On the day Botti describes, he is haying goodbye to people, a place, and a new life he had barley begun. Describe a significant time in your life when you said goodbye. You may have been leaving a place, ending a relationship, giving up a dream, or breaking a dangerous addiction.
When I read this reading reaction it immediately reminded me of moving to Chico and acquiring a job as a wild land firefighter. I moved to Chico from Santa Rosa in March of 2002 into my friend Josh's house. In Santa Rosa I became idle with my life. Many issues arose at once, so I attempted to deal with them to the best of my ability. At this time I stayed in contact with my friend Josh. Keeping in contact with Josh allowed me to filter through a few options that were presented to me. One option was to stay in Santa Rosa and attempt to fix all the problems that surrounded me, but at the time it seemed unrealistic for me. The second option was for me to move up to Chico after I sorted through my issues, deal with my priorities then move to Chico. The third option was to forget about moving, and keep working, stay in the same situation and make the best of things. After talking with Josh, Casey( now my wife), my mom and dad I decided to move up to Chico. Josh allowed me to live with him for a month for free, which enabled me to find a steady source of income. At first I worked for a temporary employment agency for a month. This line of work allowed me to make enough money to pay Josh for room and board. Around the beginning of April I was offered a job by a former co-worker of Josh's. This person was involved in the wild land firefighting industry. I found out how much the pay rate was, how much I could make if I worked hard, and some of the incentives that the company offered. After passing a drug test, physical fitness test, and receiving training, I started my employment with Firestorm. For a few months I would work around the town assisting co-workers with fuel reduction treatment. I started to feel apart of the community, by making friends at work, having some family around if things went south, and having a great friend around that opened his home to me. Sometime in June I received my first fire call. It was around 10:00p.m. I was distraught, not to mention stressed out. I did not know what to expect fighting a fire in the forest. When I read this reading reaction, I instantly thought of this experience. I made a move in my life at 21 years old, so the impact of the move as well as the impact of the experiences in my life at the time really threw me for a loop. When I received that first call I contacted many people to figure out how to deal with the emotions that I felt at the time. After the first experience I knew that this industry was something that I could become passionate about. Oh yeah the money was good also.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Monday, May 7, 2007
Reading Reaction # 3 "One Man's Kids"
If you are working or have ever worked with children, write a paragraph describing the good (or bad) aspects of the job. You can first describe the job and its responsibilities and then write about its good (or bad) points.
When I am at home, sometimes our neighbors need my wife or myself to babysit their four year old named Cassie and their two year old named Aden. Our neighbors live very active lives, they have four children total. Cassie and Aden are the two younger children out of the group. At times our neighbors will run errands during Cassie and Aden's nap time. When this occurs myself or my wife (Casey), will make our way over to the house and supervise the house when the kids are sleeping. Usually when one of us babysit, the duties include feeding the children when they wake up, reading or watching T.V. until they are finished with their snack, and finally taking them outside to play. Spending time with Cassie and Aden has its perks. Interacting with the children is the best aspect of babysitting. Taking care of Cassie and Aden has both good and challenging points, which comes with supervising other adults kids. When it comes to Aden, he wakes up from his nap, asks for a drink, shares a banana, then gets ready to go outside and play with whatever sports equipment he has. If he doesn't want to play any sports, then he asks to be pushed on the swing. This afternoon ritual is fairly easy, with the exception of the communication factor. Since Aden is only two years old, there is a lot of guessing that is involved with the communication. Aden starts to become irritated after the third time explaining what he wants to do. This is the only downside with babysitting, sometimes the child's body language is the easiest way to determine what a child is asking for. Cassie's ritual is a little different. She wakes up crying, which is common for her, then eats and drinks while watching a movie. Once the movie is on, usually the crying stops. After Cassie finishes her snack, the T.V. gets turned off. She heads outside and starts to participate in whatever the rest of us are doing. There is some confrontation at first, mainly due to Cassie trying to take over the game that is already in progress. After she finds out that she can not dictate the activity at hand, she behaves and starts to participate in the activity. By now the parents usually come home and start to engage in the activity with us. During this time we exchange stories about errands and babysitting, which turns out to last for an hour or so. After we are finished we hug Cassie and Aden good bye, Aden and I have a handshake as well, then it is off to our home. Some of the benefits of babysitting is the interaction that we have with the children. This teaches us how to deal with multiple situations, so in the future we know how to take care of our own children. Another benefit is developing a relationship with both kids. Personally I enjoy seeing the children learn how to share and cooperate with each other. Some other benefits are helping the kids develop their motor skills, hand and eye coordination as well as the willingness to have fun in what ever they do.
When I am at home, sometimes our neighbors need my wife or myself to babysit their four year old named Cassie and their two year old named Aden. Our neighbors live very active lives, they have four children total. Cassie and Aden are the two younger children out of the group. At times our neighbors will run errands during Cassie and Aden's nap time. When this occurs myself or my wife (Casey), will make our way over to the house and supervise the house when the kids are sleeping. Usually when one of us babysit, the duties include feeding the children when they wake up, reading or watching T.V. until they are finished with their snack, and finally taking them outside to play. Spending time with Cassie and Aden has its perks. Interacting with the children is the best aspect of babysitting. Taking care of Cassie and Aden has both good and challenging points, which comes with supervising other adults kids. When it comes to Aden, he wakes up from his nap, asks for a drink, shares a banana, then gets ready to go outside and play with whatever sports equipment he has. If he doesn't want to play any sports, then he asks to be pushed on the swing. This afternoon ritual is fairly easy, with the exception of the communication factor. Since Aden is only two years old, there is a lot of guessing that is involved with the communication. Aden starts to become irritated after the third time explaining what he wants to do. This is the only downside with babysitting, sometimes the child's body language is the easiest way to determine what a child is asking for. Cassie's ritual is a little different. She wakes up crying, which is common for her, then eats and drinks while watching a movie. Once the movie is on, usually the crying stops. After Cassie finishes her snack, the T.V. gets turned off. She heads outside and starts to participate in whatever the rest of us are doing. There is some confrontation at first, mainly due to Cassie trying to take over the game that is already in progress. After she finds out that she can not dictate the activity at hand, she behaves and starts to participate in the activity. By now the parents usually come home and start to engage in the activity with us. During this time we exchange stories about errands and babysitting, which turns out to last for an hour or so. After we are finished we hug Cassie and Aden good bye, Aden and I have a handshake as well, then it is off to our home. Some of the benefits of babysitting is the interaction that we have with the children. This teaches us how to deal with multiple situations, so in the future we know how to take care of our own children. Another benefit is developing a relationship with both kids. Personally I enjoy seeing the children learn how to share and cooperate with each other. Some other benefits are helping the kids develop their motor skills, hand and eye coordination as well as the willingness to have fun in what ever they do.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Do you like music? Why? What kinds of music do you listen to?
I enjoy listening to music, some types more so than others. The types of music that I listen to regularly are; hip-hop, rap, and R & B. Sometimes I will listen to classic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, alternative rock, oldies, soul and funk as well as jazz, Spanish guitar, and classical, on occasion. Over the last few days I have started to listen to Japanese music. Even though I don't understand the lyrics at all, it still intrigues me by hearing the melody, tempo, and rhythm.
On a daily basis I listen to hip-hop. By being a part of the M.T.V. generation and growing up in a working-to-lower class neighborhood, the hip-hop culture appeals to me. This type of music is very easy for me to relate to the struggle of everyday life. My parents did their best to make ends meet, until they parted and went their own ways. Many of the friends that I associated with in my neighborhood shared similar experiences growing up. Every time I found myself struggling in life I realized that I would surround myself with the hip-hop culture, which would inspire me to set goals and achieve them. Over the span of my adolescence I would jump between two types of music, hip-hop and classic rock. My parents would listen to classic rock religiously, I would listen to hip-hop. This music was my escape from the everyday stress that surrounded my parents.
Over the years I came to find out that the hip-hop culture that I identified with rooted from various types of music. These types include rap, R & B, jazz, funk, and soul. I became educated by various artists in the hip-hop culture about various genres of music as well as artists from diverse styles. The artists that I idolized were shaped by artists before them, so I became interested in the singers and songwriters that they would praise on their songs.
Rock is an entirely different story for me. I started out by listening to classic rock(not by choice), in the mid 1980s. As the years passed the radio station would begin to play various styles of rock. These styles included hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. As hard rock became more popular; I started to enjoy the energy that it brought me. This type of rock music is energized with the fast guitar riffs, drum beats and singing(borderline screaming).
I would find myself listening to different types of music depending on the mood or emotions that I encountered, by labeling my moods with different types of music. As I grew and matured I found myself being attracted to other types of music such as Spanish guitar and classical music.
I found a different kind of relation with the various types of music that I would listen to. The more instrumental music would play during studying or stress-free times. I would revert back to hip-hop when I felt discouraged or when I needed to be inspired. Types of rock would motivate me before sporting events, mainly due to the high energy this type of music provided.
On a daily basis I listen to hip-hop. By being a part of the M.T.V. generation and growing up in a working-to-lower class neighborhood, the hip-hop culture appeals to me. This type of music is very easy for me to relate to the struggle of everyday life. My parents did their best to make ends meet, until they parted and went their own ways. Many of the friends that I associated with in my neighborhood shared similar experiences growing up. Every time I found myself struggling in life I realized that I would surround myself with the hip-hop culture, which would inspire me to set goals and achieve them. Over the span of my adolescence I would jump between two types of music, hip-hop and classic rock. My parents would listen to classic rock religiously, I would listen to hip-hop. This music was my escape from the everyday stress that surrounded my parents.
Over the years I came to find out that the hip-hop culture that I identified with rooted from various types of music. These types include rap, R & B, jazz, funk, and soul. I became educated by various artists in the hip-hop culture about various genres of music as well as artists from diverse styles. The artists that I idolized were shaped by artists before them, so I became interested in the singers and songwriters that they would praise on their songs.
Rock is an entirely different story for me. I started out by listening to classic rock(not by choice), in the mid 1980s. As the years passed the radio station would begin to play various styles of rock. These styles included hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock. As hard rock became more popular; I started to enjoy the energy that it brought me. This type of rock music is energized with the fast guitar riffs, drum beats and singing(borderline screaming).
I would find myself listening to different types of music depending on the mood or emotions that I encountered, by labeling my moods with different types of music. As I grew and matured I found myself being attracted to other types of music such as Spanish guitar and classical music.
I found a different kind of relation with the various types of music that I would listen to. The more instrumental music would play during studying or stress-free times. I would revert back to hip-hop when I felt discouraged or when I needed to be inspired. Types of rock would motivate me before sporting events, mainly due to the high energy this type of music provided.
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