The Sunshine Blogger Award

Although I’m not a believer in Karma, I am a big believer in humanity. That’s why I think that if you put in more than you need, you will get out more than you imagined – that is exactly what’s happened with me and blogging.

I’ve met lots of fantastic bloggers who inspire me and critique my ideas, as well as bring me new perspectives. This is my chance to honour them.

Thanks to Lisa from One Voice One Opinion for the nomination. This award works like most others:

Rules

Thank the person who nominated you.
Answer the questions from your nominator.
Nominate fellow bloggers you follow.
Give them 10 questions to answer.

Questions from Lisa

Which 3 celebrities (dead or alive) would you have for a dinner party and why?

I’ve gotta say, I’m not much of a celebrity fangirl… But that’s not to say that I don’t have people who I look up to!

Firstly, I’d like to invite Rosalind Franklin – I’d like to know how she came across the method of X-raying DNA, and how she felt about Watson and Crick taking the credit for discovering its structure. I feel like her insight would be very valuable and she must have a lot to say about the state of science nowadays and the role of women!

Secondly, I’d invite Puyi, the last emperor of China. He ascended to the throne aged three, was forced to abdicate, taken prisoner by the Russians at the end of WWII and returned to China for trial as a war criminal. He was pardoned and went to live in Beijing and worked in the mechanical repair shop of a botanical garden, later becoming a researcher of literature and history (information from Britannica) Quite a life!

Thirdly, I’d like to have Michael McIntyre – I’m quite an awkward person but I love his jokes so he would break the ice very easily. It might also get a bit deep and dreary without a touch of humour!

What’s your signature cooking dish?

My signature cooking dish has to be my stir fried vegetables with beef. Mum taught me how to cook it so that I don’t starve at uni!

If you were granted one wish, what would it be? (think outside the box)

I guess the obvious answer would be to have unlimited wishes… Then the next obvious answers would be to end world poverty, hunger, pain and suffering. But I assume those are too conventional so I’ll pick something else.

I would wish that I could make everyone else’s time go by as fast or as slow as I liked – a pretty cliché superhero power but it would actually be so helpful! I could procrastinate as much as I liked without feeling guilty; I could speed up boring lessons that are going too slowly; I could relish moments more fully; I could sleep more; I could be so productive!

If you get stranded on an island, which one item would you have?

I’m assuming that the island is a tropical paradise with food, water, shelter, no diseases and no wifi/signal (I think it’d be obvious which item I’d bring then), and all I need is something to pass the time (obviously if I did get stranded on an island, I’d probably bring a knife/mirror to defend myself/attract help).

The one item I would bring would be a pen because, with so much free time, I’ll definitely get bored and have a lot of random thoughts (hello, blog!) so I would need something to write them down. I might even try composing music, or just mark the days that have passed. I can make my own paper and ink if I run out 😉

When you were a kid, what did you aspire to be?

Most of my friends wanted to become a princess, a pop star or an actress but I never had such aspirations. Instead, as I was visiting Ikea with my family, I got lost in amongst all the furniture as I loved exploring everything they had on display. I was playing with the pull-out drawers, the hidden storage spaces, the comfortable beds and seats. When I got home that night, I declared to my parents that I was going to be an interior designer.

Then I realised that I had no talent in drawing…

What does your typical weekend consist of?

I have a very sad answer to this: a lot of work. It’s hard doing the IB (more will be explained) and especially at my school. You see, we have Saturday school, so our definition of a weekend is Sunday. On Sunday, I spend most of it working, but also relaxing (read: procrastinating, watching YouTube videos, on my phone, blogging, reading etc.) otherwise I’d go insane!

Occasionally, we get Saturdays off. We call this ‘exeat’ and it’s totally acceptable to say ‘happy exeat’ to someone. This holiday is what normal people call a weekend.

What animal would you be and why?

I am so often endeared as ‘panda’ so I guess I’ve developed an affinity with this cuddly animal! I am often soft and fuzzy on the outside, but if someone or something threatens my close circle, I will get angry. Otherwise, I like to mind my own business and munch bamboo.

In your opinion, what happens after we die?

Ooh, I like this question. In my opinion, nothing. I believe that we are nothing but a sack of chemicals; our consciousness only derives from quantum behaviour in our brain; when we die, what we deem as consciousness is gone. We experience oblivion. It’s actually kind of comforting.

If you had to be AMAZING at something, what would it be?

Since I’m quite a scientific girl, I would love to be amazing at maths. It gets more difficult the more you learn, and being able to do maths means that you would be able to better understand phenomena like quantum physics, relativity, statistical distributions, modelling and so on… There’s a reason why people with degrees in maths are so in-demand!

If you became the most powerful person in the world, what would you do first?

I was originally going to abdicate, but then I remembered the famous quote from Spiderman: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

I’d love to wipe out malaria, HIV/AIDS, cancer, ignorance, poverty, inequality, infant mortality, warfare, daylight saving time, extremism, Neoliberalism… But there’s only one thing I can do first.

Top on my priority list would be to provide free and accessible healthcare to everyone. This will prevent many things from infant mortality to preventable diseases.

Whilst getting rid of all the bad stuff, I would try to put emotional intelligence into the curriculum of Western schools, based on the curriculum of the School of Life.

Now to nominate 10 bloggers: