Moving Forward

I discovered my passion for computers when I was locked up. I took a computer literacy class that taught me the computer basics. My curiosity started going towards something positive and I saw a future in technology. The more my teacher taught me, the more I wanted to learn. Until this day I don’t know what exactly attracted me into technology but I began to build a passion the more I got involved. When my freedom came I had my goals set. One of the hardest things I had to face was finding one opportunity. Getting into Year up was not an easy process but I was determined to face anything that came my way. My chances of getting into Year up were very slim, not only because I had to compete with more than 500 other applicants but there were also concerns about my record. It took a lot of sacrifice to make it happen but I was committed. Now that I am in Year Up my goals is to build a professional record and network. I’m currently developing as a young professional by taking Business Communications and Tech classes.  I am aware that my history limits my prospects but I’m a man that knows what he wants and there’s nothing that can stop me from trying to reach my goals.

View on Hunters Point

On Monday September 19, 2011 two young men fired shots at each other in front of the Torino Grocery Market on Third and Palou Avenue in San Francisco Ca. Both men missed each other, but a five year old girl was caught in the crossfire. The five year old girl was shot down in the knee while she and her dad were trying to get away from the shooting. Investigators are still looking at numerous surveillance footage from around the area. They found one security tape that is said to have shown the actual shooting. The girl's Father is very upset about the whole incident. The girl spent the night at the hospital; the results are that her injuries are not life-threatening. The reason I am writing about this article is because it really got to me, not only because I live around that area but also because a former neighbor of mine and her new born baby were there during the shooting. She lives right on that street and as soon as the shooting occurred she rushed inside her house with her baby. It upsets me when I hear about conflicts such as this one because it just reminds me that there are still selfish irresponsible people that walk the streets. Many don't understand why there's people that do inconsiderate things that lead to this kinds of situations but i can tell you that even most offenders don't understand because most of them are raised that way and for the most that's all they know. I share just as much guilt for associating and being partially raised that way but lucky for me I was raised in two different ways which later on gave me some understanding of both aspects. I am glad to know the girl survived. I believe everything that happens has its reasons whether it's a good one or bad one everybody in the community has been impacted in some way. If you are interested following up on the story here is the URL: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=8362992

Memoir of my High School Years

I started off attending Abraham Lincoln High School which is considered as one of San Francisco's top best schools for my freshman year. At the time, I was a little immature. I didn't care about my education and it seemed like the teachers felt the same way about me. It didn't make a difference whether I showed up or not but eventually I ended up getting into trouble that got me arrested and expelled from that school. I was sent to Balboa High School, which at the time was known for having a lot of "gangs". The only good memory I have from Balboa High School was my math class because the teacher had a lot of positive energy and was very supportive. I gained a lot of confidence in math because of that class. I was too distracted by other activities that had nothing to do with my education. The school budget was kind of low. I recall that at times there weren’t enough books to go around, for the ones that couldn't obtain a book they were given copies of the book pages. A year later they started moving out a couple students to continuation schools. They claimed the reason for moving me was because I was low on credits, in my opinion for them doing what they did is to "clean up" the school to gain a better image. I was placed on a continuation school called Downtown High School. Downtown High School had a bad reputation but for some reason I kind of liked it. I guess I liked it because the teachers I had were great, I saw their commitment to teaching. I liked the fact that even though the school was low on budget, they still took us to field trips and do outdoor activities. I had a writer’s workshop class; the teacher had us write poetry for our assignments. She enjoyed reading my poetry and she asked me if I can read it at a poetry event. She made me feel comfortable enough to say yes. It was an experience out of my comfort level because not only did I have to speak in front of my classmates, I also had to speak in front of other students from other schools and with a camera man recording. The day after I presented my poetry teacher told me that two other organizations were interested in me speaking at their events. I was being more productive in my education until something happen that I had to drop out of Downtown High School. I eventually ended up enrolling in a school called Five Keys Charter School. It was different from other schools because I only had to show up once a week and do weekly packet assignments. I was tired of people underestimating me to drop out or assuming that I'm just going to get a GED. A GED to me is like saying I give up. I decided to not settle for less and really focused on completing each packet, I even requested extra packets. I avoided any type of distractions because I kept my eyes on the prize. To this day, I still remember the great feeling of walking over the stage receiving my diploma and looking down on some of the faces that doubted me in the past.

The Diversity of Languages

The first language I ever spoke was Spanish because that's the only language my parents spoke. I remember when I first attended elementary. I didn't know any English and it was weird hearing everybody else talk English because I couldn't understand anything. I was placed in a bilingual class and I slowly started picking up the English language by watching and observing. By the time I went to middle school, I was able to communicate in English affectingly and that's when I started to notice most of my classmates spoke in a different way. The group of friends I grew up with started using a lot of slang and I had to keep up to be able to communicate with them. I started using words like "hella" "wussup" "kick it" "on everything" "that's hurt" "I put that" "fasho" etc. For a couple years, it remained that way and it got to the point where I felt like that's all I needed to know to get around. It wasn't until last year that I started to develop professionally. I participated on a job readiness program were they helped me develop my professional communication skills. Growing up using different types of idioms with different types of people has caused me to forget some Spanish where it gets a little hard to communicate even with my own mom. I can still understand when somebody speaks to me in Spanish but it gets difficult when it's my turn to speak. When I try to speak in Spanish sometimes I forget the word and have to substitute the missing word with an English word which ends up turning into a language I call Spanglish. Currently I feel like I’m living three different worlds because whenever I’m on a professional setting, I keep in mind that I have to speak in Standard English. When I’m with my friends I still have to keep up with the new slang's. When I’m with my mom, if I can't figure out the missing word or she can't understand the English word, I pull out the translator app on my phone. On the bright side by me talking to my mom in Spanglish, it has helped her to understand and adapt to a new language as well.