It's funny how things change

Back in high school, my plan after high school was to go into the military somehow and then find my way into becoming a teacher. About my junior year or so my plan was this - Naval Academy, serve for a few years, get out, become a teacher. During my senior year, I actually applied to Annapolis and I was actually nominated by my Congressman to the academy but I was unable to go because of certain medical disabilities. I then "settled" for UCI.

Now the reason for what I wanted to do was because of my 8th grade science teacher in, wait for it, military school. He was a retired Navy Commander and he was very inspirational to myself personally and to the class as a whole. To me, he was very much like Professor Chuck O'Connell at UCI. He was loud, unafraid to challenge norms, engaging, and pretty much everything else you see in the movies. He saw the world and always had a life lesson or two for the class.

I always thought to myself that this is what I wanted to do when I got older. I wanted to inspire others because I was so inspired by those around me.

My medical disqualification from the military, I feel, was a silver lining because it allowed me to meet some of the greatest, most wonderful individuals that I have had the pleasure of meeting during my time at UCI. I've gotten to experience so much and do so much. They say that you get as much out of something as you put in it and I feel that I've gotten so much out of it.

Fast forward to now, going to graduate in a few weeks with all these memories that I've made these past years. I passed my interview for SMOE to teach English in Seoul, Korea so now all I have to do is graduate and get my final paperwork done then I'm off. Part of me wants to just travel the world and experience as much as I can before I come home and part of me wants to be in that little comfort zone of home.

If there's anything I've learned in my time in college is that by being in that little comfort zone, you're unable to truly experience what the world truly has to offer. It's comfortable because it's familiar and everything outside of that is uncomfortable because it's not familiar.

I just want to get out there and do something amazing. I felt that way in high school and I feel that now. When I have kids I want to have all these stories for my children and my grand children. Although it's been years upon years since high school and perhaps I've changed a bit here and there, it doesn't seem like I've changed at all.