Pushing a vehicle for a whole mile

   Do you ever go to training or as a kid when you played organized sports go to your practice and hope its not a hard practice or workout? Cause last Thursday that's what was going through my head when I showed up at the training facility. We warm up and do some ground stretches and then go for a run. Once we come back we do a lot of squats and push press using dumbbells. I get a drink of water and then finish all of my sets when my trainer blows his whistle and tells everyone to go out side onto the street. Everyone begins whispering and complaining about how they really don't want to run and didn't drink enough water. My trainer meets us outside and is inside his truck and informs us that we are going to push the truck for a whole mile. Everyone is shook and just looks at each other while the trainer says c'mon lets get to it. We begin pushing and it doesn't seem that bad until like 3/4 of the way everyone is breathing heavily and complaining. We get about 100  yards away from the facility and another trainer begins to record us, keep in mind I want to quit and now to make it better she pulls out her phone and is chanting while recording on IG. I didn't wanna seem like no lil girl so I finished but then went inside while everyone else got exposed due to them falling on the ground or laying down. Sheeeshh you was not about to expose me fam! I learned to always drink enough water and to simply be ready cause you never know what your day is going to throw at you!!

The studying paid off!!

     Studying is something I have taken more serious now that I am in college. If you have read my last blog on studying you remember me saying that in high school I didn't really study much or at all in some cases. When I got to college that changed and I think that was a good thing. I have learned how to study efficiently. I make flashcards, I simply put the word on one side and the definition on the other side of the flashcard and study it over and over. While studying I realized I memorize the definitions or phrases/sentences much more easily in comparison of just grabbing my notebook and reading through it. The first test in my psychology class I didn't do to great but I didn't really study I just reviewed my notebook 15 minutes before I took the test which wasn't a good idea. The outcome of doing that wasn't pretty, I got serious and told myself I would study everyday until I got the material. I did and I just took my last test and got a way better grade in comparison to the first time I took the test. Seeing my results from studying and making it a daily routine made me happy and I was excited which I found a bit funny because I've never felt so accomplished over passing a test. I believe I have found an efficient way of studying and have learned that anything worth accomplishing or getting is worth working for!

Cheat Days?

     This month has been kind of bumpy for me as to how I've been eating. I always or for the most part eat very healthy, I make sure I get all by carbs, protein, and veggies into my system and fuel my body with good sources of food. Although I usually eat healthy and stick to a clean diet avoiding fast food or junk food like burritos, tacos, cookies, chips, ice cream, and any other fat you can think of this month has been a wreck. I have let myself go for these past two weeks just enjoying all this fattening food and snacks. I've been eating a lot of tacos, cookies, juice, soda, and pumpkin pie. Since the holidays are coming up and the weather is getting a bit colder my family purchases all the goodies now. At the beginning I told myself I was only going to have a cheat day which was every Saturday or Sunday and now I've turned one day into 3 to 4 days a week and its affected my training, I feel much more slower and I've put on some weight. The month is coming to an end and I'm gonna challenge myself to go back to healthy eating and not eating as many times a day. I hope by in doing so and drinking plenty of water my body will feel better and I wont feel as drained.  I have created a meal plan for the month of November and I'm going to follow it accordingly, I told myself the only cheat day I'll have is on Thanksgiving and that is avoiding the pumpkin pie because that is by far my weakness. I hope my scheme will work and my next food log if any is instructed for us to make will be a whole lot better and healthier!
      

Tutoring

    
      Tutoring is something that is new to me. In high school everything was easy for me because I had a set schedule every day and didn't work on the weekdays. Now in college that isn't the same anymore I don't have a set schedule and now I'm responsible for my daily errands and activities and such. I have had trouble in some of my classes and I signed up for tutoring after I received a bad grade on my first math exam. Its a bit weird since I've never felt like I've needed it. I have gone to tutoring about 7 times now and I feel like it has helped. I feel like I know the material better and feel a bit more confident. I go over the labs that we do in class and ask my tutor questions on the steps to solve the problem. My learning has been more efficient and I’m able to in a way be a bit ahead of my classmates. When I feel very confident about the material we start talking about the next material and she gives me pointers and information on what is coming up which is very helpful. I would recommend tutoring to anyone who is struggling in any class or a certain problem or what not. The tutors at the tutoring center are very kind and helpful and the best part of it is that any tutoring on campus is free. I believe this is very convenient to any of the students on campus and beneficial. Overall, I have benefited from tutoring and just wanted to put it out there to any of my classmates that have considered or had questions about tutoring.

Studying

      The transition between high school and college is a bit challenging or at least for me. I have learned now how to manage my time a bit more and when or what days I can use to study for exams, tests, or quizzes. In high school I didn't have to study that much really I mean I just showed up to class and reviewed a bit before the test. Now in college I don't really know what is going to be thrown at me so now I have to study ahead of time and take it more seriously. I have came up with different methods of studying and I've learned how to study efficiently. I believe studying will be a big part of my time in college for me. I need to pass my classes and I feel like just showing up to class isn't going to cut it. I've never really took studying serious until this year. Once I find out if you fail a class in your first semester your fafsa can be taken away from you gave me an incentive to take my schooling serious and make sure to make time for studying. So far I've had to study for every class except for English because my English class is really calm and straight forward. I've gotten a tutor and joined study groups to make sure I'm on top of my stuff. I hope it helps in the long run which I feel like will because I've gained confidence when working on homework I don't feel as confused or worried. Studying in high school is believed to be "unnecessary" or "irrelevant" unless you're taking an act or sat then that's when everyone takes it serious but in college I've learned that you must take the whole semester seriously.

Finding employment

     Finding employment can be a hassle. As teenagers we tend to be caught up in materialistic items and want money. Some have to get a job due to their expenses and have to grow up a bit sooner then others. It was a mission to find a job that actually wanted to hire me. I applied at several places like dairy queen, McDonalds, Del Rio Country Club, subway, Papa John's, Galletto ristorante, foot locker, and La Parrilla. None of these places were messing with me. They all said I had no experience but how was I suppose to get experience if I've never had a job before? A friend of mine was able to convince his manager to hire me at Galletto ristorante in Modesto. I met this friend through the gym were I now work at also called The Performance Lab, he liked me and felt like I was a trustworthy guy and spoke to his manager about me and I was able to get the job. if it wasn't for him helping me out I would probably be stuck with a crappier job or barely be getting my job at The Performance Lab. While I was struggling trying to find a job I would get frustrated and worried if I would ever find one and Id ask myself why some of the places wouldn't give me a shot. I'm sure most of us have been rejected from a certain job or have struggled trying to find their first job. Overall Im just very lucky to have had a friend to believe in me and follow through with what he said which was that he would get me in.

Raising a puppy

     This Saturday was a very busy Saturday for me. My schedule was a little different compared to what I do on most Saturdays besides work in the afternoon. Every employee at the restraint I work at was called in to go and help clean and decorate the restaurant at 9a.m. This felt extremely unusual since at 9a.m. I'm usually having breakfast or in bed still. Anyways I went to help out and was stressed out because I thought I was only going to be in there for about an hour to an hour and a half and I ended up being there for five hours. I was really exhausted and both mad and hungry. As soon as I clocked off I felt so relieved and was in a hurry to get home and eat. On the way there and
all I could think of was what I was gonna make to eat. I was still a bit mad and then walked in and right in front of me there was a cute two month old brindle puppy. My dad went out that morning and got me a puppy. Seeing the dog changed my whole mood and I was excited and happy I started petting it and playing with him. I took him for a walk which was a bit hard because he doesn't know how to walk yet on a leash and wants to bite the leash every other step he takes. After I walked him I brought him inside and was watching him to make sure he didn't go somewhere and pee or poop. I went outside to turn on the sprinklers and when I came back inside I caught him peeing on the ground. I had to clean it and spray bleach so it would take the scent away. I have to take him outside every 15-30 minutes so he gets used to peeing and pooping outside that way he's potty trained. I also have to make his food for him everyday and serve him can food that goes into regular dog food. This puppy has turned into a responsibility for me I feel as if the puppy is a baby. I still need to teach him how to sit and not to get on any of our furniture but I think I will do that in a couple of months since he is still a baby and cant hop onto any of the furniture in the house.

Adredaline

     Adrenaline is a felling that I believe we've all experienced. Whether its being chased by a dog and having to run, fighting, or simply playing sports and being caught up in the moment. This past weekend I had some adrenaline pumping and I am going to talk to you about how that adrenaline helped me but at the same time caused me to feel extremely tired during a challenge. On Saturday at the gym we had an event that we put together called " HOT SATURDAZE" which is a one hour work out that involves challenges and winners. I was able to win the first challenge which was doing 10,15, and 20m squats with 185lbs on the bar followed with 10,15, and 20 box jumps. We were going up by five reps each round. I wasn't really excited to be honest with you because I wasn't planning on competing that day but my boss made me. Once he blew the whistle to begin the workout I as going as fast as I could and I noticed I was the first one done with my squats and began hitting the box jumps so it gave me a bit more of confidence. Now on my second set my adrenaline is high and my heart is beating extremely fast and I'm just racing through the squats and the box jumps thanks to my adrenaline. Before I know it I'm on my last set of box jumps and I have finished and I have won. I'm excited and I'm done with the first challenge. At this point I feel great and have tremendous amounts of energy flowing through my body due to everyone hyping me up. But then I go to sit down and feel a huge amount of pain and soreness on my thighs and hamstrings. I got this feeling when my adrenaline went down and I wasn't so hyped up. I rolled myself out and went home that day and make sure I stretched. The next day I woke up extremely sore and it was a bit hard for me to sit down. I then realized everything was fine when I was hyped up due to my adrenaline running through my body and not being able to feel anything but it caught up to me and the adrenaline that helped me win a challenge in 3 minutes turned into 3 days of awful soreness.

Procrastination

As a student I've procrastinated several times. I'm sure a lot of students do too. I've procrastinated on homework, studying, and showing up on time for a certain event. In high school or specifically my senior year I got 'senioritous' senioritous is when students (seniors) simply get lazy and don't try as hard as they should in school. I procrastinated on homework multiple times for most of my classes and did it the period before it was do. This wasn't a good idea because while doing it I felt rushed and really wasn't trying to answer the questions to my ability I kind of just did it to do it. This ended up tying into my studying. My homework wasn't the best so to utilize it as a resource for studying wasn't a good idea nor helpful. My grades were average and would sometimes decline. They were not as good as the last 3 years. all of this was causing my grades to decline a bit, I barely graduated with a 3.3 GPA. I should've done a whole lot better as a senior. If i would have none of these problems would have happened and they did do to the simple issue of me wanting to procrastinate. Part of my procrastination came from always wanting to have fun like going out with friends, exercising, and always being on my phone which I believe was a major issue. These things listed above are all fun but I was forgetting to take care of business in the classroom and then going and enjoying myself and having a good time. Procrastination caused me to have my priorities all mixed up and not in the correct order. I believe if you are a senior you should try your best the whole year and not get lazy or procrastinate because then you might end up like me or if not worse.

Volleyball

 Volleyball is a sport that in my opinion is very fun. It consists of hitting a ball back and forth over a net. The goal in volleyball is to hit it over on your opponents side and somehow make sure it hits the grounds whether its a good hit or a really good spike that goes down hard towards the sand. This weekend I went to go play with friends and members from the training facility at which I work at. When we started I was a bit confused over the rules and how to properly serve the ball. I was confused because everybody there would change the rules just about every other point. There was only one person out of all 19 that knew how to properly play volleyball and I could tell she was getting a bit frustrated. It was a fun game and everyone was laughing and at the same time talking trash to each other back and forth. I learned how to properly serve and the proper way to set another teammate up so that they can spike the ball. At times when the other team would hit it a bit far from my area it was hard to get to the ball quick and try to make a play because the sand slows you down and makes your feet feel heavy. We played for about an hour and a half and everyone was sweating but yet no one said they were tired and we never took a water break which I found weird because everybody's face was sweaty. I'm glad I got to learn how to play volleyball and get a better understanding of the rules and how to properly play. I would encourage all of my peers to give volleyball a try whether its one on one with a friend or with various people because its fun and enjoyable and  everyone is capable of playing in my opinion.

My weekend

 

 

  My weekend this week went by pretty fast. We all have weekends some of our weekends go by fast while others weekends go by slow. This weekend was a bit different since I planned out my schedule. I usually just clean my room, house, and my car on the weekend and go workout on Saturday. To some this may seem extremely boring and to others they might be able to relate. But this weekend I had to break that habit of doing the same routine every weekend. This weekend I did that and more. I recently just got a job at a gym in Modesto and we are building a new weight room so I had to help fix that and the weight room came out looking great! We bought all new machinery and equipment. I also worked Saturday and Sunday at the restaurant I work at and it was crazy busy we had over 100 covers each night. I was in a hurry half the time I even began to sweat. I had to clear plates, run food, set up tables, bus tables, and box food from all the different tables it got a bit hectic towards the end. Although I might have been complaining in the moment to myself I was glad I did it because all the tables tipped good amounts which made every employee happy for those two nights. Also before I clocked in at the restaurant both days at 6pm I ran errands throughout the day like going to the bank, buying groceries, cleaning the family business, going shopping, and helping my cousin set up for my aunts surprise party. I had to learn how to plan all of these events out before I would go into work or plan them out in the way that would be more efficient and convenient for me. I was able to learn how to adapt to a different schedule on the weekend in comparison to doing the same routine that I've been doing for the past few months. How about your weekend? Did you plan it out or simply go with the flow?