by just learning new skills, watching a lot of Youtube and Tik Tok, and resisting the urge to just lay down on my bed for an eternity since it’s right next to me.

2) Are there any elements about online school that you prefer over regular school? What would be your ideal blend of both?

To be honest, the online format is nice because now teachers are forced to put their lectures online. Unfortunately, this only makes it easier for me to sleep during lectures (not saying that I don’t sleep during physical lectures too). In any case, I do miss the actual physical interaction of regular school but I also can not say that online school is necessarily terrible to me either. Motivation to actually show up on time to class is now over though now that I can just come back and watch videos at 2x speed.

3) How have you been keeping busy/entertaining yourself?

An excessive amount of Tik Tok (someone help me) and the occasional 1 a.m. games on summoners rift. I actually used to not really game on weekdays as a personal creed, but now that every day is a weekend there’s nothing to stop me now.

4) How did you get involved with ACM? What is your favorite thing about the club?

I’ll be honest. At first, it was the free boba and food but as I became increasingly involved in ACM, I began to learn about all the cool things and people that were in it. There really is a wealth of opportunities and free panda express that you can gain from this club whether that be in terms of personal development, friends, or food.

5) What are your goals for Spring and beyond? How do you hope to pursue those goals if this situation continues?

My goals for Spring and beyond is to hopefully work up the motivation to learn another programming language, touch up on my Chinese skills, and to learn more about the world around me. Prior to college I kinda just stuck myself in front of the computer all day for really no purpose other than entertainment, and so now I’m trying to do a bit of character development. A mental glowup if you would like to describe it as such. If things continue as they are, to be honest I do not see it as too much of an issue to these current goals given the nature of how the majority of it can be conducted online. You just gotta make the most of what you got in the situation you find yourself in ya know.

6) What is your favorite memory of being a member of ACM? What are you looking forward to in the club in the coming year?

1 a.m. summoners rift on the ACM discord. Pull up y’all!

7) What are your hobbies/what do you enjoy in your free time? Have you picked anything up recently because of the sudden increase in free time?

Something I really enjoy in my free time is reading webtoons and watching anime (highly recommend Demon Slayer and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure if you all haven’t watched it yet). I also really like listening to KR&B and just vibing out while ignoring the piles of homework I still need to do. Something new that I’ve picked up is (god help me) Tik Tok.

8) What brings you joy?

I’m a simple man. Cake, fruit tarts, and free food bring me joy.

9) What’s the first thing you’ll go do once quarantine gets lifted?

Get Christian fries from Vallartas and then shlump on my bed after finishing a whole serving by myself.

10) Favorite TV show/anime/movie quote?

“Opportunity is always dangling in front of you” -Tatami Galaxy
“The higher you climb in life, the more ridiculous your hats become” -Charlie Day

Thank you so much for participating Ethan!