Tag: Test

Writing Prompt #18: What Date do you have circled on your calendar? That is, what upcoming date or event are you looking forward to?

Posted on by anele25

As the day of Sunday February 3rd marches on, it is a rainy day here in Northern California and people (including myself) are getting to watch the national holiday that is known as Super bowl Sunday. Yes, it should be a good game and people all around the country will be intrigued by what happens with the Patriots Vs. Rams. We have Brady Vs. Goff, Belichick Vs. McVay, and Gurley and Anderson Vs. a whole Patriots front that is unspectacular in a sense but will get the job done in some way. Just to get this out of the way, my prediction is 34-31 Rams in a close matchup that will feature twists and turns throughout and any super bowl that involves a super team vs. super team matchup will involve plenty of drama. I love football and that is one thing that I enjoy watching in my down time. However, after Football is over, we get a little down time for the major sports (not for myself because Hockey is also one of my favorite sports and is always intriguing especially down the stretch). Two things that I have circled on my calendar during this time of February is I have a baile coming up with my girlfriend IB on the 9th of this month and another with my mom on the 16th of this month.

 

I do have to say for both of these bailes I’m excited because I get to see several of my favorite artists over a period of two weeks and with two of my favorite people in this world. At the first one on the 9th, myself and IB enjoy dancing and at this baile we have the following artists performing: El Fantasma, Voz de Mando, Banda Los Sebastianes, El Potro de Sinaloa, Virlan Garcia, and Kanales. This baile will be taking place at the San Jose Convention which has been host to a number of events over the years. This one I think has the chance to be fun because some of these artists I’m more familiar with than others and others I have heard are amazing in person. El Fantasma is an artist who sings songs about love and tragic ballads that gets our culture going at these bailes and it certainly makes for a good atmosphere. In fact, my aunt has told me in the past that he puts on a good show whenever he visits Texas. I also have seen Voz de Mando two times previously and they also put on good music for the crowd to dance to. As does El Fantasma, they also put on some good music about love and tragic ballads about life. As for the other artists on this list, I have heard one or two songs from each artist and I will be watching videos from them over the next week to get a feel for them and their style. I am writing this down here because I know we (referring to myself and IB) want to commit to this and that is we want to dance the whole night to the music. It will be our first baile of the year as we have not seen a show since we saw Pepe Aguilar in November and we have a plan to make this one unforgettable. Just to add a side note, before I met IB I wasn’t good at dancing and I feel I have improved with her during the time we have been together. I would bumble around and not know which way to go during some steps. But now that we have been together, I have learned a lot more and I hope to get some more dancing down in the coming years. At the second baile we have four more artists performing and that is Bronco, Cuisillos, Conjunto Primavera, and Raza Obrera. This second baile will be taking place at the San Jose Fairgrounds which is somewhere I haven’t been to for years.

 

These artists are rather the older guard of Mexicano Regional Music. I enjoy their music and this one my mom jumped on this opportunity because she is a big fan of Bronco (as am I) and my favorite Banda is Cuisillos so it is a win-win for both of us. I think for myself this will be a different experience because I’ll see what will happen when two different generations of music together. This second baile I feel has more a nostalgia feel with the bands playing with a sense of their biggest hits behind them but they have a huge following with their fans. I like Cuisillos and Bronco in particular because there styles are unique and innovative to their genre of music. When I first heard Bronco, it was music that we refer to as Grupera with a. mix of Norteno and growing up with I got to see the kind of atmosphere it would create at parties or get togethers. I would see people dancing to their music and even having a great time just talking amongst themselves with the music in the background. As opposed to Cuisillos, I first heard them in 2008 and immediately took a following to their music because they sang ballads but also cumbias which could fuel me up for the day that I had ahead. I’ve heard some of Conjunto Primavera’s songs but they are a little past their time and they have not had as much success as the other bands that are part of this spectacle.

 

As outlined above, these are two events I will be looking forward to because it is my first time looking ahead and getting to spend time with my girlfriend and my mom. Music, I believe has the ability to give folks a different vibe and even gives you the opportunity to gain a different outlook on life. I remember growing up with this music and it provides for good moments in my life. I’ll be looking forward to what comes next after these events as I’ll be putting together a video of these events over the next few weeks after the fact. Until then, take care everyone and always remember to stay positive! Oh and I’ve attached some flyers for the upcoming dates I have circled on my calendar.

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The Baile on February 16th 2019
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The Baile on February 9th 2019

 

Writing Prompts #15: Write about an event going in your life right now, but try to write about it in the past tense

Posted on by anele25

The idea of having to leave Stanford scared me a little bit because I said to myself how would I be able to find any other work. I got my notice on August 31st of 2018 and it did not come to as a shock to me. Dating back to September of 2017, I was told that I would be getting my time cut. I started applying to jobs left and right in March of 2018 and I had little luck at the beginning. I would get inquiries about certain jobs but the more I saw how the jobs themselves would work I would get hesitant at some of the positions. There was one day in June of 2018 where I spent most of my time just applying to jobs and I couldn’t get any hits. At times, I felt discouraged just because I felt betrayed and let down by this place that had been so kind to me throughout the three years that I was there. I started realizing as the time started getting closer that no job is going to come find me, I have to go find the job. I had two interviews with a recruiter in July of 2018 and then another in June of 2018. I had hope for both of the positions but neither panned out in the long run. I had lost most of my hope when one week I got a few calls from a few different people asking for interviews and I jumped on some of these opportunities.

 

One in particular that I thought would work out was the job I had heard about in Foster City which is a city near here. I also heard about a great opportunity closer to home which was a job as a community engagement representative for Western Dental. As the time to let me go started getting closer, I jumped on the opportunity to interview for the Western Dental position. I knew it would be something new for me and something that I wasn’t used to. Essentially, without getting too technical, it was a sales position but on a lower scale level where we would have to make appointments for potential patients. I heard about it from a colleague of mine who had referred me to the position. I interviewed that next day and during the process of the interview, I was a bit nervous because I didn’t know what would be thrown at me. Little did I know, the interviewers themselves were probably in the same position as I was a few months beforehand. The department itself was new and it would be a while before I actually knew what I was doing. In essence, my biggest problem from transitioning from one position to another was knowing that I wouldn’t be there in my former position to oversee the whole process of the study after. There were reports, tables, flow charts, and modules that would have to be created in order for the numbers to look as good as they were. Little did I know that after accepting the position at Western Dental, that the problem of not knowing was out of my hands and into the hands of people that made more money than I did. I also didn’t think about the repercussions this would have for my social life. I wouldn’t see my friends that I had made there and I look back at that time and I’m very happy to know that once you leave a work place you really find out who the real friends are. They reach out to you or you reach out to them and they reciprocate right back. One of the few problems that I had towards the end was when I taking down my things and I cleaned up my cubicle and I started shedding some tears. Sometimes, I know that things are out of my control and when that happens I do tend to get emotional. I saw this opportunity and I started working and Stanford was in the back of my mind. As the days went on and the date for my exit interview approached, I started feeling a bit more relaxed and started realizing that eventually everything works itself out. I need not worry about some reports that wouldn’t have any real bearing on my career. Did I make those reports? Yes I did and I put some hard work into it.

 

A long time ago, a colleague of mine told me that if you try your hardest and you put effort into it, you will see the results of what hard work is. I had the backing of most of my friends and family and also my colleagues that supported through that part of my life and I saw how much they supported me. I was also able to realize that the job you do in this life is reflective of how much people will vouch for you. I said to myself also that the person that referred me to the position I would be grateful towards him and that is one thing 2018 taught me was how to be grateful for the little things in life. We in the Latino community don’t have the most nor do we claim to. But, what we do have is pride and the word of who we are. Looking back, that hasn’t changed and I am glad that things worked out the way they did. I took the opportunity to take what was out of my hands (in this case being laid off) and I made the best out of it. I continued my work at Western Dental and the story there is still to be told as I will detail it more with due time. I had my exit interview and I had the best experiences at Stanford. I realized I couldn’t have done anything other than what was asked of me. I went and I found my numbers and with much luck was able to see that the work that you do is a reflection of how much effort I was able to put in.

Writing prompts #8: Write about one of your most embarrassing moments:

Posted on by anele25

On my 29 years on this earth, I can’t think of many things which stand out more than embarrassing moments. I can say that I have had a few embarrassing moments throughout my life. For example, when I think of this I can harken back to when I had a little accident in elementary school. There is another incident which I will point out in the 2nd half of this blog but this one I wanted to share first. It was Mrs. Sunderland’s 1st grade class and I clearly remember this moment. It was just like any other day where we gathered around and we were hearing our lessons on reading and writing. I then all of a sudden to go to the bathroom. As a little kid, the feeling of embarrassment was new to me and I felt almost a scared feeling because I don’t think up that point I had ever asked to go to the bathroom during a lesson. I got up during the lesson and before I had known it I had literally crapped my pants. They took me to the nurse’s offices and I couldn’t control my diarrhea that day. I remember sitting in the bathroom in the nurse’s office and feeling ashamed. I didn’t know whether my classmates would think any differently of me. One of my friends who I still talk to this day remembers the incident and always eggs me about it. In a way, I felt the incident was good for me because getting embarrassed is a part of a life where you can laugh a little at yourself. Looking back, I was a kid and I didn’t know what that feeling was like yet and I felt as if the world was judging me. They were judging me because I was not accustomed to these feelings of shame and I did not know that idea of fear inside of me. I sat there for a few minutes until my uncle’s wife came and had to tend to me until I could gather my thoughts inside. I also had some toilet paper that was hanging from my side as I once again could not believe that this had happened to me. I was wondering at that time about what were my classmates up to and little did I know they were doing something much different than I would have imagined. I had imagined they were inside of the classroom learning some math or what have you.

 

Anyway, I sat there for a few more minutes until I could walk away for a little. I walked out and saw my uncle’s wife wearing her purple McDonald’s shirt and I just thought what just happened. I was sitting inside the classroom and all of a sudden I could not control what was inside of me. I walked outside and there were my classmates playing recess and I was sitting there wondering there what was happening. Thus ended one of my most embarrassing moments of my childhood. I want to touch upon one of my 2nd most embarrassing moments which was when I fell during a dance with my mom almost 15 years ago. I was not the most experienced of dancers and I remember dancing and almost falling which has to rank amongst one of my most embarrassing moments. Embarrassment isn’t always bad because it allows you to grow and see what else is ahead in life. I leave everyone with this, don’t be embarrassed that these moments be happy because you were able to grow and learn from these experiences. Till next time everyone.

300 Writing Prompts: What was the first thing you ever saved up your money to purchase?

Posted on by anele25
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My TA Challenger (aka Dino)!

Per my last blog, I want to write about topic number 2 from 300 writing prompts. This time the topic is something that has been on my mind the past few days which is “what is the first thing you ever saved up your money for”? People save up for little things such as books, toy cars, toys, and crafting materials. In my case, I want to talk about my first ever big purchase that I have made. I have never had the inkling to say “I’m going to save my money to buy X item…” and I think still to this day that I am not that type of person. I do however have the inkling to say that I would save up money to buy two things: a car and a house. A car is needed for going to and from a location and I said to myself this is my dream car. The house is something I would love to own one day and like I tell myself sometimes it is a process. I also said to myself it would be really nice to have something I would be proud to call my own. I saved up my money almost a year ago and purchased (almost a year ago actually) a new Dodge Challenger.

A few months before the actual purchase, I started going over in my head what I needed to do to purchase my car. I said I needed to get rid of certain expenses such as cutting out eating out so much and only focus on saving up money for that final end goal. I also said in order to do this I needed to look at what I was spending my money on. Like any young adult, I usually pay for internet, rent, streaming services, gas, and food. I decided the two most important were gas and food. The gas was simple because of how much gas my car would guzzle throughout the week. I also figured that not eating out as much saved me so much money. As I went along in my process, I started thinking I really want this car because of how cool and niche the product was. As the months started progressing, I started seeing that I was getting close to my original goal of putting down a 7,000 dollar down payment. However, as I was getting close to my goal I realized that something was off. I had a weird feeling the weekend of March 5th as my brother asked me if he could borrow my older Toyota Corolla. I remember him, his wife, and his 3 kids were hauling off in my car as he needed it the next morning to go to work. I clearly remember walking towards Lowe’s as my brother called me and said he was sorry. I started thinking in my head what could have happened? He said he had crashed the car and he wasn’t sure what had happened. The first thing I asked him if he was ok and that’s all I cared about. Once again, he apologized and I said well time to get a new car. I saw what my account looked like and it was enough to cover the down payment (at least for what I wanted). As I started looking through the cars on the Dodge website from Fremont, I said I really wanted a car that will stand out. I remember driving a Yellow Mustang, in Florida and I said let’s go for Yellow. I also enjoy Yellow because it is the color of my favorite Baseball team the Oakland A’s and the color of some of the coolest things is Yellow (bees, leaves, zucchini, flowers, etc.). I saw it and headed down two weeks after to check it out with my family because I knew I wanted them there for that experiences .

I was determined to pick out this car and there were several other options. I also enjoyed this basic model they had of the challenger which was green and SXT but the one I wanted was a Challenger TA which was one of those special edition Challengers. After taking a few test drives, I realized this was the car that I wanted to settle on. Besides the usual paperwork and the talk between all the payments, I started thinking in my head about how much cooler and nicer this car would add to my everyday life. I always wanted to roll around in a sports car and now my life would be this. After a while of thinking about this, I also pictured what my life would be like if I didn’t have this car. I guess in a way I wondered about how the more expensive luxuries in my life would be exempt for a few years. I remember the conclusion to this argument in my head was that this is something I wanted and I worked hard to get the car. I also thought about the times I heard about parents buying their kids cars and how my parents had never sacrificed that kind of money on cars that were given to me. I always find a way to tie this back to my parents but in a sort of humbling way I’m glad I didn’t grow up with a car in the family. We would ask our neighbors or family for rides. If we didn’t have this luxury, we would take the bus to local places. Those experiences of never having to be indebted to a car was something I was very thankful as I grew up and I’ll never forget all those times we rode the bus.

Anyway, the two cars that were given to me as hand me downs were so great that I never forget the moments, memories, and the times I had in those cars. I also won’t forget that those kind of cars made me humble and thankful for what I had in my life. The last thought in my head during the whole purchasing process was that sometimes it’s ok to give yourself a little treat for the blood, sweat, and tears that you had sacrificed. Once I drove off the lot, I said this is new and exciting for you and enjoy this opportunity now. For the last year, that car and myself have taken quite the journey. We have been to Salinas, Watsonville, San Jose, Fresno, and Oakland. I’ve also noted how nice it is not to have to worry about my car breaking down in the middle of the road. The lesson here for me is that saving your money is not the easiest thing to do in the world but if it means that much to you to save up and buy that nice thing you’ve been itching for I feel you should go for it and be patient. I know that now with myself this car (appropriately named Dino), that we will continue to wreck the mean streets of the Bay Area and we still have many more adventures to take throughout the bay area. Till next time to see what I write about on ‘300 writing prompts’.