Best and Worst of Job History

My Best Job: My Best Job was when I was volunteering for my church Halloween party. We set it up and got to spook up a church, which was really ironic considering that church considers it to be a demon holiday. I didn't care, we bobbed for apples and gave out candy. We had costume contests with prizes and ordered pizza. I had a great time setting it up, and I enjoyed the party even more.

My Worst Job: When I think of terrible jobs I can't help but think of my ephemeral, yet really excruciating job as a Kirby salesman. For those that don't know, Kirby's are vacuum cleaners. But Kirby's aren't just any vacuum cleaners, they are THE vacuum cleaner. At $2500 per unit these things could clean your entire house. Everything from shampoo carpets, to cleaning chairs. What my job was to sell these things. Since it was a commission based job, if I didn't sell I didn't get paid. So I spent 12 hours a day riding in a van, knocking on doors, trying to convince people to to take this "Free Cleaning One Room" special "coupon" to allow me into their house to sell them the product. From a cognitive standpoint it made no sense. But since I was desperate for money, I fell right into the trap. I only made like $100 off my first sale. What? I spend 12 hours a day, 6 days a week getting door after door slammed in my face. Then when I get inside I have to focus on not just selling the product, but cleaning their house, just to sometimes leave empty handed like some kind of cheap maid. I quit after two weeks, I couldn't do that anymore. I felt like, in lack of a better word, a whore and I couldn't live with that. One thing I did learn though was to be persistent. Keep trying, keep pushing, because someone was going to let me into their house. Someone was going to give me that one shot I needed to do something.I can say Kirby cured me of my fear of rejection because rejection is a common occurrence in the Kirby business.

Obama v. GOP

In this article the GOP republican candidates discuss cuts in our military and what is considered OK in deporting illegal immigrants. On the military cuts Perry goes as far as saying, "If Leon Panetta (Obama's Pentagon chief) is an honorable man, he should resign in protest." This is a ridiculous claim. Considering the fact that our primary enemy (Osama Bin Laden) has been eradicated, as of now in times of economic peril we should be taking that money and investing it in the people, not in the people joining the military. Mitt Romney stated that these cuts can potentially save us 1 trillion dollars. Talk about feeding the pig, that is 1/15 of our national debt. Doesn't seem like much but it helps. These candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, seem like they are just trying to attack Obama rather than find actual solutions to our problems, while completely negating the fact that it was their people in Congress that has voted down almost every bill that Obama has proposed, making it extremely hard for him to change anything. I can respect the truth, that's why I like Ron Paul. To these other guys, it seems more like they are just trying to play the politics game and point fingers at Obama, rather than tell the truth and run on principle. Obama may be evil, but in politics, until someone changes things, you settle for the lesser of the two. In this case that is Obama.

Inspiration

My dream is to be a manga-ka (manga artist). It wasn't always like this though. Once upon a time I wanted to be a basketball player in the NBA. That sprung from an early inspiration from Michael Jordan, as well my childhood best friend that pushed me to play everyday. But once he moved away, and I didn't have no one to play with that dream slowly died. As I grew older things began to change and I developed an enjoyment for writing fiction. One thing consistent in my life that inspired this was anime. Anime is Japanese animation, put simply Japanese cartoons. But they weren't anything like the cartoons in America. These cartoons had story lines and sub-plots. They had character development and intense situations. They had build ups and climaxes that made you feel like you were going on this journey with the characters. It was truly nothing like anything I had ever experienced. I can vividly remember the first time I watched Dragonball Z. I was five years old. It captivated me from the very first episode. Growing up with happy go lucky shows like the Rugrats and Ah Real Monsters, watching something so serious made me think "can they really show this on TV?" As I grew older my taste in anime evolved. As I grew deeper into this I found more and more friends with the same interests. There were kids I played Yu-Gi-Oh with, and kids who would pretend to be Z fighters, practicing their moves for upcoming battles. Some of the "cool kids" thought we were weirdos. I just felt we had active imaginations. As I grew more comfortable with it, so did the so called "cool kids" around me that I associated with. I believe if you take pride in whatever you do, people won't have any choice but to accept it. They do. I tell everyone that asks me what I want to be what I dream about. I can't escape it, even if I try to run. Literally, my dreams are constantly ringing in my head as if they are my reality. They will never go away. This is who I am and I am proud of it. The only thing I hope is that America makes a decent live action adaptation of Death Note (that's my favorite anime) and don't destroy it like they did to Dragonball Z. (That's an inside joke LOL)

I live in a neighborhood where everybody knows everybody, outsiders rarely come around, and when they do they don't last very long. My neighborhood is my community. I have love for them and they have love for me. I love how I'm like the only person going to school and I feel no pressure to change that. Everybody takes pride in my successes and makes me want to do. But you aren't just accepted on day one. It can take months maybe even years before you become "one of us". It's not like an initiation, where you take some test or do sum ridiculous task and get in. It's more along the lines of an interview. I say this because people have to get an idea of what kind of person you are. They have to know if they can trust, if they can rely on you. You have to prove yourself in order to be accepted. Otherwise, you will be exiled or,  even worse, ignored. I've been living in this community for 6 years now. I've seen many people come,and many people go, but I can recall a person more recent. There once was a man named Noah. He was a loud mouthed braggadocios kind of guy who loved to start problems and rarely finished them. One day he messed with the wrong guy and was dipped and kicked into the ground. That was them showing mercy. When he tried it again his punishment was worse.Luckily for him he didn't die, but I haven't seen him around since. This is a pro and con of my community. A violent sense of protection is what is a norm around here. I may not like it, but I have learned to accept it for what it is, necessary.

Step My Game Up

Entering into Module 2, I've been forced to realize the pitfalls in my behavior. I would like to start with the pros and end with the cons. Pros: I'd like to start by saying I have been here and on time everyday since we started our time at Year Up. This is a feat in which I am highly proud of because it stands as a testament to my commitment to this program. Another pro I'd like to point out is how I am participating in class. I raise my hand at least once everyday, and always provide more insight to the topic at hand. I also am a very good team member. I keep in mind that there is a common goal and do all I can to get us there. Also my ability to understand the material is at a high peak. Everything gets soaked in like a sponge.
Cons:
I'd start with my professionalism. I am unprofessional in my speech. I catch myself speaking in language that isn't appropriate for a professional setting and would like to improve on that. I also have a daydreaming problem. I can't stay focused in class for some reason. It's like i have ADD because no matter how hard I try other thoughts pop into my head. I'm not a very good organizer. All my papers are everywhere in my backpack. I need a maid for it. But I think I'll take the time out to put my papers in a binder, simple right?
As long as I can keep focused on the overall goal, I believe my progress will sore for the course of our time here and beyond.

To what extent does a person’s neighborhood shape who she or he is?

I am who I am despite my neighboorhood, yet I am who I am because of it.Please don't let the palm trees and nice coating fool you. These buildings are fairly new, and therefore look it. But the people inside it are crazy. It's weird because where I live most people don't have jobs. Almost everyone sells or does drugs, and the gas station down the street lives in constant fear of being robbed. You'd think that a guy like me who doesn't believe in a criminal lifestyle would have a hard time fiiting in, right? Wrong, the people in my community is just that a community. They fight each other, yet they support each other at the same time. It's like outsiders don't get the same leway as those who been living there for years. The people around there support me, which is weird becausein the places I've lived before it was the opposite. People hated that I was a lot smarter than they were. Their jealousy caused them to discourage instead of encourage my positive outlook on the future ahead of me. I was very much similar to the kids around me, but I always knew there was something different about me. As I got older I became more comfortable with who I was and the people around me became cofortable as well. Your neighborhood is always going to have an affect on who you are. As human beings we are products of our environments. But what I've learned in life is how you look at your environment is more important than the actual environment itself. I've become comfortable with where I am, It's home.

Social Responsibilty

In this so called Republic of a country, we find that capitalistic principles still rule over our country. How can a country that claims to care for the middle class, the little guy, the majority American constantly hypocritically support big business. I say the blame falls on all parties involved. The companies that take advantage of the people, the system that doesn't do anything about it, as well as the people who willing fall in to these traps all hold some accountability for these things continuing to go on. As much as I'd love to put the blame on these money hungry companies', it's hard to put all the blame on them when the customers had an opportunity to read the contract. As much as I'd like to blame the people on agreeing to the contract, the government allowed things like taking advantage of such people legal. So, because all parties were in a legal agreement with each other they are all responsible for allowing things like this to happen. I believe, since the government would never jeopardize their own interest in big business, it is the peoples responsibility in a "democratic society" to enforce change in an unjust system as the one implemented in said document. To ask a big business to have some kind of moral upheaval even in my optimistic mind-state is highly unrealistic. But that doesn't give them the right to take advantage of people who are in situations where the people are in desperate need of the company's product/service, nor should the company give away to people that they are very aware that are incapable of paying them back. It's things like the greed showed in this article that explains why this country had to suffer the recession it faced in 2008 that we are still suffering from today. The sad part about it is that if we lose our money, the government won't do a thing. But, if the big business lose their money then we give it out like it's free candy. All parties involved are responsible, but the government is supposed to be the regulator of these kinds of things, and their negligence proved to serve the most painful blow.

Me and Dragonball Z

When I was kid, I had some pretty normal interest. I liked playing at the park with my friends, playing video games, and watching cartoons like most kids. But there was one cartoon, which I now know is referred to as anime, that I believe changed my life forever. Dragonball  Z is a manga created by Akira Toriyama that entailed the adventures of Goku and his friends who main preoccupation was the martial arts. They used their powers for good, protecting the Earth from countless luminous threats of world domination, and in some cases complete utter destruction. The fights were epic. I remember sitting on the edge of my seat as I watched Goku go to and fro with Freeza, and I definitely highlight Goku going Super Saiyan as one the happiest moments of my youth. But the thing that really got me was how happy Goku was, how carefree, that inspired me to live life with a more relaxed approach. This story, to my own unknowing, will eventually through me into the world of Japanese comics, called manga, which eventually gave me the inspiration to become a manga writer. I wish to one day see my story on TV for all the kids to enjoy, talk about at school, play the video games, and even pretend to be; just like I did when I was a kid.