Just a typical week…

Work is interesting…in my first few weeks I have had the opportunity to visit some think tanks in the area and listen to the top experts in various fields as they discussed immigration reform, rebuilding Haiti’s education system, remittance flow from USA to Latin America, Mexico’s economy, and a pretty interesting briefing on the recent capture of a drug cartel leader in Mexico.

DC is an interesting place. For better or worse it is the mix of people here that make this place unique.  I have had the opportunity to meet people from almost everywhere. I feel like most people in downtown DC are tourists or interns with an occasional local sprinkled in. However once you venture past the secure perimeters of the Capitol and monument areas, DC begins to tell a different story…this to me has been the real DC. Away from the pretentious intern set and the disconnected elites. The grime. I wandered a DC ghetto, accidentally of course. Problems here are just like problems anywhere else.  I wandered uptown DC, made some single serving friends while enjoying waffles. People here were genuine. I wandered around and just took it all in. there are a lot of Central and South American people in the DC area. Most of them are fascinated by me. Some had never met a Mexican from LA. Even funnier is when they realized how much I have in common with them… Many of these people assume that all DC interns are from well to do families, drunk on the weekends, and running around with little regard for the people who actually live in the city full time. I have had my run ins with some of these kids, one thing is for sure, we are not the same. I’m just another kid hustling my way through school, fighting my way to a better tomorrow.

Adjusting to mass transit has been a challenge. Being cramped in a hot, sweaty, musty, train for two hours day isn’t exactly my ideal mode of travel. Add some humidity, heat, random storms, and wool suits and you see it can be a little uncomfortable at times…although it is nice not having to worry about driving anywhere, not having to find parking, not having to valet, or not paying for gasoline.

I’ve spent much of my free time wandering the city, checking out museums, watching movies, and of course sampling food. The food here has been amazing. Empanadas, Indian food, Central American food, Pakistani food…so far everything that I have tried has been great. I had the chance to check out a baseball game last week, Strasburg delivered. Aside from that, life here in the metro area has been pretty quiet. Work, diet, gym, read, sleep, repeat.

LAX to IAD

Last Tuesday was my last day in LA. It felt surreal in a matter of hours everything about my life would be different. I packed my bags, shaved, and got all of my last minute things together before going out for my last Double-Double. This is the final push before I set off. I wish I could fast forward through this because as I am already feeling anxious and want to be in DC already.

My brother picked me up and we had Argentine food before heading out to LAX. After our good byes, I made my way to the luggage check and $160 later I had my boarding pass and was on my way to the terminal. No turning back now. I found a seat near my terminal and began to read as I listened to my Ipod. This was a weird flight. I felt paranoid, as if everyone around me was looking at me. I was alone. The police began to walk in my direction. I stared. They approached the black man next to me, asked him to follow them, he never returned. Thirty minutes later the same officers returned, scanned the room, and snatched up a white woman sitting a few rows ahead of me. I was curious because I couldn’t see any common thread between this older black man and this young white woman or why the officers would ‘randomly’ remove them from my terminal. I went to the store, bought some snacks and water, and prepared to board my flight.

I didn’t rest on my flight. I read “In Defense of the Bush Doctrine” and listened to music on my Ipod. I landed in North Carolina, trekked across the airport, and waited for my connecting flight to DC. I arrived in DC jet lagged and hungry. My cousin Hansel picked me up and we went back to his place. I was tired but had to muster the energy to start looking for apartments. I hopped onto Craigslist and immediately began emailing people for summer sublets. Unfortunately I faced roadblocks… most decent places only wanted to rent to females or they expected me to find my own replacement tenant. This should be interesting…

I found a place. I was so excited. This was a large room in a house with two girls. Unfortunately the gusto of having found an apartment was short lived. The room offer was rescinded once they found a female roommate. I felt discouraged. I replied to another promising advertisement on Craigslist. This place made me feel even worse. A man named Memo Cruz was renting out his studio, or so I thought. Memo actually hoped to share his studio, which was the size of my bedroom in LA plus a small kitchenette and bathroom. Memo had almost no possessions. He had a bed, a small card table, two metal fold out chairs, and a radio. No A/C. This place might be doable for one person but for two people it was a little cramped. Memo was a man in his 60’s. He was looking for a roommate because he was falling behind on his rent. He could not find a job and was now one month late on his $600 per month rent. I wanted to leave as soon as I knew the score. Memo wouldn’t let me. He explained his situation further. I asked if he had kids or relatives who could help. He didn’t. His kids were living in South America and his only sibling was a nun. He was depending on a renter to help. I felt depressed. Memo offered me a beer and wanted to talk. I wanted to leave. I was so happy that the Laker game was scheduled, I excused myself from Memo’s apartment, and began to head back to Virginia to watch it. My walk through the neighborhood adjacent to the DC convention center was sobering. At the last minute I decided to stop by my new work place, I wanted to make sure that I knew how to get there.

I decided t walk around a bit before heading to Virginia. I thought about how lucky I was to have close friends who had my back. Capitol Hill is beautiful. I took a few photos on my cell phone. I strolled around. Taking it all in, all I could think about was that if things went well in DC, this experience could possibly set my life on a whole new course. It began to rain. The weather is hot and muggy. The rain felt good.

As I stood on the steps of the Rayburn building, facing the statue of The Majesty of the Law, I got emotional. This was a big moment in my crazy life. I grew up poor. I once shared a house with 15 other people. No one gave me a chance at life, I took it. Now I stood on the steps of the Rayburn building facing the nation’s capitol and preparing myself for the days to come. I was in awe. What am I doing here? The nerd in me is excited. There is so much historical significance within the hallways of these buildings. Decisions affecting the world are made here. I am just a kid from Pacoima.

I once lived in a garage with my brother, not because it was cool, but because it was one step up from a homeless shelter. There was a point in my life when I only had three dollars per day to eat food with. I remember eating nothing but dollar menu items from Jack in the Box. There was a point in my life when I actually had a survival plan in the event that I became homeless. There were many days as a child and even in my early adult life when I went to bed hungry. I cannot help but question my life. Question my ambitions. Question my goals. Question my purpose. I am certain that few if any of my new peers will have experienced anything close to my life. I am now staring down barrel of my future.  This is life seen through the eyes of some poor soul from the hood. The ride back to Hansel’s house felt different. I quietly listened to my ipod and thought about all this.

Day 1 Monday This is wild son…nothing I see or do can be spoken of…

I didn’t get much sleep. I woke up throughout the night. I was scared I would be late for my train to work. I got out of bed, got ready, and walked to the Dunn-Loring metro station. I was blasting Shyne on my Ipod. I’m in a suit, shades on, bobbing my head as I stood on the train. Everyone else was reading the morning newspapers: Politico, The Post, etc. and here I am listening to gangsta rap.  It is amazing how many people work in DC. We are all little ants, marching in formation, through the train station, up the escalator, and in various lines to our respective buildings. There are hundreds of people marching to work. As I enter the building I cannot help but wonder what I will encounter. Will my new colleagues be nice? What if they don’t like me? Healthy paranoia…I can’t help it. I am nervous. I tell myself that I earned it. I locked myself in the study dungeon for the last year. I worked like a beast so that I could reach my full potential as a student. I bring a life experience that most people don’t understand. My guess is that most of the interns in the building have never been shot at, never been harassed by the police because they fit a description, or never had guns drawn on them by police because they looked suspicious. These thoughts raced through my mind as I made my way through the security line and up to my new office.

I knocked on the door, entered, and met my fate. Today is my first day as a DC intern.

It’s been a while…

Summertime is finally here. I survived my first year in graduate school. Finals nearly killed me. I managed to take care of business by practically moving into the Drescher Library and getting my work done as soon as I could rather than letting it bottleneck. The end result of my hard work: 2 projects, 2 papers,1 econ exam, a few more gray hairs, and a trip to the gun range…MUERTE.

I suddenly have downtime. I have no clue how to handle this. I have been freaking out trying to relax. I am still waking up early, my routine hasn’t changed much other than trying to find work to do rather than trying to find time to do the work. It all feels so strange…Big news coming soon…in the mean time sit back, relax, and just breathe.

School (Work)/life balance

This past week has been a trip. I was asked to give a ‘prospective student’ a brief overview of the benefits of attending Pepperdine a few days ago. Our meeting took place over lunch. The prospective student came out from St. Louis to visit a few campuses here in Southern California. We chatted about everything, academics, nightlife, sports, what I did before grad school, what I plan to do after, you name it we covered it. It was interesting for me because I remembered vividly what my first impressions were like when I first arrived at Pepperdine. My reception from the staff was amazing, anytime I had a question all I had to do was call and whoever answered the telephone, usually Kristine or Joan, would reassure me that they would answer my questions or get back to me ASAP if they couldn’t give me an answer right away. This could not be said of USC or UCLA…Score 1 point for Pepperdine.

I also thought about the first time I reached out to a student for feedback, the student I contacted wasn’t very helpful. I was irritated to say the least and I wanted to be sure that this prospective student did not leave campus with the same feelings I had. In retrospect I know understand and accept the fact that my first attempt at connecting with a student here on the SPP campus probably happened at a time when this student was swamped with school work. Seriously, who really cares if some prospective student may or may not attend classes here? Why should a current student care especially when he/she is stressed about finding his internship, reading, paying rent, reading, hitting the gym, reading, and so on…I wanted to be different. I hope that my approach worked. I honestly believe that my extra effort, giving an honest opinion of the pros and cons of attending Pepperdine, and the fact that I encouraged this prospective student to contact me anytime with questions made a difference in his overall view of the program. It isn’t like this prospective student is going to choose Pepperdine simply because I attempted to keep lines of communication open. The truth is communication is always open and for what it’s worth this feeling of openness is something that I would have appreciated when I was in his shoes last year.

Now on to some fun stuff…We took a ‘field trip’ to the Jonathan Club last Friday to hear a professor lecture on how to handle the media. Fielding questions from reporters is an interesting thing to consider. I never thought I would ever have to know about how to handle media relations and now as I ponder my future I can see how exposed my life may be from a professional standpoint. I may likely end up in a position where I will have to answer questions on TV, in the newspaper, or some other media outlet. After lecture a few of my classmates and I decided to explore a bit, enjoy some coffee, and take pictures with Charles Wooden’s portrait. Aside from the helpful advice and random exploration, we also had the chance to hear Steve Cooley, Carmen Trutanich, Robert Hertzberg, Dan Schnur, and Joel Fox voice their opinions about the upcoming medical marijuana initiative. I found it interesting that they were willing to take at least 2 hours out of their busy schedules to address students on only this topic. After the Jonathan Club, I decided to have an early dinner with one of my classmates. We discussed the events of the day and what we learned etc. I then carved out a couple of hours to get some reading done before heading out to Jackie B.’s charity event. She is raising money to help construct fresh water wells in Africa. The event was pretty cool, lots of fresh food, lots of fun people, and best of all it was for a good cause.

Doin’ Work

So it has been a while since I last checked in…I must admit school has been keeping me busy bordering on overworked. I have been maintaining my normal full time school schedule, comparative democracy, business and government, macroeconomics, and communication and presentation….on top of this I have been volunteering for Mayor Mitch Ward’s Assembly Campaign, mentoring young adults, and interning for California State Controller John Chiang…so far I have been averaging 5-6 hours of sleep per night on a good night. Last night, as I took a brief study break to check in on ESPN, I read a quick story on Myron Rolle. This kid inspired me to do more. I won’t go into detail here but this is the link to his article, if you have 10 minutes it is definitely worth reading

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=100218/myronrolle .

This semester I have had the opportunity to work on Mitch Ward’s California Assembly campaign. I am helping with the fundraising and so far it has been a challenge. I have never been involved in anything quite like this and decided to accept the challenge after a prospective employer mentioned that I should give it a try. Apparently he thought I would be good at this. So far it has been fun and a great learning experience. I have been networking like crazy on Mitch’s behalf, meeting people from various walks of life, and definitely pushing myself further from my comfort zone. Mayor Ward hosted me and a few others at his home a few weeks ago and we had a blast talking team strategy over some BBQ chicken, pasta, and other goodies. It is interesting to see how my experience here at Pepperdine is already paying off in the ‘real world.’

Speaking of the ‘real world,’ the world outside the library, away from the stacks of case studies and books, away from my endless pile of macroeconomic study guides, awaits the world of summer internships. I am searching. The perfect gig is out there, it is waiting for me. I can feel it. I have been using my spare moments to stalk my prey, looking carefully, sifting through the endless barrage of job postings for the few summer internships that strike me as interesting.

Wish me luck…

Wednesday Night Dinner Party

School is back in session and with that comes all of the responsibility and stress that I forgot about during my winter break.  Last Wednesday I was invited by California State Controller John Chiang to be his guest at a dinner party hosted by the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles. This was a last minute invitation and I was somewhat hesitant to go simply because I had so much reading to do for the remainder of the week. After some quick thinking I decided that the reading could wait and I needed to make the most of this opportunity. I quickly gathered my belongings, left them neatly near my desk, and hopped in the unmarked police car driven by Controller Chiang’s bodyguard. I spent the duration of the ride from Downtown to Hancock Park observing Controller Chiang as he handled emails and calls from his Blackberry…this man is efficient, the only other person I know with such ability to constantly multitask on his Blackberry is Josh Stomel. For the many who have yet to meet Mr. Stomel, take my word for it, he is non-stop 24/7 on his Blackberry.

As we arrived at the event I noticed immediately that it was comprised almost entirely of Korean businessmen and various politicians from Los Angeles.  Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, Councilman Tom LaBonge, State Controller John Chiang, and representatives from Governor Schwarzenegger’s office were also in attendance.  I had the opportunity to network with these individuals as well as their field representatives and some of the local business people.

The most striking moment of the evening for me, was the opportunity to sit back and objectively observe how the upper echelons of the Korean American business community interact with one another.  Most of the people in attendance spoke primarily Korean and therefore conducted their conversations among one another in Korean. I took this opportunity to examine body language and non verbal cues to determine who the power players in the vicinity were. It didn’t take long to realize that the attention of some people was sought after more than others.

In some ways I felt something like a fish out of water because I did not speak the language. However, I did make some friends as I perused the serving area full of wonderful Korean dishes and used my inexperience in Korean cuisine to open up conversation with other party guests. A few individuals were kind enough to attempt to explain to me what it is that I was about to eat. I am a human food processor so the actual content of what I was eating wasn’t as important. However, I think I did earn some respect by trying a bit of everything without really questioning.

All in all this was a wonderful opportunity to observe the business/political process, the way international  business people interact, and it gave me some more insight as to the social responsibilities of the state controller.

Making Connections

Finals are near and as they approach I would like to share a little about my experiences with The Millennium Momentum Foundation’s Leadership Development Institute.  I decided that I wanted to be as active as possible while in graduate school and MMF’s LDI provided the perfect mix of leadership training and networking opportunities for me.  I wasn’t too sure that I would have enough time to participate and tackle all the excellent opportunities available to me through the MMF but so far so good.

For starters, my MMF tuition was paid for by an anonymous donor so that I could participate in the program. I was shocked to say the least when Jason Seward and Jason Molina contacted me about this. I was not sure I could cover the full costs myself and when I brought this to Jason Seward’s attention he made some phone calls for me. This one gesture won me over. I cannot say enough about the level of generosity, hospitality, and professionalism I have experienced while taking part in the MMF LDI.

Not being one to take things for granted, I decided that I needed to make this donor proud and do my best to make sure that I am visible to all the guest speakers and hit as many networking events as possible. Through the MMF I have had the chance to meet some well connected individuals including the Mayor of Carson, the Mayor of Manhattan Beach, a staff attorney for the California State Controller’s Office, a staff attorney for The City of Los Angeles, one of the top managers for the Los Angeles Transportation Department, and a Vice President at Union Bank. Needless to say these contacts would not have been established had it not been for my time at the MMF. Through the MMF I was able to position myself for an internship with the State Controller’s Office and introduced one of my fellow SPP students to the Mayor of Manhattan Beach. She is now writing speeches for the mayor as a result of my introduction.

One of the best parts of the program has been meeting other students in the program. Many of my peers are graduate level students at USC, UCLA, Pepperdine, and Loyola. There are also a few undergraduate students in the program and I find that I am able to share some of my experiences with these students as well. My hope is that they can learn from some of my academic and personal mistakes and hopefully avoid making similar mistakes. Most importantly, I am building connections with the some of the future leaders of California.

Part of the MMF LDI curriculum is the completion of homework. This isn’t the typical graduate school homework where you read a thousand pages and write a paper. Instead I am learning how to apply what I have learned in the classroom to real life. I have sat in on meetings with leaders as they discuss policy issues and then offer my feedback in terms of what I might do if I faced similar situations etc. one of the benefits of being in the MMF program is that I have access to many people in the community who know how to get things done, and as a result I have been working on a 503(c) that I would like to launch in the near future. Basically the MMF gives me a chance to work on things outside of Pepperdine that in many ways reinforce what Pepperdine has taught me thus far.

With that being said, I would highly encourage anyone who is interested in making connections to check out the MMF. Now back to prepping for finals…wish me luck.

The Hardest Week

Last week I was invited to a local high school to give a lecture about ‘Life’. My audience was a group of high school students, mostly on house arrest. I had no idea what to talk about. Thank God two of my close friends, Sam and Andy, came over the night before my lecture to provide some much needed inspiration. They were on their way home from their internship with Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes. Not a bad gig for still being in community college. I made sure to let them know how lucky they were to be in a position to learn so much so soon, there are grad school students who would love to be in their position.

These two guys are incredible: young, motivated, and willing to do the hard work necessary to achieve dreams. My cousin Tank introduced me to these two a couple of years ago before they became interested in pursuing higher education, back when they were simply living life one day at a time.  Tank and I have spent countless days tutoring, molding, mentoring, and just hanging out with these two young men. All of our efforts focused on the positive, not being preachy but being real. Tank and I basically wanted to help the next generation, offer up the life advice that we so desperately needed but never had at their age.

Sam and Andy told me about chatting it up with some local politicians and businessmen, using networking techniques to ask for their business cards with the intention of growing a sound professional network. Sam mentioned that he has had great success with reaching people simply because he is a student. Sam told me how he has been following up, asking question about political life, what it is these people do, and most importantly what he needs to do in order to be like them. I helped teach this kid this. It still amazes me when I think back a couple of short years ago, when Sam’s life was in a much different place, a cold, dark, and lonely place that I am all too familiar with. To paraphrase Carlito Brigante, “The streets are rough, they will eat you alive, spit you out. If you’re lucky you end up in a pine box, the unlucky ones end up paralyzed or wasting away in prison.” There is a difference today, my life is far removed from what I knew as a teenager and Sam and Andy are in the early stages of my old journey. I am proud that I have given a piece of myself so that one day Sam and Andy can achieve their dreams. I suddenly felt inspired to lecture tomorrow.

“Wishin’ I live my life a legend, immortalized in pictures
Why shed tears? Save your sympathy
My childhood years were spent buryin’ my peers in the cemetery
Here’s a message to the newborns, waitin’ to breathe
If you believe then you can achieve
Just look at me
Against all odds, though life is hard we carry on
Livin’ in the projects, broke with no lights on
To all the seeds that follow me
protect your essence
Born with less, but you still precious
Just smile for me now”

-Tupac Shakur, ‘Smile’

This song played randomly on my Ipod and the lyrics danced around my head as I sipped my coffee and sped up highway 14 on my way to Palmdale. This was definitely appropriate considering the audience I would be addressing. I remember the first time I ever lectured for Ms. Holladay, I was on my way to UCSB, and some of her ‘bad’ students were giving her a tough time. I decided to help out. I drove up to my old high school, met some students, and gave them a healthy dose of reality. These kids weren’t bad, just misguided, or in some cases unguided. I was a child myself, barely in my early twenties, the only thing I had going for me at the time was the fact that I did not have a criminal record, no kids, and was on my way to UCSB.  Today my lecture would be much more intimate than before. Today was a follow up from a talk I gave at this time last year. Not all of Ms. Holladay’s students from last year where there, a couple managed to stay out of jail and had the privilege of attending R. Rex Parris High School instead of returning to juvenile hall or CYA.

My lecture last year focused on my application to grad school, how to begin the process of applying to  undergrad, and most importantly what I did to get from Point A (their seats) to Point B (working at Neohire.com/Resumebucket.com) and living a life far removed from the one I knew as a teenager. Interestingly enough, Sam and Andy saw what I spoke about first hand as this was around the time we all really started hanging out. I remember explaining to them from my dining room table exactly what the GRE test was and the differences between the GRE, SATs, and LSATs.

Today I decided to speak on all the things I have accomplished since last year. I talked about nearly being robbed three times in South America, possibly getting killed/kidnapped in Buenos Aires, battling for my rights with Interpol agents, totaling my car, moving out of my apartment and squatting on my brother’s couch (for which I am grateful), my experiences at ‘Happy Camp’, my frustrations with adjusting to student life all over again, my chance meetings at the Global Climate Summit, my involvement with the Millennium Momentum Foundation, volunteering  with Just Like You at Pacoima Elementary School, the amount of reading and writing I have done in the last few weeks, and why I would not change a thing in my life, both good and especially bad, if I could do it all over again as these experiences gave me valuable insights into how people from various walks of life function.

These young minds were full of comments, questions, and laughs as I did my best to get their attention by mixing in some slang, a couple of calculated curse words to maintain their attention, and some candid personal stories about growing up. I chose to end my discussion by speaking about the “Digital Footprint” and how what they do online today will impact the rest of their lives both professionally, academically, and most important legally.

Ms. Holladay has a student, I won’t mention his name because he is a minor, but I am proud of him. He has changed as much as he could in one year, from being a complete waste of space to becoming a model student. They both attribute this change to my lecture last year, my ability to reach the core of this student and shake him out of his comfort zone.  It turned out that Ms. Holladay used emails and photographs that I sent her from my South American adventure as part of her daily lesson plans in class.  This particular student told me that reading about my adventures, looking at my pictures, and researching the exotic locales inspired him to try harder in class. It is at moments like this when realize that my life is no longer my own. I realize that my words have a huge impact, my actions even more so. This student and I spoke at length after my lecture. He told me about what he plans to do after high school, attend community college, clean up his record, and apply to college. He said it best, “You did it, why can’t I?” He is absolutely right.  I thought about those Tupac lyrics, they summed up my life then and now.

Unfortunately these feelings of accomplishment and the sense of purpose I felt after lecturing were short lived. What followed that evening set in motion events that would lead to one of the hardest personal challenge I have had in some time. I sent a text to Sam and Andy to let them know that I was planning on writing about them for my blog and that I wanted them to read my rough draft before cleaned it up and posted it on my blog. They couldn’t make it over to my apartment because they had already made plans for the evening.  I left the invitation open and decided to head out with a couple of friends from the SPP program.

I received a series of text messages and phone calls around midnight last Friday, Sam and Andy had been shot. Sam was shot in the mouth at point blank range and Andy had been shot in the upper torso twice. My throat choked up, my heart dropped.  I immediately sped to the hospital. I did my best to remain calm, but couldn’t help thinking the worst. What could have been a good night, a celebration of inspiration and positive impact on youth, took a turn for worse.  I arrived at Holy Cross Hospital and saw that the ER was packed.  There had been multiple shootings in Pacoima that night. My friends became another set of crime statistics.

I did my best to remain calm, I stayed at the hospital until about 4 am waiting to find out what had happened, waiting to get the status on my friends. I was still shocked, I had texted these guys earlier that night, had they come out with me chances are none of this would have happened. Had I been with them maybe I would be in the hospital bed next to them.

I spent the next week trying to study at the hospital. Needless to say I didn’t get much done. I had my books, my laptop, and my class notes. I just couldn’t focus. I hadn’t slept much since Friday and the wear and tear was showing.  The only thing that kept me going was the fact that my cousin Tank experienced similar circumstances during his law school years at Pepperdine, if he could grind out the hard work while in the hospital so could I. I decided not to let this be an excuse for failure. I wanted to show Sam and Andy that nothing in life worth doing is ever easy. With dedication and hard work anything is possible and despite my state of mind, all the worry and fear, I would persevere.  They have a long road to recovery ahead of them, Andy may never regain use of his right hand, Sam will likely undergo multiple surgeries to repair damage to his face and jaw, not to mention the psychological impact such traumatic events inevitably have on these guys. I would not be living up to expectations if I gave up in the face of such a small adversity relative to theirs. They needed to push forward and so did I.

I went straight to the hospital after class every day that week. I reviewed my notes for Professor Hawken’s midterm and HDI assignment while in the ICU waiting room and hospital cafeteria.  I read Machiavelli’s “The Prince”, Marx’s “Communist Manifesto”, and my outline on “The Federalist Papers” in preparation for my upcoming paper for Professor Lloyd’s class. I kept pushing forward all the while worried about the condition of my friends. A little over a week has passed. Andy is now back at home, he is still recovering and Sam just had his second surgery to repair damage to his salivary glands. I pray that both make a speedy recovery and can get back to the normalcy of school and interning for Assemblyman Fuentes. As much as they may say I inspire them to succeed, today they inspire me to face adversity with courage.

 

 

 

Decompression

Midterms are pretty much behind me and I must say that they were intense…two papers and an exam all due in the same week. Time management was the key to my survival, this basically meant that I would have to forego the gym, order more take out/delivery, and heavily limit my time reading ‘useless’ websites such as ESPN and Maxboxing.

I decided that after writing my thirty page paper for Professor Kaufman’s class, my five page paper for Professor Lloyd’s class, and taking my in-class exam for Professor Prieger’s class, that a break was in order. While some of my classmates chose to hang around town and get some much needed rest or head to the culturally rich Las Vegas desert, I decided to something completely different. I explored the American Midwest. I found a red-eye flight to the Rustbelt of America, Cleveland, Ohio.

This was my first trip to the Midwest and I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Most people thought I was insane for opting to hop an a redeye from LAX to Hopkins International instead of somewhere ‘cool’ such as Chicago, but the ‘uncoolness’ of Cleveland is exactly what drew me there. I made arrangements with a close friend of mine from undergrad and like that was off on my adventure.

Ohio was a stark contrast to my life in Los Angeles. I have never experienced a real autumn, Ohio changed that. It was freezing cold and pouring rain when I arrived. I hopped on the Rapid train and made my way to Tower City near the Warehouse District. Cleveland offered me many questions to ponder…Why did I bother to leave the sunshine and ninety degree weather, what do people here do, how is the economy affecting this area, etc…

I noticed immediately that I stood out. Cleveland is a fishbowl. Many people there seem to know each other and were quick to point out that I was a fresh face.  I had the chance to meet some young adults at the Panini Grill on 6^th Street and chat about what they do. Some worked in finance, some worked blue collar jobs, and some were facing the hardships associated with the growing unemployment rate. According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics in August 2009 Ohio had an unemployment rate of 10.5%.

Many of the street vendors and local eatery workers that I met were quite grateful that I decided to go against the grain and spend my greenbacks in the city. A few of the young ladies that I met at The Barley House, a local sports bar in the warehouse district, told me about how rough the job market has been lately. I couldn’t quite grasp how this city with a wealth of human capital could have so many college graduates working menial jobs just to scrape by. I thought about this for the better part of my trip, it seemed to me that there was a distinct line between those with jobs and money and those without. During one such conversation, the topic of graduate school arose and as it turns out that my new friend in Ohio had a friend who attended Pepperdine Law and graduated with my cousin Tank. Talk about six degrees of separation.

Ohio was pretty. I saw the wild waves of Lake Erie. Hiked around Squires’ Castle, saw some amazing foliage, and enjoyed the best cup of coffee at Heck’s Restaurant. FYI I am a coffee snob, Heck’s hands down had the best cup of coffee I have ever tasted and a pretty tasty egg and apple omelet.

Decompression was good. I appreciated the time I had to take in the scenery and readjust to human life. I did bring a couple of books to keep my busy during my flights and spent some time chatting politics and job/internship possibilities with a lobbyist from DC. All in all this was a good trip and one that I will likely not forget. Back to the books I go.

Creating Opportunity 101

Friday October 2^nd, 2009 was a day that I will never forget.  I remember waking up still tired from studying the night before.  It is 6 am, I don’t have class on Fridays, what am I doing up so early?  These thoughts raced through my mind as I was hit the snooze button on my Blackberry.  It didn’t take long however for me to remember that today was the big day.  Pepperdine’s School of Public Policy had acquired day passes to the Governor’s Global Climate Summit in Century City and offered them to a few interested students.  Leadership from around the world would be at this event to discuss all things related to the environment and policy.  This was my chance to seize the day and watch history unfold right before my eyes.  In an instant, the feeling of grogginess that usually accompanies my early mornings suddenly vanished.

I arrived at the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel slightly after 8:30am.  The woman who checked my ID and handed me my badge was slightly disorganized, she ran out of lanyards and schedules.   I had absolutely no idea where to go.  As I wandered around I came across an old friend of mine who by coincidence happened to be working on the official film crew for the event.  My friend Rick and I exchanged hellos then he mentioned that he had been at the summit all week filming various dignitaries for the event.  It was at this point that he mentioned the possibility of interviewing Tony Blair and Governor Schwarzenegger later today.  Rick asked if I would be interested in watching the interview from up close. YES, absolutely.  We made arrangements to meet once he got the official green light to interview Tony Blair.  I decided to find my way to the first discussion of the morning.

The first discussion was about how sub-national and federal governments can partner together to achieve common goals pertaining to the environment.  The panelists included the Governors of New York, Oregon, and Washington and Governors from Brazil, Nigeria, and Indonesia.  I decided to head over to the Agriculture breakout session immediately after and it was here where my day really took a change.  I can’t explain it, but I felt something in the air from the moment I entered the conference room.  I took my seat and made friends with another student, Molly from UCLA.  We discussed our experiences in our respective programs and what we hoped to gain from the summit.  It was at this moment that an usher from the Hyatt, Jimmy, introduced himself. Jimmy noticed that I did not have a lanyard to properly display my pass for the event.  Jimmy explained that with the high levels of security I would be subject to questioning by authorities all day unless I displayed my ticket.  He decided that he would make it his priority to find a lanyard for me.  At this point, the panel discussion began.

This was one the most interesting discussions I have ever witnessed.  Ann Veneman of UNICEF moderated a discussion that included Mark Cackler a representative from The World Bank, Nikolaus Berlakovich the Austrian Minister of Agriculture, John Hickman Director of Renewable Energy from John Deere, and the President Diouf of the Fatick Region of Senegal.  The discourse was thought provoking and heart breaking.  The people of Senegal are suffering.  Many children there are hungry.  The rural farmers there have no choice but to water their crops with contaminated water.  President Diouf pleaded for help.  I have never witnessed such humility, this man traveled across the globe to ask the people of a developed nation for help.  I was touched, I lived in Juarez, Mexico for a short period as a child and grew up in Pacoima, California yet I have never encountered the levels of poverty described by President Diouf.  At this moment I felt a real sense of purpose, I must do everything in my power to make my corner of the world a better place.  I must do all that I can to ensure that I have a positive impact as many people as possible while I have the chance.

I received a text message from my friend Rick that he would be interviewing Tony Blair immediately after the lunch time panel discussion.  I was excited.  It was at this moment that I realized that I may not be able to see the lunch panel because of the pass I held.  Tickets for the lunch cost about $200 and I debated the opportunity cost of spending $200.  Suddenly Jimmy the usher approached me. He had been looking for me because he found a lanyard.  I was surprised that he bothered to find me.  I thanked him and we chatted.  He asked if I would be attending the lunch panel as it was surely something that shouldn’t be missed.  I mentioned that I needed to purchase my ticket to the lunch and he told me that there might be a few empty seats.  Jimmy checked and sure enough there where two seats near the middle of the room.  I was shocked.  Jimmy saved me $200 and put me in a position to witness history.  Jimmy escorted me to my seat and I immediately asked if he would be kind enough to let Molly in as well.  He did. I introduced myself to the others at my table.  The lunch panel consisted of a speech by actor Rob Lowe, a lecture on climate control by Thomas Friedman, and concluded with a casual conversation between Tony Blair, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Governor Schwarzenegger, and Ann Thompson of NBC.  Thomas Friedman talked about the key issues in his new book, why we need to develop new sources of energy, and how being the first country with clean reusable energy technology would positively impact the United States.  The discussion between Dr. Pachauri, Governor Schwarzenegger, and Tony Blair centered on what we must do as global citizens to reduce pollution worldwide.

Rick texted me that I needed to walk to the media tent immediately if I wanted to see Tony Blair up close.  I met the film crew and was escorted past all of the police officers, past private security, past secret service types, and strolled casually into the media tent.  Tony Blair arrived moments later.  I was standing nearly 6 feet away from one of the most influential people in the world.  I watched as Tony Blair gave interviews to various international news stations, he posed for pictures, and shook hands with various people in attendance.  I decided to head back down to the main convention area immediately after watching Tony Blair give his interviews and it was here that I had the chance to meet Dr. Pachauri.  I jumped on this once in a lifetime opportunity and introduced myself to Dr. Pachauri.  Surprisingly Dr. Pachauri was approachable.  This was huge considering he shares a Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore.  We spoke about his comments during the lunch panel and posed for a picture.  Afterward I walked back to the main convention hall and found a seat.

Governor Schwarzenegger would be signing an international climate treaty later that afternoon with many of the dignitaries in attendance.  The convention hall was nearly empty.  I scanned the room for familiar faces and saw President Diouf sitting by himself on the opposite end of the room.  I decided to go over and introduce myself.  President Diouf was a good man.  Although there was a language barrier, we managed to have a lengthy conversation about his country and the problems they face.  We posed for a picture and then President Diouf offered his business card and mentioned that I should email him if I have any questions about Senegal.  The treaty signing was about to begin, the hall began to fill in with audience members.  I needed to find a seat, I excused myself from the President and he in turn offered that I sit with him in the front area near the stage.  My heart raced.  We sat in the front section of the ballroom with leaders from Indonesia and  a few other nations.  The signing was about to begin, President Diouf excused himself so that he could approach the stage and take his seat before signing.

Sitting in traffic on my drive I kept asking myself what the significance of today meant in relation to my personal and academic goals.  I thought about Pepperdine’s Mission Statement of purpose, service, and leadership.  Today was more than just a Friday. Today may have been the first day of the rest of my life.