My Family

            My family is the most important thing in my world. I come from a family of six, my parents, myself, and my three brothers. My dad’s name is Eduardo; he was named after his dad, and is fifty-six years old. My dad is one of the most responsible people I know in my life. Also he is a very caring person deep inside but he doesn’t like to show it because he is mostly strict and wants to put on a serious type of impression on people, and it works. If you were to meet him you would immediately think that he is a grouchy person and mean but if u get to know him he has a big heart. My mom’s name is Rosario and she is fifty years old. She is a very protective person and she is like this because she cares about us and she doesn’t want anything bad to happen to us. She has all of her family living at Mexico and I know it is hard for her to hardly ever see them but she pulls through and I admire her for that. My oldest brother is twenty seven years old and his name is Edgar. He works at the animal shelter and loves doing what he does. He has had a girlfriend for three years now or maybe four, her name is Marcela, I like her and I hope they get married soon. He is also a funny person but sometimes can be a little too outspoken and says things that may sometimes be inappropriate but he does not care what other people think about him and I totally agree with him on that. Mo other brother is twenty five years old now, his name is Oscar. He is married and now expecting his first born child, I am happy for him. He has always been into cars he likes to wash his car, fix it, and clean it all the time and it seems like he never gets tired of it because he spends hours and hours doing so. Last but not least my little brother is fifteen years old, his name is Osvaldo. He is really funny and he is always joking around with people. I care about him a lot because I have always been there to take care of him because my mom is always working, so we get along great.  

Independence

          Since when you are very young there are always goals that you want to accomplish. You have all kinds of goals, big ones and small ones. For example winning a basketball game or simply finishing your homework by a certain time so that you can go play with your friends. At this time of your life you have a lot of goals, there are always major goals that may not take days or months but years to accomplish. This was my case because my goal was to get a job. Surely when I turned sixteen in May of 2009, I was excited because it meant that I finally could start looking for a job. Preferably I would like to work at a place where they sold clothes, clothes that I liked for myself because that way I could get discounts on my own things. The first place that I applied at was Tilly’s then Ragdolls, Charlotte Russe, Ross, Factory Avenue, and T.J. Max. I never got a call back from any of those places but I still had not given up hope. I was determined to get my job because I wanted to become more independent from my parents.

One day I went with my brother Oscar to his girlfriends house whom is now his wife and I got to meet her family. However her mom seemed to be paying extra attention to me, she told me that I made a really good impression on her because she liked my personality. She liked that I was always smiling and that I seemed to be talkative and friendly with other people. That is when she offered me a job opportunity at Carl’s Jr. At first I had to think about it before accepting her offer because I knew that working at a fast food restaurant was one of the last things that I wanted to be doing. I decided to accept the offer because it was my only option at the moment.

My first day of work is clear in my memory; it was September 19, 2009. When I first walked in the doors I did not really have any idea of what to expect. All I knew was that I was going to be a cashier but besides that I had no clue of what else I would be doing. The only person I knew from there was Rosa, my brothers girlfriends mom. The fact that I was so excited about my first day I arrived about ten minutes earlier so that I can really grasp the moment even though I was just in the break room by myself. My first day of work is something that I want to remember for the rest of my life because it was an accomplishment. After sitting there for a couple of minutes waiting for the time for me to really start working one of the workers came up to me and presented herself to me, her name was Vicky. She told me that she was the person that was going to be in charge of training me, I was relieved that she was going to be the one to train me because she seemed to be a very nice person.

When I finally arrived to the work area everyone, even the cooks, there were very helpful and talkative which helped a lot because it made me feel welcomed. They taught me what to do when there were no customers and other things that we needed to make sure to get done. The main thing that they wanted me to know and never forget on my entire time there is that customers always come first. For example if I am drying clean trays and someone walks inside I had to know to stop doing what I am doing and go take care of the order. Sandro and Cynthia are two other people that also helped me a lot when I first started there. Sandro would always be telling me jokes and making funny comments and I know he would do that so that I can feel a little less stressed out and he lightened up the day at work. Cynthia was always a good friend and she helped me a lot by giving me ideas of things to do to keep me busy. To keep my hours I had to know to stay busy because if I was not doing something constantly they take it as you are not really trying, therefore they give you less and less hours.

This event is very significant to me because I finally accomplished something big in my life. Now I knew that was not all I also had to work hard to keep it because it can easily go. I did not only accomplish one goal but I also got one other very important thing out of getting a job, I was able to become more independent from my parents. Becoming independent from my parents means a lot to me because I am given a chance to help them financially in a way, because I can buy my own necessities and it was one thing less that they would have to worry about. This event changed my life for the best because it also taught me responsibility. It has taught me how to manage my time so that things get done with time and on time because I need to know my priorities and how to distinguish things because I need to know what is really important because in life you cannot always do it all like planned. My decision to work there was a good one because it was an opportunity that opened my eyes to the real world. Working there has taught me that working there all my life cannot possibly be my future. I know that I have the potential to do better than that and that I can accomplish much more in life. Carl’s Jr. has inspired me to work harder in school and has made me have more goals because it makes me feel like I really need to do better because I want what I do to have a real meaning to it. I want a career that actually helps the society and that makes a difference in people’s lives.   

Stephanie Balam???? :)

-       Name: Stephanie Balam   

-       Background: Born at Oxnard, has two brothers, family of five, her second year at Oxnard College, full time student, and went to Channel Islands High School.

-       Motivation: To become something in life.

-       Current Schedule: School, Home, school

-       She balances school family and work by doing school during the week and hanging out with her family and friends in the weekends.

-       Role models: Her parents are her role models because they have done a lot for her, been there for her, and pushed her to become a better person.

-       She is a role model for her little brother whom is fourteen years old.

-       If she were to describe herself in three words it would be chill, friendly, and shy.

-       Five years from now she sees herself having a degree and having a stable place to live.

-       Her “motto” for succeeding in school is “It would all be worth it at the end.”

-       The specific thing that she likes about Oxnard College is that the teachers are really good and helpful.

-       She also believes that the classrooms could be improved.

-       Her culture influences her decision to go to college because she wants to level herself up more than her parents because they inspired her with their hard work.

-       The biggest surprise about college is that there isn’t as much work as what she expected.

OMG!!!

Eight years ago texting was not as common as it is now. If I remember correctly most people were barely had cell phones the reason being that we were only sixth, seventh or eight graders and we were too young to get them. The people that did have phones a lot of people didn’t bother to include texting on their plans. I remember that my oldest brother Edgar got himself a cell phone until after high school when he got a job. My other brother Oscar didn’t get a phone until he turned eighteen years old, which was a gift from my brother Edgar and the phone was pre paid. I got my first phone when I turned fifteen years old and did not have texting. A couple of months later after I begged my parents for it they finally gave in and included it in the plan then we had it. My little brother got his first phone when he turned fourteen and the whole package was already there for him including texting. So I have noticed that as time has passed more and more people use texting and not only more people but also younger and younger people use it all the time. I think that texting is a great tool for communication. I use my phone mostly for that I hardly ever talk on my phone. Texting is awesome because it is the best and easiest way to get a hold of people fast whenever you need to do so.