Sharing the Ordinary: A deeper look into the everyday lives of TOKIHA counselors. Whether it’s art, leadership, music, engineering or finding a great new book, their creative and intellectual pursuits allow our counselors to bring a unique and creative skill set to camp.

What brings you happiness? What motivates your passion? How do you express yourself? These are questions that inspired this series, and we encourage you to redefine your definition of “ordinary” and reflect on how you can change your perspective about the little things in life that bring you joy.

Edison Moy: TOKIHA Summer Camp 2018' counselor takes us into his search for something to make his life more colorful.

So I’ve been trying to decorate my bedroom wall. I’m trying to expand beyond the band and movie posters. I’ve considered creating a display of vinyl album covers and while it’s definitely an upgrade, I know that any selection I choose will never encompass the nuances of my taste. How about art? my roommate suggested. I’ve always wanted a large Dali. Maybe a print of my favorite “The Temptation of St. Anthony” where the osseous legs of marching elephants can introduce some more surreal aromas and put me in that good, dreaming mood. How about an abstract Picabia? Geometric Kandinsky? No, too highbrow. After all, I’m just some college kid trying to blend his uneducated taste in art into some sort of “cultured” wall decor.

Some might say I’m taking this a bit too seriously. They are probably right.

Inspiration hit from a NerdWriter YouTube video. Mr. Writer was analyzing the evolution of 20th century pop art, specifically its prevalence in the market of sci-fi novels. Authors like Asimov, Wells, Resnick and Chalker all hired talented yet little known artists to create colorfully intrusive covers to pin an image to their massive sci-fi novel enterprises. Yes, the birth of movies and maturation of comics also fed into this expanding portfolio of sci-fi art but it was really the artistic covers, this first bridge to the reader, that gave aliens, futuristic technologies, spaceships, nanoweapons and distant galaxies a clear form and figure; no longer are the days of having those surreal, abstract, geometric images of mechanical men loosely assembled in your mind, now a quick glance at the cover will show exactly what Robbie the robot looks like. An argument about the rise of sci fi covers and the subsequent decline of reader imagination, while interesting to ponder, is beyond the scope of this plain poster post.

As you have by now guessed, I finally settled on assembling a wall collage of sci-fi book covers. I spent a few weeks scouring eBay to amass enough books to cover a decent portion of the 4 x 9 ft visible part of my wall. My only rule was that I could only buy if the price per book was <$1.00. Perseverance prevailed and I managed to secure a haul of 54 books for $44. Defacing the books took longer than expected and left me with a tall stack of coverless paperbacks of which I have no idea what to do with; maybe a cool wall or wrapping paper for the future.

Robert Jiang : “The answer to these questions, though, felt oddly familiar: learn to love others for who they are, and learn to love yourself like you love others.”

This semester, I had the opportunity to be a committee chair for one of my clubs. As committee chair, I was responsible for planning one of our club’s biggest events, the annual Corporate Industry Dinner. But I also had a second, much more vexing responsibility — forming a community within this group of 18 students. How was I to best approach approaching people? What could I do to lead yet listen? The answer to these questions, though, felt oddly familiar: learn to love others for who they are, and learn to love yourself like you love others. My time at TOKIHA proved that not even a different language could stop people from seeing the beauty in each other, and my job was simply to facilitate this strange yet powerful force that drew people and their ideas together.

“Group of Bioengineers simultaneously set on changing the world and having a good time.”

Though it didn’t happen immediately, I can say for certain that we slowly became what we are today: a ragtag group of Bioengineers simultaneously set on changing the world and having a good time. Our Industry Dinner turned out to be one of the best ones yet, and I feel like I’ve found people I can both study with and depend on. I can’t wait to see what other adventures await next semester.

I suppose I’ll close with this — no matter how much you try to avoid it, time always manages to catch up to you, be it for exams, personal goals, or even relationships. But TOKIHA has taught me one thing: take that time and make it yours. Be confident. Embrace that first idea that comes to your mind. Don’t be afraid to be something new.