Legacy

I feel that I am extremely lucky. Aside from some nitpicky moments, I do not hold one major regret from senior year. I am perfectly content with how my high school career ended. Obviously, I am not perfect and I did not have a perfect year. I believe that ups and downs are inevitable. But, at the same time, I lived my life to the fullest and thoroughly enjoyed high school, one last time. I believe I accomplished this by living by the “Yes Man’s” motto. If you haven't seen the movie Yes Man, first off, you should go watch it, now. But, if you need a recap, Jim Carrey emerges from his slump of negativity by simply responding yes to every request anyone asks him. I applied this motto to my senior year. I got involved in everything that I had a minor possible interest in doing and it paid off. For most of the year I was too busy and too stressed and simply exhausted, but I was having so much fun. Some things that I did I wish I wouldn't have, but I would rather live with the repercussions of trying rather than the depression of what could have happened by not trying. For example, maybe coaching a u10 boys rec soccer team, working at a law firm, taking five AP classes, playing division 1 soccer, participating in three clubs and much more was not a good idea the first semester. Fortunately, iQuest gave me the gift of time and allowed me to complete a lot more homework than would have been possible. iQuest helped me realize that time is always available, you just have to find it. You cannot control time, but you can trust your ability to effectively gage and enjoy all the time in your life. Choose to participate in everything senior year because you don't want to miss out. Finally, don't worry about finding your personality and life path senior year, just enjoy the last year of your life that stability and structure is provided for you. Farewell!

iQuest Final Reflections

I felt ecstatic when I discovered iQuest, midway through junior year. I thought to myself, finally I would be able to focus on what I wanted to do, and not have to follow a strict agenda of my teachers. I was mesmerized by the brilliance and freedom that the class presented and was overjoyed to simply apply. The freedom the class presented along with the responsibility that followed the freedom became the most enjoyable attribute of the class for me. I possess many interests and passions. I am not satisfied unless I am able to enjoy all the aspects of life that I love. iQuest gave me the ability to enjoy my life to a greater extent. I was able to juggle all of my passions and complete my homework with greater ease.  As a direct result of iQuest, I was more productive in finishing all of my homework. I learned that I was completely on par with what I love to do. Riding my bike and studying the law are two paths that I want to continue to pursue. This made me realize that I can achieve anything if I put my mind to the task. I won the overall series for the NICA southern norcal league by staying determined and believing in myself. I wish that I had been healthier for more races, so that I didn’t have to race with massive stomach issues for most of my season. In the law office, I rate my effort a 7 out of 10. On the mountain bike I rate my effort a 9 out of 10. However, I fell short in the law office by having a conflicting schedule with many of my mentor’s major court dates. Minding my future, I will take a large sense of confidence in my passion for the law and mountain bikes into everything I do. Lastly, I would completely recommend iQuest to anyone interested because iQuest restores time that senior’s need to explore possible paths for futures oozing with uncertainty.

Inspiration

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."

-Thomas A. Edison

Cycling is far from easy. Today I spent over four and a half hours in the saddle, riding over seventy miles. During the ride, I had plenty of motivation to give up. My legs cramped heavily and I was in great need of real food, but nothing in me was ready to give up. Giving up is not only my worst fear, but also the feeling that I hate most. Cycling is largely based off of momentum. Wheels spin in circles and want to continue to spin. The worst thing you can do on a bike is to stop pedaling. Maintaining a steady tempo and cadence is essential. Surprisingly, holding a steady power output is more efficient than stopping and restarting many times. For these reasons, I hold this quote in high regard. The pertinence this quote holds to cycling is also interesting. Giving up may seem like the easy route at the time, but giving up is the largest restriction of a human’s potential, in my opinion. I have not had success at every race. I have finished races so tired and dead that I swore to myself I would never race again. Sometimes the only reason I am able to finish races is because I tell myself I never have to race again. After some recovery, however, I always got back on the bike. I continue to try and endure the pain associated with suffering on the bike. I do this because I love riding my bike, but, also, because I am fascinated by progress. I devote as much time as I can to being the fastest I can be and it has paid off. This season I did not give up. I trained for about six months straight, steadily building my ride time and fitness. Currently, I am peaking, riding close to eleven hours a week and racing at the fastest paces in the state. I have accomplished my major goals of the season, winning the overall for the southern norcal varsity high school league and placing 4th in varsity at the state championships. I did not give up and I persevered to accomplish my goals. But I am not done yet. My season has just started. I will continue to get faster.

Faster

Bucket List

1. Ride my bike on every continent
2. Study abroad
3. Go to law school
4. Buy a house
5. Race a 24 hour race
6. Complete a double century (200 mile ride)
7. Sky dive
8. Go to lunch with a complete stranger and learn their life story
9. Go snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef
10. Donate a significant amount of money to a charity
    

Five People Five Things

Last week I listed five people that I believe would help me achieve my dreams and goals. Instead of listing five people, I listed one person and four categories of people. Now I want to compare those people to a benchmark test for choosing friends. That benchmark includes four questions, including will spending time with this person drag me down or lift me up, will he or she make me want to be a better person a happier person and a more successful person, and will he or she help me achieve my most important goals. First, I chose my family. My family does pass the benchmark for choosing friends because they always support me one hundred percent. Second, I chose my current cycling coach, Mark Deterline. I also find that he passes the test for choosing friends. Third, I selected the category of future bike sponsors. This is a hypothetical category and therefore I cannot evaluate it to the benchmark test. Fourth, I listed future teammates who would push me and help me improve my skills. Lastly, I listed my friends who would support and accept me for whoever I decided to be.

In addition, five things that I want to accomplish over the next two weeks are listed:

1.   Make a college decision.
2.   Stay focused and precise with my training over spring break, even though I will be traveling.
3.    Do my best at Boggs.
4.     Finish in the top 2 in the NICA varsity southern norcal conference.
5.   Break from the first round of the state championship debate tournament.

Word Cloud

Interestingly, I thought that my word cloud reflected my true personality quite well. The personality tests were right similar to how I analyzed my personality with only minor differences. I see the minor differences in the perception of my personality to the result of the personality tests as possible flaws in my personality that I have trouble accepting. I do find myself setting an extremely high standard for my life and race performances, which can be a gift and flaw at certain times. I realize that have to proceed with caution, however, to not translate those high standards onto others and instead act with more compassion and acceptance. Overall, I enjoyed taking the personality tests. They enlightened my perception to some of my weaknesses and reminded me that no one is perfect.

Second Semester Goals

I have three main goals regarding my upcoming mountain bike race season I am determined to finish in the top three in northern California varsity high school overall mountain biking league and finish in the top seven at state championships.  Along with this I want to win a CCCX race before the end of the school year and place in the top five of a US cup race. To accomplish these goals I need to continue to train hard and to follow the lead of my coach, Mark Deterline. Some interruptions that may occur are lack of motivation, mechanical failures, injuries, and over-training. Luckily, I am taking all the safety precautions necessary to stay healthy and fast. In order to accomplish my goals I may need to seek help from my coach, Mark Deterline, for training advice, my mechanic, Jake Otsuka, for bike support and maintenance, and my team, SRVMTB club, for motivation. Yesterday, I accomplished the first part of my set of goals and won a CCCX XC race in the junior expert category. I had the fastest time of all expert categories and placed 4^th in the pro division. So far my season is going great and I look forward to continuing the hard work.

A New Semester Brings New Oppotunity

Throughout the first semester I explored my passion of the law. I worked every Monday at Rueb & Motta LLP. For most of my time working I was instructed to help the case manager of the BP case. The law firm was a part of a class action lawsuit filing medical claims against Deep Water Horizons for its use of chemicals to clean up the 2008 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. During this cleanup, most local fisherman and boat owners were hired to release cleaning chemicals into the Gulf of Mexico to limit the environmental hazards of the spill. Consequently, the chemicals that were used caused some serious health effects. Most of the cases that were reported dealt with skin problems including rashes and welts. Other injuries included eye problems and back problems. My task began with sending letters to a list of contacts and soliciting them to join the class action lawsuit. After I had finished, I began calling potential clients who had not responded to the letters. This part of my work was interesting. I was calling angry and confused people and trying to convince them that this law office was on their side, which was frustrating. Many people wanted to argue their claim with me. This however, gave me an opportunity to reach out to people and provide some support and assistance. I made a lot of people happy doing this work and that made me happy. Overall, among the many things that I learned, I found that I love to help people and helping people is a large aspect of being a defense attorney. IQuest has had a profound impact on my self-esteem. I am no longer uneasy about my love for the law and my dedication for standing up for what I believe in.

            During the second semester I will be switching from a mentorship to a personal project. I will no longer be working at the law firm and will instead pursue my passion for mountain biking. I expect that second semester will be just as fun and productive as the first semester. Last weekend I won my first race of the season. I had the fastest amateur time for every age group and the fourth fastest time in the pro division. I am training rigorously with the help of my coach, Mark Deterline, who owns Leadout Sports Endurance Coaching. I am ready to work extremely hard to accomplish my mountain biking goals and am excited to race this season!