Tsai-ko Autobiography: Jason
Name: Jason
(last name withheld)
Bonafide Tsai-ko
High School: Moanalua 2005
Tsai-ko Lunch Size: Normal
Original Tsai-ko caricature:
front row, 2nd from left
From the Warrior Beat blog September 11,
2007:
ST's Intro:
Jason is our youngest regular
poster, yet one of our wisest and most mature.
His vocabulary is a mix of biting wit and kind words.
Most of all, he is our student rep, the voice — and a clear one, at
that — of Every Fan.
And he's a very good singer, too.
Please meet Jason:
Aloha k?kou,
One of the hardest things you can ask a person to do is write about
himself, so hopefully this sounds coherent. My name is Jason, although
my friends and family also call me Jase. I am a 20-year-old mathematics
major taking classes at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. I'm not
good at any of the traditional sports like football or baseball, so
when I was in high school (Moanalua class of 2005!), I was, of course,
a mathlete. Don't knock it until you've tried it; competing in O‘ahu
Mathematics League and Hawai‘i State Math Bowl competitions allowed me
to get those competitive juices flowing and learn things like
responsibility, leadership, time management, and being a member of a
team, just like any athlete participating in a more physical sport. I'm
looking into teaching high school math in the future, and if possible,
I'd love to follow in the footsteps of those that came before me, and
become a coach myself.
My Dad passed away two years ago, so it's just me and my Mom here in
our Salt Lake apartment; I also have a sister, who lives in Mililani
with her husband and three girls. The only other thing about my
personal life that you really need to know about is the journey that
led me back to God. I grew up in a Christian family, but my Dad stopped
attending sometime in the 1990s because of bad health; that gave me the
perfect excuse to stay home to be with him (and to watch football on
television as well). For about ten years, even after my Dad died, I
refused to go back, but then something happened last year that made me
return.
My youngest niece was born on the afternoon of June 6, 2006; at 2:00 in
the morning that day, though, I was sitting in the lobby of Kaiser
Permanente's emergency room. I woke up in the middle of the night with
sore legs, since I had spent the night before with friends walking
around Waik?k?. I took a pain reliever, then tried to go back to
sleep—only I couldn't. I started to feel cold, and I couldn't stop
shaking. My heart started beating out of my chest, and it felt like it
couldn't go any faster without exploding. All I could think was that I
was dying. They never did see me at the ER since they were busy that
night, but that event still bothered me quite a bit. Over the next few
weeks, I made several trips to the emergency room as these symptoms
came back, but every time the EKGs and the X-rays came back negative
for anything noteworthy. I was eventually diagnosed with panic
disorder, which is a type of anxiety disorder.
More importantly was one visit to the ER that was memorable. It was the
night following Father's Day; that morning, my Mom tried to wake me up
early so she could take me to church, but I refused because I wanted to
sleep in. That night at the ER, while talking to her on the phone (she
was working late), she told me, "It's because you didn't go to church
this morning!" And all of a sudden, I felt it in my heart—the
undeniable truth that she was right. We found a church with a sign
outside that advertised Wednesday prayer services, which we attended.
I've been a member of the Honolulu Bible Fellowship ever since, and a
happy one at that. I can't explain to you all how much God has meant to
my life in this past year. I'm not a perfect person, but I am a growing
person, and that might be the best testimony any person can have.
If you're in the Salt Lake area and you want a church to attend on
Sundays or Wednesdays, you're welcome to join me and the HBF. We're a
small, predominantly Filipino congregation (we all speak English!) that
rents a few small rooms from the good people of the First Southern
Baptist Church of Pearl Harbor (http://www.fsbcph.org/).
Feel
free to stop in on Sunday mornings at 9:00, Sunday evenings at
6:30, and Wednesday evenings at 7:00; just look for the door with the
"Honolulu Bible Fellowship" sign next to it (near the handicap parking
stall, which you'll see as soon as you enter the driveway).
Now, on to the topic of UH sports, which is why we're all here today.
My earliest memories as a young fan include A.C. and Alika leading the
basketball team over #2 Kansas in the Rainbow Classic, Jamie Aloy
playing first base and pitching for the baseball 'Bows, and Jeff
Ulbrich coming back from injury to play the season finale against
Michigan. My first UH football game was the 1999 O‘ahu Bowl with my
Dad, with free tickets I won for good grades or something. I was there
to see Tim Chang break Ty Detmer's all-time passing yardage record (I
remember it was a rainy night; my sister and her friend stole my
jacket!), and I've been to every football home game since becoming a
student at UH (except for this year's season opener against Northern
Colorado—my sister's friend, the jacket thief, she got married that
afternoon).
It's been a great blessing to have met many of you this past year, my
fellow members of The Warrior Beat ‘ohana. I hope my Warrior Beat Web
site (http://www.deep-mirrors.org/jason/tsai/)
has
been of use to many of you. Please be sure to check it out
sometimes; I try to put some useful information up there.