Breast Cancer Awareness Month

When you think of the month October you think of haunted houses, pumpkins, costumes and trick or treating. October is a time to be with your friends with a cup of hot chocolate and watch Netflix. This is also a time where all the pumpkin flavored stuff comes out.  Sadly, October can be seen as a different time for some people. As you may know October is also known for Breast Cancer Awareness month. It is very common for a person to have someone in their life that have been afflicted with such a serious disease. Before coming to Santa Barbra my grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer. At first it was just a mass in her chest and they removed it with no problem. I was told that she would just have to have radiation and nothing more. When I left for college my  

grandparents told me that they would come visit me as soon as my grandma’s radiation was done. After a few months I was getting curious on why they haven't come to see me yet. When I went home last weekend I was expecting everything to be normal like it always was. When I walked in to my kitchen the first thing I saw was my grandma and I noticed she had a wig on. At first, I was shocked and didn’t know what to say but I didn’t want her to feel any more worried than she already was so I put on a happy face and acted like everything was okay. I later found out that she has been put on chemo and is about to have her last round pretty soon. It is just so hard to see someone one day knowing that they are going to be okay and then the next day they look completely different. If you know someone who has any form of cancer than you know how hard it is to see a loved one slowly deteriorate in front of you. There still isn’t a cure for it yet but there are many ways to help support researching the cause of this disease. There are many different walks, donation, and groups that are located around where you live. I will leave some links below to help you find some way to help find a cure to cancer.

INFO: http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-awareness-month

WHAT IS IT: https://www.dignityhealth.org/central-coast/services/cancer-care?invsrc=paidsearch&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI18mO4vGW1wIVkLXACh0V2APoEAAYASAAEgLrB_D_BwE&dclid=CJra6uPxltcCFQJ_YgodwKQGzg

I'm going home Part 2

Very short blog today but.....I’m very excited to say I’m going home this weekend. I have been trying to go home for the past 3 weeks. The original reason for me to go home was to just see my family and to spend time with them but I do need to get my hair done and no one in Santa Barbara knows how to do ethnic hair. My mom thought it would be a good idea to just come home and get my hair done while I’m down there. I’m also very excited to see my dog Peaches! I love her so much because she was always there for me when I have bad days. Every time I come home she is always waiting at the door for me. Besides my dog I miss my own room with a bed that can fit more than one person. It’s nice to have your own bathroom and your own space. I love my roommates to death but every once in a while, I need time to myself. Even though its quite a long journey home it is always worth it in the end to see my grandma, grandpa, and mom have smiles on their faces. I already know that as soon as I get home on Friday, my grandma will have a full meal ready for me. Last time I went home my grandma made me a really big salmon just for me and no one else. My grandma even made my bed for me and rewashed all my sheets and folded them on my bed. She always goes above and beyond when I come home. The one thing I miss the most about being living in Santa Barbara is my car. When I drive, it's my time to just be myself and driving also helps with my stress. Before I moved to SB I used to drive and take my friends everywhere. I can’t wait to go home and see what is waiting for me!!

Prioritizing

I noticed that being in college is a hard transition from being in high school. In high school teachers are much nicer with homework and in class assignments compared to being in college. For me the hardest thing was changing my study habits. In high school I had normal study habits but when I came here it all went down the drain.

For me to function I have to have some type of extra curricular activity to do everyday, otherwise I get lazy and I don't want to do anything at all. When I came to SB I wasn't in any sports so I wasn't exercising at all. I'm used to having something to do every day after school whether it was competitive soccer, track practice, or wrestling practice, I had something to do to keep me busy and active. 

I also miss my friend Brandon from home. He now goes to UC Irvine and is doing great. He and I used to work out together back home and he made me stay in shape, besides being in all the sports I was in. Now I know its easy to just say "well just go to the gym and get a membership" but in reality I'm a full time student and it's hard to juggle school plus my personal life and studying. I decided to take matters into my own hands and decided to try out for the Tropicana soccer team. Even though it wasn't really a try out, I still put my best foot forward and show off what I can do. Now that I'm in a sport again, I know that I need to eat really healthy to keep in shape plus continue to exercise. I have not yet motivated myself enough to go to the gym 3 times a week, but I try to do little excercise in my room when I have time. I don't know why it took me so long to notice that you can't slack off in college because it is so easy to get distracted with all the activities around you. 

Make sure you have your priorities straight and remember that you are paying a lot to be here whether you are in state or not. Sadly, it took me two and a half months to figure my life out. I'm not saying don't go to parties or have fun, but I am saying make sure you know what your priorities are. 

I GOT A JOB!!

Hey guys! Its been a while since I have posted because I was sick and I had a lot of tests going on in the past two weeks. To catch you up on what's been going on with me, I recently got a job at the movie theaters in Goleta.

I've never had a job before in my life. The only type of work I've done is volunteer work back home. I have been doing volunteer work since my Freshman year in high school (to try to  qualify to get a cord at graduation, which I did receive). I've always wanted to get a job because I like the feeling of being rewarded for something I worked hard to earn. Back home I applied to 15 places over summer and only got one call back — they ended up not hiring me because I was leaving for college shortly after I applied.

I decided I should try and apply for a job here in Goleta. For some reason, the first place that popped in my head was the movie theaters. When I applied online, I did not put a specific place I wanted to apply to, so my application got passed around to all of the Metropolitan theaters in Goleta.


A few days later I got a call from three different theaters in Goleta — two of them were on State Street. The first interview went great — he said he liked all of my answers and would give me a call back in two weeks. Two weeks went by and I got a call from a totally different theater saying they wanted an interview ... This one was also on State Street, across from the first one. This second interview went better than the first, and I was excited because I really thought I got the job this time. He also told me that I would hear back from him in about two weeks.

Only one week went by when I got another call (during class) — another theater in Goleta, the one I originally wanted. She wanted me to come in the next day for an interview. I was happy I got the interview, but at the same time I felt discouraged because I'd been shot down twice already. I decided to try one last time and put my best foot forward with a smile on my face. I was so excited that I showed up 30 minutes early! During the interview she said, "I usually don't do this, but I can tell you're a people-person and I am going to hire you on the spot." When she said that I was smiling from ear to ear ... and didn't stop smiling until I got back home and told everyone. I was so excited that I finally got a job — the first paying one I've ever had! I felt really proud of myself and treated myself to a bowl of ice cream!