2006: A Wonderful Year
I think it's time for me to reflect upon the year that's about to end. There's no doubt to me that 2006 was the best year of my life, and I hope that the next and every year after that I can match what I did or improve it. I just feel like making a recap of my '06 and giving thanks for all that has happened to me.
The year started with me fighting an uphill battle to get the 4.0 that I thought I was able to get. I finished really well my first semester and I thought that I accomplished a lot even without spending a crazy amount of time with homework and such. I solidified my friendship with Y Leho, and I'm really thankful for having met him and his family and I hope we can be friends for as long our lives last. At the time I was also falling for Emily till it got the point where I couldn't hide it anymore. After that, I got hit by the fact that I couldn't make the tennis team. I spent a lot of money on lessons and crap, but now I can see that I didn't put the effort to really have a shot against the better competition. Plus, I was so burned out that my tennis level was pathetic by the beginning of february. The good thing is that now I can play tennis without pressure, without having to prove anything to anyone, and have fun while doing it, which makes me really happy.
Halfway through february I started driving, which completely changed my social life. I can go anywhere and everywhere and that usually helps a lot in meeting new people and helping friendships grow stronger, because I could see my friends outside of school more often. After that, I think that college admissions decisions came around and while it was a really stressful thing to many, my results were expected. I knew I had no shot at Berkeley (I should've kept the money from the app :p), my chance of going to UCLA was more wishful thinking than a solid reality, and I expected to get into UCI, which happened. I did try to enrol in UCI, but then my legal citizenship status became a problem and while I could've chosen to fight for it (it's not hard), I thought it wasn't worth it because I really want to go to UCLA. Though I admit it was a bit shameful at the beginning (with all my friends going to strong UC's and private colleges), I chose to go to Saddleback so I could save money and fulfil my dream of transferring to UCLA, even if it's that harder way.
My second semester at school wasn't that great, though I started strong. I was doing pretty well, but then a combination of the UCLA rejection and my "relationship" with Emily proved to be too much. I was really in love with her and I had a good time while it lasted. Prom night was probably the happiest day of my life, and from then on the rest of the school year was more focused on doing the minimum to get a 4.0 and spending a lot time with my friends and with her. I slacked off in Lit and pulled a miraculous A on the final paper to get an 80.7 in the class. I hated all the second semester of physics, I hated math and I only enjoyed Lit and Art History. My friends helped me through that slump because I was waaaay deep into senioritis and i didn't feel like going to school anymore.
Then graduation came and I was happy to be done. I enjoyed the first 2 weeks of the summer with Emily and I was the happiest person on Earth. Then she left for Europe, came back, ended everything and left me not knowing what the hell I would do with my life. I took me a while to recover from the hit, but hey, it's true, time heals, and it healed that wound. Again, I wouldn't be anywhere without Y, Jon Lee and my friend Santiago Guiter. They pretty much kept me moving after that, which I can say it was the worst month of my life. She was my first girlfriend, my first true love, etc, and since I've never been too strong emotionally, it kinda hit me extremely bad. But don't worry, I recovered.
Then July 27th came around (my bday), and it seemed as if it was going to be another depressing day since for different reasons no one could attend the bday party that I planned, and my friends were all busy. However, that's when a phone called changed pretty much everything, and that's when I gained another true friend, one of those that don't come too often. I didn't expect Brad Ivanicki to call me to say happy birthday. When he realized that I was about to cry on the phone (yes, I do cry when I'm sad, sorry if it bugs you :p), he pretty much ordered me to go and have lunch with him and Jon. So yeah, I went there, we talked, I had a good time, and the day was saved. Those little things make a world of difference. And most importantly, those things I don't forget.
My summer was good, and I really did bond with the people that I consider to be my closest friends. That really saved me from becoming an angry, depressed, bitchy person. I thank them for that.
Then Saddleback started and routine pretty much took place. Lunch with Brad and Y on tuesdays (with those awesome movie discussions and even better food from Chilly's, Island's, CPK, etc...), lunches with Santiago at VillaRoma, hanging out with them, playing tennis with Franco on Sundays, watching soccer with Santi on sundays. It went like that for a while, and that helped eased all my sadness away to the point where I'm at right now. Then I started hanging out with Brad's group, and that changed everything again...
They're some of the coolest people I know: DJ, Saba, Tarick, Matt, Nadia, Suzie, Song, Ricky, Jeff, Sadaff, Lindsay, Sencia, Connie, Jimmy, Vihar, Mico, Cameron and the other that I can't remember right now. Knotts Scary farm, parties at DJ's and Jimmy's, Jeff/Song's party...good, fun times.
Then everything kept its course till the end of the semester. With the invaluable help of Deanna Avetisian (my offical math tutor, she rocks, call her if u need help with math) I got a 94 on the final and pulled the A by one point. I got A's in psych and Humanities 10A and I'm still waiting for the grade in Hum 10B.
Last Monday we went with Brad and the crew to Big Bear, and it was awesome. I did snowboard for the first time, and although spent most of the time trying to get up after falling, it was an awesome experience that I recommend to anyone who can take a little pain in the legs...I also had a little Vodka and Malibu, but it didn't hit me at all, so I'm gonna have to increase the doses of alchohol next time (except for when I gotta drive home).
I also went to 2 parties with Santiago and my peruvian friends and I had a ton of fun (an a third of a big bottle of champagne too :p), while hanging out with people that I like to be around.
Well, basically that takes me all the way up to the 22nd. The next day was my dad's birthday and we went to dinner with my mom and sis and him, and we had a good, peaceful time. The 24th I spent working 9 and a half hrs and then dinner with the family and 2 movies. Lame, but it helped in bonding us together, since the 4 of us are never home at the same time. For the future, I anticipate working 45 hrs next week, hanging out with Y, Brad, Jon and Santiago, going to a party on the 1st (there has to be one), going to Song's party on the 6th and enjoying the rest of my vacation before I try to rock Saddleback again in my journey to UCLA. I don't wanna think any more ahead of that, cuz I want life to surprise me.
Before wrapping this up, I wanna add something else. What one of my friends told me today hit me really hard, and thinkin back, I can't believe I did and said so many stupid and selfish things. I can't ask life any more than what I have right now. I am completely thankful to God and life and fate for being so nice to me and my family. I'm healthy and so are they. We all have jobs. My sister and I have the chance to study. We're safe. We have a wonderful house. I have an awesome car. I have money in the bank. I'm able to pay for my classes and my books. I have enough strong friends and a ton of people that I enjoy being around and that like me too. I had love and I enjoyed it. I was rejected and I recovered. I know that, because of my actions, most of the people (whether they like me or not), they respect me. I am respecful and kind, and I thank my parents for those values. I was born in an awesome place, and I get to live in the best country in the world. I speak two languages. I play tennis. I am relatively happy and serene.
For all of this, I have no right to ask God, life and fate for anything else. I just wanna express how thankful I am for all the things I mentioned above.
I hope that everyone has an awesome 2007. I hope that your wishes come true and that you can accomplish your goals. I wish you all health and peace, because those things we can't control. Everything else we can achieve with effort and a little luck.
Rodrigo Azurmendi
The year started with me fighting an uphill battle to get the 4.0 that I thought I was able to get. I finished really well my first semester and I thought that I accomplished a lot even without spending a crazy amount of time with homework and such. I solidified my friendship with Y Leho, and I'm really thankful for having met him and his family and I hope we can be friends for as long our lives last. At the time I was also falling for Emily till it got the point where I couldn't hide it anymore. After that, I got hit by the fact that I couldn't make the tennis team. I spent a lot of money on lessons and crap, but now I can see that I didn't put the effort to really have a shot against the better competition. Plus, I was so burned out that my tennis level was pathetic by the beginning of february. The good thing is that now I can play tennis without pressure, without having to prove anything to anyone, and have fun while doing it, which makes me really happy.
Halfway through february I started driving, which completely changed my social life. I can go anywhere and everywhere and that usually helps a lot in meeting new people and helping friendships grow stronger, because I could see my friends outside of school more often. After that, I think that college admissions decisions came around and while it was a really stressful thing to many, my results were expected. I knew I had no shot at Berkeley (I should've kept the money from the app :p), my chance of going to UCLA was more wishful thinking than a solid reality, and I expected to get into UCI, which happened. I did try to enrol in UCI, but then my legal citizenship status became a problem and while I could've chosen to fight for it (it's not hard), I thought it wasn't worth it because I really want to go to UCLA. Though I admit it was a bit shameful at the beginning (with all my friends going to strong UC's and private colleges), I chose to go to Saddleback so I could save money and fulfil my dream of transferring to UCLA, even if it's that harder way.
My second semester at school wasn't that great, though I started strong. I was doing pretty well, but then a combination of the UCLA rejection and my "relationship" with Emily proved to be too much. I was really in love with her and I had a good time while it lasted. Prom night was probably the happiest day of my life, and from then on the rest of the school year was more focused on doing the minimum to get a 4.0 and spending a lot time with my friends and with her. I slacked off in Lit and pulled a miraculous A on the final paper to get an 80.7 in the class. I hated all the second semester of physics, I hated math and I only enjoyed Lit and Art History. My friends helped me through that slump because I was waaaay deep into senioritis and i didn't feel like going to school anymore.
Then graduation came and I was happy to be done. I enjoyed the first 2 weeks of the summer with Emily and I was the happiest person on Earth. Then she left for Europe, came back, ended everything and left me not knowing what the hell I would do with my life. I took me a while to recover from the hit, but hey, it's true, time heals, and it healed that wound. Again, I wouldn't be anywhere without Y, Jon Lee and my friend Santiago Guiter. They pretty much kept me moving after that, which I can say it was the worst month of my life. She was my first girlfriend, my first true love, etc, and since I've never been too strong emotionally, it kinda hit me extremely bad. But don't worry, I recovered.
Then July 27th came around (my bday), and it seemed as if it was going to be another depressing day since for different reasons no one could attend the bday party that I planned, and my friends were all busy. However, that's when a phone called changed pretty much everything, and that's when I gained another true friend, one of those that don't come too often. I didn't expect Brad Ivanicki to call me to say happy birthday. When he realized that I was about to cry on the phone (yes, I do cry when I'm sad, sorry if it bugs you :p), he pretty much ordered me to go and have lunch with him and Jon. So yeah, I went there, we talked, I had a good time, and the day was saved. Those little things make a world of difference. And most importantly, those things I don't forget.
My summer was good, and I really did bond with the people that I consider to be my closest friends. That really saved me from becoming an angry, depressed, bitchy person. I thank them for that.
Then Saddleback started and routine pretty much took place. Lunch with Brad and Y on tuesdays (with those awesome movie discussions and even better food from Chilly's, Island's, CPK, etc...), lunches with Santiago at VillaRoma, hanging out with them, playing tennis with Franco on Sundays, watching soccer with Santi on sundays. It went like that for a while, and that helped eased all my sadness away to the point where I'm at right now. Then I started hanging out with Brad's group, and that changed everything again...
They're some of the coolest people I know: DJ, Saba, Tarick, Matt, Nadia, Suzie, Song, Ricky, Jeff, Sadaff, Lindsay, Sencia, Connie, Jimmy, Vihar, Mico, Cameron and the other that I can't remember right now. Knotts Scary farm, parties at DJ's and Jimmy's, Jeff/Song's party...good, fun times.
Then everything kept its course till the end of the semester. With the invaluable help of Deanna Avetisian (my offical math tutor, she rocks, call her if u need help with math) I got a 94 on the final and pulled the A by one point. I got A's in psych and Humanities 10A and I'm still waiting for the grade in Hum 10B.
Last Monday we went with Brad and the crew to Big Bear, and it was awesome. I did snowboard for the first time, and although spent most of the time trying to get up after falling, it was an awesome experience that I recommend to anyone who can take a little pain in the legs...I also had a little Vodka and Malibu, but it didn't hit me at all, so I'm gonna have to increase the doses of alchohol next time (except for when I gotta drive home).
I also went to 2 parties with Santiago and my peruvian friends and I had a ton of fun (an a third of a big bottle of champagne too :p), while hanging out with people that I like to be around.
Well, basically that takes me all the way up to the 22nd. The next day was my dad's birthday and we went to dinner with my mom and sis and him, and we had a good, peaceful time. The 24th I spent working 9 and a half hrs and then dinner with the family and 2 movies. Lame, but it helped in bonding us together, since the 4 of us are never home at the same time. For the future, I anticipate working 45 hrs next week, hanging out with Y, Brad, Jon and Santiago, going to a party on the 1st (there has to be one), going to Song's party on the 6th and enjoying the rest of my vacation before I try to rock Saddleback again in my journey to UCLA. I don't wanna think any more ahead of that, cuz I want life to surprise me.
Before wrapping this up, I wanna add something else. What one of my friends told me today hit me really hard, and thinkin back, I can't believe I did and said so many stupid and selfish things. I can't ask life any more than what I have right now. I am completely thankful to God and life and fate for being so nice to me and my family. I'm healthy and so are they. We all have jobs. My sister and I have the chance to study. We're safe. We have a wonderful house. I have an awesome car. I have money in the bank. I'm able to pay for my classes and my books. I have enough strong friends and a ton of people that I enjoy being around and that like me too. I had love and I enjoyed it. I was rejected and I recovered. I know that, because of my actions, most of the people (whether they like me or not), they respect me. I am respecful and kind, and I thank my parents for those values. I was born in an awesome place, and I get to live in the best country in the world. I speak two languages. I play tennis. I am relatively happy and serene.
For all of this, I have no right to ask God, life and fate for anything else. I just wanna express how thankful I am for all the things I mentioned above.
I hope that everyone has an awesome 2007. I hope that your wishes come true and that you can accomplish your goals. I wish you all health and peace, because those things we can't control. Everything else we can achieve with effort and a little luck.
Rodrigo Azurmendi