Two years ago today, I boarded a plane for London, the first stop on my Oxford study abroad trip. An adventure that would span ten weeks, nine countries and provide me with an array of amazing memories. I met some tremendously interesting and entertaining people, some of whom I am fortunate enough to still be in contact with today. To borrow the words of a fellow classmate, this was a trip that changed my life forever.
But how did I get here?
After spending several years attending Irvine Valley College with little consistency, I made the decision to pursue school seriously in 2008. Easing back in to the college life, I took only two classes in the Spring of '08. However, I quickly realized that if I wanted to make up for lost time, I needed to enroll in full time coursework. Frustrated by a lack of quality English teachers at Irvine Valley College and searching for alternative science classes to Biology, I enrolled concurrently at Saddleback College in the Fall of 2008. Though I knew I wanted to take a full schedule of classes, I was unsure about my working life at the time and was only able to officially register for one class. To add the other four classes, I needed to go to each class and petition for admission. I found an English professor that was highly rated online and hoped to get into that class, my first at Saddleback. Our professor informed the class that she would only be able to add four people and there were eight people hoping to enroll in the class. Each student was instructed to pick a number from a hat and only the lowest numbers would be added. To my surprise, the first four people drew the four highest numbers and were not admitted to the class. I was fortunate to be admitted without having to draw. My luck would continue as I was easily able to enroll in Anthropology and its lab as well as Economics. On a walk through campus, I came across a sign that read: "Oxford Study Abroad." On a whim, I decided to email the professor running the program for more information. She invited me to an information session where she explained the different aspects of the program. Immediately I was sold. I knew I wanted to take this trip, I just needed to figure out how I was going to make it work.
Shortly thereafter I reached out to friends and family for support. My boss was generous enough to provide me with one of the letters of recommendation needed for the trip and my best friend co-signed for my loan. By the time Spring rolled around, I could barely contain my enthusiasm. The eight weeks of classes flew by and before I knew it, I was packing for the trip. Prior to departure, I met with many of my fellow travelers and we planned a trip to Dublin. I was thrilled to meet others who were as genuinely as excited as I was and looking to experience as much of Europe as possible.
On the day of the trip, I was dropped off at LAX, prepared to embark on what has been my longest solo flight to date. I had only been out of the country once and I was eleven at the time. So much had changed in those fifteen years, but I was ready for whatever lay ahead. Although I have always been a person who thrives amongst his friends, I was finally doing something alone, a big something and I couldn't be more excited. There were no expectations, no ideas for what the next ten weeks had in store for me, but that didn't matter...it was all about the journey.
And now...
Almost daily I find myself reminiscing about the trip, from magazines I read to the classes I take, it seems like there's something that is always bringing me back to Oxford. And even though I know it would never be the same, I wish that we could go back and experience it all over again. My classmate was right, this trip certainly changed my life, so much so that I'm strongly considering the prospect of moving to London after graduation in 2012.
Cheers Oxford, I'll see you in 2012!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Smell of Christmas
I've always found it fascinating the way our minds can tie certain smells and sights into particular memories. Even instances in which we can't recall the entire memory, our minds still take us back to that time and in many cases, we remember it fondly. One of the most prominent smells that my mind coincides with a particular memory is that of Christmas.
Several days ago, I was on a walk with my dog Angel in the evening. While it's true we don't have too many "winter" qualities in Southern California, it does get fairly chilly in the evenings and on occasion families will have a fire burning. I've never been sure if there is a particular firewood that gives off the smell I associate with Christmas, but it is very distinct. During the walk, as the smell wafted through my nose, I was immediately transported back to my grandparent's house in Pasadena. For Christmas, my small, but close-knit family would come together with grandma and grandpa and celebrate with food and gifts. Presents under the little fake Christmas tree, cookies and milk at the table waiting for Santa to arrive marked just a few of the memories that popped into my head. I can remember as if it were yesterday, walking through the Pasadena neighborhood with distinct smell of fireplaces burning and thinking, "this is Christmas".
More than anything, I suppose, it's the association of sights and smells with good times. The smell of pumpkin pie brings me back to Thanksgiving and helping my grandma make pies from scratch. A candy apple, reminds me of Halloween, when my friend went back to the same house twice, in different baseball jerseys to get additional apples. Or the roar of an engine and the looks my grandpa and I used to get pulling up alongside another car in his Ferrari converted from a Datsun. Good smells, good memories, good times.
Several days ago, I was on a walk with my dog Angel in the evening. While it's true we don't have too many "winter" qualities in Southern California, it does get fairly chilly in the evenings and on occasion families will have a fire burning. I've never been sure if there is a particular firewood that gives off the smell I associate with Christmas, but it is very distinct. During the walk, as the smell wafted through my nose, I was immediately transported back to my grandparent's house in Pasadena. For Christmas, my small, but close-knit family would come together with grandma and grandpa and celebrate with food and gifts. Presents under the little fake Christmas tree, cookies and milk at the table waiting for Santa to arrive marked just a few of the memories that popped into my head. I can remember as if it were yesterday, walking through the Pasadena neighborhood with distinct smell of fireplaces burning and thinking, "this is Christmas".
More than anything, I suppose, it's the association of sights and smells with good times. The smell of pumpkin pie brings me back to Thanksgiving and helping my grandma make pies from scratch. A candy apple, reminds me of Halloween, when my friend went back to the same house twice, in different baseball jerseys to get additional apples. Or the roar of an engine and the looks my grandpa and I used to get pulling up alongside another car in his Ferrari converted from a Datsun. Good smells, good memories, good times.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Goals For 2011
I decided to put together a list of goals and accomplishments I hope to achieve over the course of the New Year. Some are easy and require little effort, while others are of a more challenging nature. I look forward to crossing them all out by the end of the year. Here's to a healthy, prosperous and awesome New Year!
- Continue weight training program; add muscle and cut fat.
- Cook more food, continue to eat healthy and minimize cheat meals.
- Run at least four, 5k races.
- Pass all classes while maintaining a GPA of 3.00 or higher.
- Get involved with at least one club, group or organization on campus.
- Attend campus events (i.e. sports, special events or other social functions)
- Determine a major focus and start thinking about possible career aspirations after graduation.
- Get a new cell phone.
- Date.
- Put any spare money aside for Europe 2012.
- Pay down debt in whatever way possible.
- Visit family at least twice.
The list seems short to me, so if more ideas come up, they will be added.
- Continue weight training program; add muscle and cut fat.
- Cook more food, continue to eat healthy and minimize cheat meals.
- Run at least four, 5k races.
- Pass all classes while maintaining a GPA of 3.00 or higher.
- Get involved with at least one club, group or organization on campus.
- Attend campus events (i.e. sports, special events or other social functions)
- Determine a major focus and start thinking about possible career aspirations after graduation.
- Get a new cell phone.
- Date.
- Put any spare money aside for Europe 2012.
- Pay down debt in whatever way possible.
- Visit family at least twice.
The list seems short to me, so if more ideas come up, they will be added.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
A New Direction
This fall, I transfered to UC Irvine as a history major. After spending what felt like an eternity in the community college system, I felt excited about taking on a new challenge at the next level. For a variety of different reasons however, I wasn't entirely prepared for transition from the semester system of a community college (16 weeks) to the quarter system of a UC (10 weeks). It seems as though they should have classes about transferring to a 4 year university that are mandatory instead of just being optional.
My first quarter hit me hard. I didn't take the time to entirely understand what was required of my major going in. All I wanted to do was get out of community college and finish the two years required for my bachelor's degree. But I hit a major roadblock as I was enrolling in my first classes. That roadblock of course, was the school's foreign language requirement, and in my case that meant Spanish. While I was working my way through community college, I was under the impression that all I needed was one foreign language course to satisfy the requirements of my new institution. (Looking back, I definitely should have clarified the requirements in advance) Needless to say I was shocked when UCI informed me that I needed to complete an additional 5 quarters (6 quarters is what's needed to graduate) of language. I had gotten through Spanish 1 with ease, but hadn't absorbed much in the process. Faced with the tall task of completing 5 quarters of foreign language, I enrolled in Spanish 1B, hoping I remembered enough of Spanish 1 to get me through. (Spanish 1 at the community college is equivalent to Spanish 1A at the UC). Sadly, I struggled from the outset. Between working 3-4 days a week, reading a great deal for my history courses and the rigors of learning a language, I realized a change was needed. I felt as though language just wasn't for me and I was beginning to realize that I didn't have a direction with my major either.
...A little background on why I chose to become a history major in the first place...
I had spent 6 years at community college and realized that it was time to start taking my education seriously. Having been undeclared for my entire college career thus far, I knew it was time to pick a major so that I could follow a path to transferring. History was the only class I had enjoyed and let's face it...I really loved historically fictional movies. This, I thought, was a no brainer. What I didn't know, was what I intended to use the major for after graduation. (The most common question I have been asked, "So, do you want to be a teacher?" My response, "I don't know.")
Flash back to about week 6 of the fall quarter at UCI. I realized that language just wasn't going to work for me. As I would read my Spanish book I kept thinking, "this looks so foreign to me!" (which of course, it is!). It's as though my brain just didn't want to cooperate. I had toyed with the idea of changing my major to political science since the first week of the quarter. I had actually met a student in one of my history classes who was also struggling with the language requirement and thinking about changing his major to political science as well. After several failed attempts at meeting with a counselor in the Social Sciences department, I finally secured a walk-in appointment. I explained my situation to the counselor and my desire to transfer to the political science major. My counselor quickly outlined the requirements for the political science major, reminded me that I was only 3 upper division classes away from a history minor and informed me that I would need 1 year of math, but no language to complete my degree. This was music to my ears (even though there was math involved, I found it to be the lesser of two evils). Having already switched to the grading option, "pass/no pass" during the second week of the quarter, I realized that I no longer needed to stress about passing Spanish and could now focus on doing well in my history courses. Two days later, I met with my Spanish professor and informed him I would not be returning to class and would be focusing on the remaining classes I needed to complete. (He was already aware of my situation and was understanding)
Sitting in the counselor's office, I felt as though things were starting to make sense. Something felt right, more focused about this decision to change my major. Coming in as a history major, I had no idea what path I wanted to take, or what avenues I could explore with it. I know that I've said that I was excited in the past, but now I feel as though I believe it even more. For the winter quarter I'm taking an introductory course on Law. I'm looking forward to taking a course on International Relations in the Spring. (Something I think could compliment my love for travel) The pieces to the puzzle may not yet be complete, but I'm happy with this new direction and I look forward to where it takes me.
My first quarter hit me hard. I didn't take the time to entirely understand what was required of my major going in. All I wanted to do was get out of community college and finish the two years required for my bachelor's degree. But I hit a major roadblock as I was enrolling in my first classes. That roadblock of course, was the school's foreign language requirement, and in my case that meant Spanish. While I was working my way through community college, I was under the impression that all I needed was one foreign language course to satisfy the requirements of my new institution. (Looking back, I definitely should have clarified the requirements in advance) Needless to say I was shocked when UCI informed me that I needed to complete an additional 5 quarters (6 quarters is what's needed to graduate) of language. I had gotten through Spanish 1 with ease, but hadn't absorbed much in the process. Faced with the tall task of completing 5 quarters of foreign language, I enrolled in Spanish 1B, hoping I remembered enough of Spanish 1 to get me through. (Spanish 1 at the community college is equivalent to Spanish 1A at the UC). Sadly, I struggled from the outset. Between working 3-4 days a week, reading a great deal for my history courses and the rigors of learning a language, I realized a change was needed. I felt as though language just wasn't for me and I was beginning to realize that I didn't have a direction with my major either.
...A little background on why I chose to become a history major in the first place...
I had spent 6 years at community college and realized that it was time to start taking my education seriously. Having been undeclared for my entire college career thus far, I knew it was time to pick a major so that I could follow a path to transferring. History was the only class I had enjoyed and let's face it...I really loved historically fictional movies. This, I thought, was a no brainer. What I didn't know, was what I intended to use the major for after graduation. (The most common question I have been asked, "So, do you want to be a teacher?" My response, "I don't know.")
Flash back to about week 6 of the fall quarter at UCI. I realized that language just wasn't going to work for me. As I would read my Spanish book I kept thinking, "this looks so foreign to me!" (which of course, it is!). It's as though my brain just didn't want to cooperate. I had toyed with the idea of changing my major to political science since the first week of the quarter. I had actually met a student in one of my history classes who was also struggling with the language requirement and thinking about changing his major to political science as well. After several failed attempts at meeting with a counselor in the Social Sciences department, I finally secured a walk-in appointment. I explained my situation to the counselor and my desire to transfer to the political science major. My counselor quickly outlined the requirements for the political science major, reminded me that I was only 3 upper division classes away from a history minor and informed me that I would need 1 year of math, but no language to complete my degree. This was music to my ears (even though there was math involved, I found it to be the lesser of two evils). Having already switched to the grading option, "pass/no pass" during the second week of the quarter, I realized that I no longer needed to stress about passing Spanish and could now focus on doing well in my history courses. Two days later, I met with my Spanish professor and informed him I would not be returning to class and would be focusing on the remaining classes I needed to complete. (He was already aware of my situation and was understanding)
Sitting in the counselor's office, I felt as though things were starting to make sense. Something felt right, more focused about this decision to change my major. Coming in as a history major, I had no idea what path I wanted to take, or what avenues I could explore with it. I know that I've said that I was excited in the past, but now I feel as though I believe it even more. For the winter quarter I'm taking an introductory course on Law. I'm looking forward to taking a course on International Relations in the Spring. (Something I think could compliment my love for travel) The pieces to the puzzle may not yet be complete, but I'm happy with this new direction and I look forward to where it takes me.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Did you ever?
Did you ever have a dream that didn't come true?
Did you ever think you would be somewhere else in your life then where you are now?
That's where I am now. I know that sometimes I get in these so called "ruts" and I dig myself out and move on. But, even though I hate harping on the same things over and over again, it's reality. I'm 27, I live at home, I make minimum wage most nights, I've been single for three years running and I won't even get into some of the negative aspects that go along with that. My excitement over going to UCI and getting my education has been severely dampened this, my first quarter. I'm terrible at Spanish, lost in Monsters and Borders and loving Colonial America. The more troubling aspect is not the lack of understanding certain classes, but the fact that I'm seriously disappointed in my effort level this quarter. I'll admit, the transition has been a tough one (see my previous blog entry) but part of me still acts like this is community college. You know, where you can ease into the sixteen week semester, skip reading assignments and still get A's on everything. I feel about as smart as I did in high school now. Everything about this quarter feels like community college. I go to school, I go home. I don't have the time to get involved in school activities or they seem to fall on days where I have to work. In fact the only thing not like community college at this point are my grades. I was so proud of the fact that I hadn't skipped out on any classes for two solid years, while I worked to get myself up and out of the hole I had dug myself into when I began community college. Now, this quarter, I've thrown it all away. I've missed classes, recently due to illness (which I hate) and also because I'm just so frustrated with everything.
Most people have a plan, right? They have a general idea (salute) of what they want to do with their lives. And even if they don't, they fake it and do something productive to pass the time and pay the bills. I remember in high school, people always assured me that I was young and that I had plenty of time to figure out what I was going to make of my life. Granted, I'm not old by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm also not a young kid anymore. I have to figure this out now and look at the bigger picture. I can't make minimum wage for the rest of my life or I will never reach any of the goals or dreams that I had when I was a little kid. The other day, a friend pointed out to me, as we discussed where are lives were currently at, "welcome to life, it's not always where you thought it might be". I guess that's the adventure...figuring out what you can do as an individual to get yourself to where you want to be.
Maybe I'll never be famous (some might argue, I'm more likely to be infamous, thanks friends). In sixth grade, I wanted to be an NBA player. Then reality set in. I'm a shade under six feet tall, Caucasian and not very skilled. Time to form a new plan. Time to actually put the work in to get where I want to be. I had this crazy idea that I could watch as much TV as I wanted, continue to do things the same way I always did and I would magically be able to succeed in school and life. Funny thing is, that's not working. Things aren't going to get accomplished for me, are they? I know that I can't be a hermit crab like one of my friends and completely seclude myself for two years and drop off the grid. But I also know I can't continue going the way I'm going. It's simply not going to work. I'm the only one who can change my outcome and win, lose or draw, it's about time I start trying.
Did you ever think you would be somewhere else in your life then where you are now?
That's where I am now. I know that sometimes I get in these so called "ruts" and I dig myself out and move on. But, even though I hate harping on the same things over and over again, it's reality. I'm 27, I live at home, I make minimum wage most nights, I've been single for three years running and I won't even get into some of the negative aspects that go along with that. My excitement over going to UCI and getting my education has been severely dampened this, my first quarter. I'm terrible at Spanish, lost in Monsters and Borders and loving Colonial America. The more troubling aspect is not the lack of understanding certain classes, but the fact that I'm seriously disappointed in my effort level this quarter. I'll admit, the transition has been a tough one (see my previous blog entry) but part of me still acts like this is community college. You know, where you can ease into the sixteen week semester, skip reading assignments and still get A's on everything. I feel about as smart as I did in high school now. Everything about this quarter feels like community college. I go to school, I go home. I don't have the time to get involved in school activities or they seem to fall on days where I have to work. In fact the only thing not like community college at this point are my grades. I was so proud of the fact that I hadn't skipped out on any classes for two solid years, while I worked to get myself up and out of the hole I had dug myself into when I began community college. Now, this quarter, I've thrown it all away. I've missed classes, recently due to illness (which I hate) and also because I'm just so frustrated with everything.
Most people have a plan, right? They have a general idea (salute) of what they want to do with their lives. And even if they don't, they fake it and do something productive to pass the time and pay the bills. I remember in high school, people always assured me that I was young and that I had plenty of time to figure out what I was going to make of my life. Granted, I'm not old by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm also not a young kid anymore. I have to figure this out now and look at the bigger picture. I can't make minimum wage for the rest of my life or I will never reach any of the goals or dreams that I had when I was a little kid. The other day, a friend pointed out to me, as we discussed where are lives were currently at, "welcome to life, it's not always where you thought it might be". I guess that's the adventure...figuring out what you can do as an individual to get yourself to where you want to be.
Maybe I'll never be famous (some might argue, I'm more likely to be infamous, thanks friends). In sixth grade, I wanted to be an NBA player. Then reality set in. I'm a shade under six feet tall, Caucasian and not very skilled. Time to form a new plan. Time to actually put the work in to get where I want to be. I had this crazy idea that I could watch as much TV as I wanted, continue to do things the same way I always did and I would magically be able to succeed in school and life. Funny thing is, that's not working. Things aren't going to get accomplished for me, are they? I know that I can't be a hermit crab like one of my friends and completely seclude myself for two years and drop off the grid. But I also know I can't continue going the way I'm going. It's simply not going to work. I'm the only one who can change my outcome and win, lose or draw, it's about time I start trying.
Happy 11th Birthday Angel
When I brought you home eleven years ago I'll admit that I thought you loved Sonja more than me. And aside from me, you've spent the majority of your life surrounded by three women. You were calm and quiet at the pet store and I was convinced that you were the mellow one compared to that rambunctious golden retriever. In the beginning, I was just a teenager that wanted a dog, but didn't understand the responsibility that went into having one. Yet, you were always a great dog and it's my fault you were never trained to maximize your full Labrador potential. But you've never ceased to be awesome after all these years and you've continuously stayed energetic even after a few scary moments with the seizures. I love you very much and I hope that these last several years I've done a better job as an owner to you. Happy Birthday Angel, let's go for a walk!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Frustrations
I'll admit, I never assumed that the move from junior college to the university was going to be an easy one. Yet, I think I was equally unprepared for what I've encountered so far. At this point, I'm 5 weeks in to the quarter (just over halfway through) and here's where I stand: floundering completely in one class, treading water in another and doing reasonably well in the final class (pending a midterm exam next week). Now, I know that a great deal of the challenges I'm experiencing tie in to my love for other things more than I love school. And I hate being in this position, even if it is self induced. I hate failing or not doing my best in any situation. But after the past the past two years at junior college, I stopped looking at myself as a person who just wasn't the right fit for school and started believing that I was capable of success. Five weeks into the quarter here and I almost feel as though I've completed a 180. I'm struggling with a foreign language and even with a history class that feels like it's being taught in another language. Is it just the case of a rough semester and a rough transition period? Am I in over my head? Or can I adjust and pull another rabbit out of the hat in the next four weeks? I guess it all remains to be seen.
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