Tag: 2011

The winds of 2011 until the present:

Posted on by anele25

This blog, Just Another Day, has been on a hiatus for 2+ years now. I didn’t do it on purpose nor have I forgotten that the blog world exists. In fact, the original intent of the blog was to document a personal journey of sorts. Here I am 2 years later, you could say a different person. No longer am I young and rebellious (that is up for debate however). For myself, I could say I have grown more discipline and aware of the fact that I grew because I wanted to help myself. I have several avenues of people and ideals which have helped me along the way. School, well that ship I jumped on and finished with a BA in Psychology. The long tireless hours of writing papers, figuring out formulas, and generally socializing with classmates has come. It’s funny because I wrote a few years about how each year has taught me a lesson. This was back in 2013. jump in 4 years later. School took up a bulk of those years from 2013-2017. Now in the present I am a professional in the research world as a coordinator for a study which focuses on physical activity and nutrition. I asked myself this week, just how in the heck did I go from Sales Floor Team Member at Target to Social Science Research Coordinator at Stanford? I present to you the journey that all started back in 2011. That was a pivotal year in my growth and to this day I don’t know where I would be without it. Here is my story in 2011 and how it led me to today:

 

I was sitting at home one evening in 2011 after coming home from work, exhausted and getting ready to watch Monday Night Raw. This was during the buildup to WWE’s World Series WrestleMania. The Rock dazzling the audience, had just returned saying he was back. I had just finished a shift at Target where I was outside talking to a friend about life at work and life at home. The next day after being super excited from my conversation with my friend and the Rock’s return, I realized something was terribly wrong. The pain in my kidneys had returned and I knew what it was. I had kidney stones from a very early age. I made a doctor’s appointment for the next week and they referred me to a specialist thereafter. The nephrologist (name for a kidney specialist) had broken the news to me that I would need to just watch my diet and focus on exercise. Then she told me I had polycystic kidney disease. That day I learned the lesson that telling the brutal honest truth (even if it is coming from a doctor) to someone can be very heartbreaking and can do wonders for the unknown. This has helped me in my journey because I don’t want to be seen as being dishonest whether it is with a professional colleague, if it was during my time in school, or with any of my friends. Ever since, I have focused on keeping my diet steady and working on my physical activity.

 

I have never been shy also in the idea that I do not like asking for help. That year was also when I looked at myself in the mirror and said I had to bunker down and finish school. I have one or two friends who still to this day say “I want back to school” or “school is too hard”. There is that one famous Fight Club scene where Brad Pitt and Edward Norton go into the liquor store and the clerk says he wanted to become a veterinarian. The guy says there was too much school and Brad Pitt’s character says if he wants to die on his knees in the back of a liquor store. I watched that movie over ten years ago and it still sticks with me. The point is, I had nowhere to go but up. I always afraid of math. I would never ask professors for help. I said to myself all you have to do is ask for help. I talked to counselors, friends, and family on what I should do. That one friend who did end up helping me was Ricardo. I had met him almost 3 years prior. To this day on September 2nd 2017 we still talk. I talked about my decision to step away from school for a semester. I wrote about it in detail in the archives available here. The idea that he helped me is why I am forever grateful to him. I didn’t know where to go and how to do it. I know this isn’t the time or place to say so but I almost felt that him helping me on which classes I should take or where I should take those classes are why I succeeded, was almost like a calling card that this guy was meant to help me. I took the necessary classes at San Jose State all the way down to Mission College. To him, the important lesson I learned that it is ok to ask for help even if you don’t necessarily want it. Will you fail? Yes, and accepting that you tried with every bit of your willpower is what got me through. To this day, I have to remind myself that it is ok to ask for help at work, at home, or even from friends when I don’t want to seem pushy with them. I asked from help from a variety of sources that year and without them I am forever grateful.

 

The one thing that I have failed to mention along this long grueling journey is your friends will be there to support you. Whether they choose to see you and hang out with you is a different story. I had a friend named JB not too long ago. I thought the world of him and I can honestly say he knew several things that I did not. He helped me overcome my shyness and how to not be so unapproachable. We have not spoken in 6 years face to face. I’ll never know why or how it happened. I have reached out to him and I have gotten a lukewarm response of “we’ll see” or “I don’t know if I’m going to be busy”. This goes back to friends will see you if they want to see you. Even during this time frame from 2011-2017, I have gained a few friends back and some that I hadn’t heard from in years. I have two friends in particular who I think the world of. I saw them once or twice within this time frame and I never did see them again after. Friends, whether you like it or not have different priorities. One friend may be low priority or high priority depending on how both sides see it. With that I bring to you a story filled with excitement and joy that was brought about by a different source than usual.

 

I was finishing my senior year at San Jose State and during the week I had gotten a text from a friend of my brother’s. My brother had kept in contact with him from time to time. His name is Aldo and he had texted me about an opportunity to work at Stanford School of Medicine. It would be a temp position as a research assistant. I didn’t think much of it. I texted him back the next day that I would love the opportunity. That same weekend, I got the news that my Grandfather had succumbed to Parkinson’s disease and had passed away. I thought the world of him and I never got the chance to say goodbye. I remember driving to the airport (in Sacramento mind you), and my mind was racing with the idea of something new and fresh. A few months prior, I had transferred stores to another Target. The idea behind it was to first be closer to home and to finish out school easier. I also wanted to be close to a friend as well that had recently transferred there. The school year was coming to a close and my college endeavor as an undergrad was as well. Target does prepare you to deal with guests and personalities only a kindergartner could dream of. I still remember the many guest complaints we would get or the occasional obsessive personalities from one manager which I still admire to this day. However, I digress and say I was excited at having a chance at the idea. I fixed up my resume and filled out my application and sent it to my friend Aldo. I got the news the next week I didn’t get it and someone else had filled the position. I had started going to job fairs at school and said maybe that would be the answer. I couldn’t find anything that excited me (although that Walgreens manager did a really good job at selling me on the idea of being a shift leader). That year started off terrible with me being rejected at Stanford and the death of my Grandpa. But, the will of one never resists temptations to move on up. I got a call from Aldo that said I was being called up and I would need to freshen up my resume for an interview. I fixed that up and it was the first time I realized that it was going to take some courage to do this. I nailed the interview (or so I think) and the one thing that helped me was that how well you get along with others will take you far. You can be the smartest guy in the room and even that can get you some heat. I talked about some of the things that make me a good team player as well as the idea that I would need to be on board to help out. I said yes and off I went home. I didn’t think much of it and I went to my brother’s house. I got the e-mail right away that I got hired. I was elated and surprised at the same time. Two days later, I put in my two weeks at Target. As for the departure from Target, it was an experience that I’ll never forget and everybody (even if it’s for a few hours) should work retail. As a research assistant, I had the chance to recruit participants for a physical activity study on the telephone. It was really all about learning the ins and outs of eligibility. We had certain requirements (activity levels and little to no health issues). I did that for nine months and after I graduated I applied for a full time job with the same lab. I was more nervous for this position because of the added responsibilities and extra work load. However, that was not to be and I went in to interview for the position and I was told that I had gotten it a week and half later. For almost two years, I have been working on this study (with 338 participants) and now with the added knowledge that I have, I feel that it has been fulfilling, exciting, and I have made a few friends out of it. I have also gotten to see that help comes from the unknown sometimes and you may not even realize it. To my friend Aldo, I tell him from time to time that if it weren’t from I wouldn’t be where I’m at. I ultimately did it but help comes from the unexpected. Thank you my friend.

 

As I wind this down, I do want to touch on something that has brought me here from 2011 to 2017. My dog Paloma was also instrumental in helping me get here. Last year in July, she was run over and I could not save her. It was a Saturday night and I had decided to for a walk by the 101 freeway by my house. I had crossed the freeway for cars and I was very close to being hit. I barely dodged the car and I looked behind me to see her bloodied from the car that had just passed. My other dog Zorro was behind me and he thankfully survived. I remember being devastated and one person stopped to help. I did not get her name and for all I know she might have done it out of the goodness of her heart. To her I say thank you because she helped me get Paloma off the road. I vividly remember calling everyone from my mom and dad to my brother. My brother was devastated because he brought her in first to the house. She eventually had her son Zorro and I think I see so much of her in him. After I called everyone letting them know what happened, an ambulance stopped by to let me know that Paloma was no longer breathing. This was the hardest day of my life. My dad buried her the next day and I remember seeing a Paloma in the air that day and Zorro staring at it. RIP girl I miss you every day. If there’s anything that helped me get through that year of 2011 in my decision making it was that dog and her ability to cheer me up when things weren’t looking the brightest because of where my head was in terms of finishing school. She was my motivation to be loving and caring to those around me. It also helped me get outside more as well. I was close to her and I think it does help to have pets in your life. Zorro has carried on her legacy fairly well and I cherish that dog every day. I leave you with this everybody

 

I do want to continue writing on this blog and I just need to get my creative juices flowing again. I want to commit to writing at least once a month on here. Where I am now, I can’t say I am completely satisfied because I still want to travel to other places and also to explore more places. This is something that really gets me on my high horse. This has been a good reflective piece to where I am now. Till next time everyone!

Part 3 of Top 10 series 2011,2012, and a little 2013…

Posted on by anele25

Last time, I started talking about how some of the classes I had taken in 2010 had started making sense and at last 2011 was my last year at De Anza. I had many conversations with counselors, friends, family, and others throughout these years. 2011 was a fun year because of the new goals I set for myself and some of them I did accomplish. 2012 was the year I finally became who I wanted to be and I discovered a few things about myself and my peers. 2013 so far has been amazing even though there have been some ups and downs. So, in 2011 the revelation came to me that I was getting old and I couldn’t be at community college forever. I also started seeing another side of my job that I couldn’t possibly imagine. There was also a few things I wish I would have done differently but it was for the better and so 2011 began with a bang and a whimper.

2011- Taking small breaks can set you up for failure or success

At the beginning of the year, I started by looking at the classes I was taking and my life. The classes I was taking were for fun and for what it was worth I felt less motivated than I used to. The Anthropology class that I took was taking the perspectives of culture and how they were integrated into our society. My geography class was taken from a perspective of looking at the world and how it functioned from the rivers, the locations, the weather, and the populations involved. The Latin American class was so much fun due to the interaction and the chemistry that the professor implemented amongst everyone. However, during Valentine’s day I started feeling a little pain in my kidney and on the left side of my body. I knew what this was but I had no idea how to control this because it was during a school day. I had had kidney stones before but I had no idea how to let it go other than drink lots of water. I called my doctor’s office and he made me an appointment for the next week. I saw him and he sent me to a specialist that dealt with this kind of issue. I found out a few weeks later that I had Polycystic Kidney Disease which I have documented before on this blog. I take medication for this and the good thing is that my blood pressure has gone down immensely since then. Of course, I remember the lesson I learned from this was that some things are better left unsaid because I found out some time later that it was a hereditary disease. My mom had it when she was pregnant with me and so there it was that I told myself that I had to start eating healthier and doing more exercise. I had my gym membership but I kept making the excuse that the gym was too far and I couldn’t make time. I started making time before midnight and/or during the weekend at night after work. Ever since then, I have made vow to at least go 3-5 times a week and I have felt great ever since. I also started figuring out that I had to start building my bank account back up because at this time I had little to no money. I wasn’t afraid any more of saying no to someone at the request of spending a substantial amount of money. So, the fun part was saving money and making sure that my money was being spent carefully instead of being taken for granted. I was so happy at this point but my classes were taking a toll on me because I really didn’t know where to go after this quarter. I had taken virtually every class necessary that I needed but I had no clue what else to take. One day, I got on assist.org to check what I needed to transfer and I thought nothing of it because I was afraid of how I would do in the classes. I thought I would be able to take Intermediate Algebra in the spring quarter but because I had already dropped it four times I was unable to take it (although at the time I was unaware of this). I ended up taking three pretty useless classes in the spring (Political movements, Environmental science, and Weight training). Once again they were fun but I had already gotten to used to this routine and I really had to do something different. If I wanted to get to that next level, I needed help and that I did get. When the quarter was coming to an end, I had a long talk with a good friend and a few other people in my life. These talks resulted in me coming to the realization that A) Maybe I was just burnt out from all these years of taking these classes which amounted to a lot of units (180 or so to that point) and B) There were really only four more classes I needed to take (two of which I dreaded and two of which were stimulating). I was ready for a new challenge and I started thinking that De Anza was the answer but it was not to be. I went there once to see if I could take Intermediate Algebra one more time and one counselor said it was fine but when I went to take my paper to see if I could the admissions said that I couldn’t so I was super pissed after this. I sat down for the next few days pondering what I should do and I went to see another counselor but this one encouraged me to take Intermediate Algebra at Mission College and stay there to take Stats. Of course, the other option was to take it at Mission and come back to De Anza to take stats. This would be the beginning of a long year in 2012. So, from June 2011 to January 2012 I took an almost seven month break and to be honest I did need it. I got to see my job from a morning perspective and I was seeing what it was like to start at 6 in the morning. Looking back at my project 365, I see how my idea of memory and mind stimulating pictures can bring about a moment and a time in life. Some of them make me think that 2011 was a fun and strange time because the breaks in life are far and few between. I would be working out and working most of the time making me think that I was doing something wrong but I said to myself that this was necessary for myself. I had no time to breathe and this was the first time I saw from another perspective what it’s like to just relax a little bit. I started doing a few things on my own like cooking, cleaning, and helping around my house. I also took a long vacation to Mexico and afterwards I started applying to colleges which, I didn’t know this at the time, was a test run to filling out an application. The ultimate lesson that I learned from these down times was you really need a short break sometimes to see what it’s like and if you need to figure out a few things then so be it. You may not always succeed but you’re not always going to fail either. I started looking at 2012 as a challenge and as a chance to succeed at a higher level. I read a few books on Algebra so that helped out a little bit because I was challenging myself to do better than I should be doing (boy it was fun in 2012). The new challenge was preparing myself for a new school which I knew little about other than a few meetings with a good friend there. Mission college, I was there for a year and a half and it was some of the most fun I had. I saw the school and I started wondering what kind of people I would meet here? I was getting better at meeting people and introducing myself to others. When I sit down somewhere or I go to a function I know where I want to sit and I give myself a bit of time to observe the situation that is ahead of me. This is something I was getting myself acquainted during these down times as I started meeting and working with others to better myself. My personality started coming out and from this I learned some great things. 2011 was a great year and some of this is documented in my project 365 which is something I look back on to remind me of all the fun and weird times. 2012 was a different and complete 365 due to some even stranger people I met. Let’s just say that it was from this year that I finally accomplished a few goals and I made a 180 on a stance I had.

2012- Being optimistic but cautious brings about a smart and creative thinker

The first thing I learned about 2012 was that you’ll never fail unless you really try. The months of January-May was filled with self doubt and optimism. The first reason I say this is because at work I started having fun and most of self doubt was gone. Most people at my job seem down most of the time and I started taking on the role of vanguard. This was because I hated seeing people down in the dumps about the job I had to do but I kept reminding them that they were getting paid for this. I started by inquiring about people’s lives rather than talking all the time about myself. Those first few months had me thinking that challenges were mounting because at first when I took Algebra at 8 in the morning I wouldn’t be able to do it. But, most of the time when I was taking it I started asking myself how bad did I want it? How bad did I want to graduate from college in a degree in Psychology? I would ask a good friend in that class about some of his study habits and we would share about some of the issues we had with the material. The professor was helpful if you asked and that’s what I most enjoyed when she would teach. She wasn’t great but I believe she actually did care about the class she was teaching. The key in this case was trying because I would try hard in the class and I believed my professor saw this as she would give me some compliments on my problems that I did on my homework and quizzes. It was some of the most challenging material I have had to grasp in my life and I wasn’t afraid because if I failed I knew I at least tried. I would do horrible on some of the quizzes/tests but on some of them I would do great as some material was easier to grasp. I ended up taking a less than favorable grade into the final and I knew that if I wanted to get past this I needed to pull an all nighter. The day of May 20th-May 21st is a day that will go down in infamy as it was the longest night of my life that lasted until 5 in the morning. I looked at everything and realized that I wanted this badly and I started getting it as test time was approaching. Once I sat down, I knew the material and what was even better was that she gave us the choice of choosing the problems we wanted to do on the test. I ended up doing better in the class than I had anticipated and I got a C which was good enough to move onto Stats (more on this fun and strange situation later). The other two classes (Psychobio and weight training) were both great to learn a little more about our functions of the body and in one of them I ended up meeting two very cool classmates that worked in there just as hard as I did. The class was weight training combined with cross training but I learned so much about what a true workout really is. I didn’t think about this until now but taking that class made me a much more enthusiast for exercise. It doesn’t matter how in shape or out of shape a person may be but what matters is that you try your hardest to give all the effort you can. Psychobio was simple and easy because it was online and all we really needed to do was three exams, a question every week, and a paper. This class was one of the classes I needed to transfer and it was much simpler than I would have thought. I was a little afraid because Mission was so close yet so far away at 8 in the morning. It was a whole new school but I did meet some great people in that first semester. I ended up making a good friend in Algebra that helped me a little bit when I had a question and vice-a- versa. What motivated me towards the end of the semester was a good friend that I met at work which I have documented in an earlier blog post about and I have to say it was so fun hanging out with her as I learned how to live life again. We would do all sorts of fun stuff together like eat out together, watch a few movies together, and share a few laughs at work. I figured that I needed to do well in my classes of doing well in my classes for her because I didn’t want to look defeated in her eyes. I learned from this whole experience that friendships can only take you far and sometimes our emotions get the best of us. I would write more about her but the past that her and I had is something I’ve already let out enough about here and it was a very small period in my life that lasted  8 months. Anyway, in the summer was the first time that I happened to take classes and one I did well in and the other was just a blurb. Human Biology was the first of classes that I realized that not everything is easy as they say it’s going to be. So, what do you do? You find a group of people and you form a kick ass group. I happened to get lucky with mine because I saw the middle table where I picked to sit and I said this looks right. It was a group of girls and I was little intimated at first but I said maybe they’ll help me with my fear of talking to girls consistently? As the semester wore on, our group got smaller and bigger as it became clear that this class was not cut out for everyone. I was lingering on the border of a B and a high C for the longest time in  the class and so were both of my group mates that remained in my group. This taught me that if you want to perform well in a summer class (or any class for that matter) you have to find the right people to get into your circle and integrate them with a system that you all find fitting. For example, if we wanted to do well in our class we had to study in the morning and in the afternoon together because if we all studied we knew what we were talking about. I ended up getting a B in that class with the help of my group mates and a little bit of handy writing on a term paper that took me 5 days to write (and it wasn’t easy material). On the other hand, my basket was full with doing Stats almost every day this time last year and I was completely lost because of the online class portion. I didn’t know what certain symbols in stats meant and this hindered me for most of the session because I really didn’t know where to go to ask for help. In those 6 weeks, I did horribly on the quizzes and the tests and I ended up failing the class. I gave it a try but what was most important was that I tried and I got some experience under my belt. But, a great opportunity arose with the integration of a fall class that was hybrid and it met once a week and it happened to be on my day off. I was stoked to have this opportunity once again and the good thing was that this was the only class I needed to transfer to a university and it was 16 weeks instead of 6. I ended up grasping the material much better this time due to timing, studying, not stressing about other classes, and getting plenty of rest along with the homework, tests, and quizzes. The best part was that everyone was helping each other out in the online portion and the professor was more than willing to help out anyone that had questions. In this class, I ended up with a much better grade of a B and because of my confidence in my ability to finish this class I ended up applying to two universities. One I got into (San Jose State) and the other was only taking AA-T degrees so I think I ended up making a good choice. I started realizing that my journey at community college was surely coming to an end. All the tests, presentations, quizzes, homework, and papers written had been worth it as I had a clear variety of skills. I didn’t slack off in the dire time when I had little reason to take these classes but I just wanted to learn. It didn’t matter if it was a speech requirement that I had already fulfilled, I just wanted to see the other side of what this field was like. I took so many classes that life became fun. I believe that is what life is about as I stated in the title that you have to be optimistic but cautious because you never know what may hit you. It could be personal, you may have to take a journey that takes you somewhere into the unknown, or you may just be looking for answers. Being a smart and creative thinker can also add fruits to life because when a bad situation arises you identify what you need to do and realize that there are solutions to almost every problem. I have come to know who I am these last ten years because I went through so much, personally and professionally. It doesn’t matter if it was good or bad. What mattered is that you saw what came and you took care of what needed to be done in your life at that point in time. Hopefully in 2023, I’ll be writing a blog on the years of 2013-2022 and just maybe I’ll be married, with kids, and a great job but until then here’s a bit of 2013 has brought me (a list to look back on in 2023)

2013- Only expect the best possible effort from yourself

  • Another strange disease (keratoconus)
  • An awkward friend
  • More stimulating conversations with baseball fans and others
  • The Oakland A’s proved that 2012 wasn’t a fluke
  • This time around I’m on my way to a university to get my bachelor’s degree
  • Long walks to Mountain View and Los Gatos
  • More time=longer workouts
  • Helping out more than usual at my house
  • Becoming a little more helpful to others
  • Knowing how I became who I am

Day #122 10/9/11: Victory 2011…

Posted on by anele25

I woke up and realized that the I had woken up late for the Raider game but I saw once I had woken up the game wasn’t that far in progress and the game was 10 minutes in (Personal funny author’s note: What’s up with a quarter of football taking so long anyway?). I was happy that they were  struggling and fighting the whole game as they must have wanted to win one for the legendary Al Davis who had just passed . The game was good through quarters 1-4 and I was so excited for the fact that they did it on all three sides of the ball whether it was defense, offense, and special teams. In the end, the Raiders came back from a 14-12 halftime deficit and they marked this one as a classic and a real fun game for all. Today was also my dad’s birthday so I chatted with him for a bit about what he wanted and I usually just buy him a CD and boy did I find him a good one. Nothing much else to the day except for that at work there were some funny incidents that happened that had me wondering otherwise.