Code of Conduct

I was a senior in high school at the time of the Columbine shooting. Back in 1999, a mass shooting at a school was shocking and terrifying in a way that people had a hard time processing. Immediately, my school started banning trench coats. Guards were hired to patrol the campus. Suddenly, the school administration had a list of all of the students they thought were at-risk and we all got called into the school counselors office to talk. I was a pretty angsty kid and all of this seemed pretty thoughtless and reactionary to me.

There was one teacher that didn't take the bait, though. My English teacher, Mr. McClure, walked into class the next day with a half-dozen newspaper clippings in his hand. He started off by saying that we were all about to hear a torrent of news reports full of pundits and experts asking what has gone wrong with our generation. Then he said as firmly as he could, "Do not believe them." He said that the media made money by selling advertisements and the more eyes and ears that they could get to pay attention to them, the more money they could get for that ad space. The easiest way to get those viewers is to drum up anger and fear. He said, "It's cheap, lazy, dishonest, and you deserve better. There is nothing wrong with your generation. These stories are all from local papers put out this week. Here's one about high school kids organizing a beach clean-up. Here's a local girl who just got a full scholarship to MIT. The Mission Viejo swim team just won another championship. These are all just the stories I was able to find yesterday. The truth is that I don't even need to see these stories because I get to teach you kids every day and you are all amazing, caring, bright, creative, and decent kids. Don't let the parasite new media ever make you think there's something wrong with you because it's just a lie they tell to sell ads. If there's nothing else that any of you remember from this class, please remember this. You are the best part of my day and you're the reason I'm here. Please know how valuable each and every one of you really is."

That was almost 26 years ago and I still remember it more than anything else that ever happened to me as a teenager. That two-minute speech from Mr. McClure taught me a lot. It taught me to think deeper about the information I am taking in and to question not only if it was valid but why the information was being shared to begin with. It taught me that there is always an expanded perspective that one can gain when they choose to take a step back and look at things from different points of view. Most importantly, it taught me that the way I choose to frame my own understanding of the world has a huge impact on who I become as a person. When I was watching about that horrible shooting on the news, I was getting sucked into the narrative they were selling. I was thinking of myself as another angry and disaffected teen. When Mr. McClure offered us a different perspective, it changed the way I felt about myself. It changed the way I felt about the world around me.

I know there were a lot of moments in my life that made big differences for me, but that one stands out. That moment made me want to focus more on things that make me feel grateful, hopeful, joyful, and caring. It taught me that I have a choice in what I pay attention to and that choice matters.

I was a dual immersion kid, learning in English and Spanish from K - 11th. I grew up hating being in the program; I hated speaking Spanish and I wished so badly to be in "normal school." I didn't understand why my parents put me in Las Palmas. It wasn't until high school when I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go on a class trip to Spain. I was on bus, leaving the airport, driving through Madrid, and it clicked: I can read the signs. I can understand what the tour guide is saying. I know a little about the history of this place. I was like "oooh, I get it now. This is why they did it. This is why mom and dad put me in that program." That's when my love of travel really started. That love of travel turned into a major change at Saddleback when Film didn't work out. If you like travel so much, why don't you work in hotels? That's the career path I've taken, hospitality, all because I took one trip, all because I was a dual immersion kid.

Breaking my arm goofing around as a kid. After that, I shifted away from a lot of my physical hobbies realizing my fragile state and limitations. One of my favorite things to do was to shoot baskets. While I learned to shoot okay 1 handed with my left hand, my right arm could never follow through the same again. I happened to fall into computer animation, and then programming. Funny how an accident and misjudgment caused such a realignment for me.

Divorce. The biggest blessing and curse - forced me to reevaluate everything and rebuild a different life for myself.

My knee accident in 2003. It changed my life forever in every single way. 4 surgeries later and still in physical therapy with future surgeries on the horizon. I used to have major depression from my accident but with lots of therapy and extreme perseverance and determination I was able to mold that attitude into my every day life and make me who I am today.

During an internship in a dormitory with a dozen other young adults, we had Friendsgiving dinner together. All of us had known each other for about five months at that point, but mostly just passing small talk. So we all met up in the kitchen and started setting up. We all got to bond, share stories, play games, and eat lots of food. Towards the end, we took turns expressing what we were thankful for. I said I was thankful just to be invited and being able to share a nice memory with a kind group of people.

It taught me that life is truly a series of fleeting moments. Imagine if we were straight lines being drawn on paper, each going in a different direction. Miraculously, everyone’s lines happened to converge at a singular point in time, for just a split second. After that, each of those lines continued onwards in their respective directions, likely to never cross again.

When I moved from the midwest to CA after graduating college with just my 2 luggages, no job lined up nor friends I know or car I owned. What a great way to start my life over.

Building lego blocks with my dad when I was a kid. It inspired me to always love building or creating something (science, technology, etc)

When I was in the woods swinging on this long rope hanging on a tree with my "friends". I was a couple years younger and we had been taking turns swinging on it and making sure we didn't hit this boulder next to us. When it was my turn to swing they pushed me to get some momentum going but didn't stick around to catch me so I didn't hit the boulder. I smashed my leg onto the boulder really hard and my "friends" ditched me in the middle of the woods. I couldn't get up for about 20-30 minutes and had to limp back to the campsite. I learned that just because they say they're your friends and do friend things, it doesn't mean they are an actual true friend.

Life finally began to make sense when I discovered that I have AuDHD