Learn about more than they teach you.
/My time in high school
Attended high school in the
1990s
Overall high school experience
7/10. I really had a decent experience. I didn't have a lot of terrible stuff happen but it could have been better.
Grades in high school
C's and below. I needed help in math and no one would give it to I until they finally figured out how truly terrible I was at it. I also was horrible in chemistry.
Best subjects
English, History / Social Studies, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Sociology
Struggled with...
Math. I had TERRIBLE math teachers in junior high and in high school they kept just giving me barely passing grades despite how horrible I was. I finally got put into super remedial math and it started to help but it was way too little to late. Half a semester my senior year of math I could actually fathom really didn't help.
Favorite extracurricular
Journalism
Life since high school
“I wanted to go back to school and try to advance myself, but I needed a job more and when I got pregnant that was that. I hope to go back someday.”
Attended college / university at
I went to Foothill Junior College. I was never given any help when it came to going to college because I wasn't a big brain or a sports star. I was a free thinker who didn't fit in and no one bothered to deal with. When my so called advisor talked to me about college and I said I would most likely go to Foothill he never talked to me about it again.
Post-graduate education or training
I went to Stanford and took a bunch of continuing studies courses.
Places lived in US
California
Current occupations / past occupations
I was taking care of my grandma until she died in 2003. After that I went to work for my mom's retail company working as an administrative assistant. I did that for seven years until the company folded and we both lost our jobs. After that I worked at Whole foods which was horrible. I lost that job due to an a coworker getting me fired for false accusations. After that I worked for a psycho at a moving company for three days until he decided I wasn't going to work 12 hour days. Then I worked for a delivery company answering phones until someone abused me on the phone so badly I lost it and the owner deemed me too emotional. After that I got pregnant and had a kid. I'm pretty much a homemaker now.
Industries I've worked in
- Retail Trade
- Transportation and Warehousing
- Accommodation and Food Services
Did your education prepare you for your career or occupation?
Not at all. I really taught myself everything I had to do at my job. I wish I learned more people skills and life skills.
Has your education or career/occupation trajectory ever changed? How?
I wanted to go back to school and try to advance myself, but I needed a job more and when I got pregnant that was that. I hope to go back someday.
A little introspection...
To me, being successful means...
Being happy
My definition of success has changed over time.
My greatest accomplishment to date and what I’ve learned from it
Having a baby
My biggest mistake or regret so far and what I’ve learned from it
I was with a job for seven years I thought would last forever. When I lost it very suddenly I had nooo idea how horrible it would be to get another.
An unexpected event that changed my life and how it impacted me
Getting pregnant and having my daughter has completely changed the way my whole life is. I had no plans to have a kid and now that I do it's a a whole adventure.
Anything else you'd like to share?
I had some amazing teachers who REALLY taught me some great stuff. But I also teachers who were still and treated me terrible because I wasn't a sheep who conformed to their cookie cutter ideals. I saw plenty of the so called golden kids screw up sooooo badly they ended up in community college with me.
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My favorite spot in or around Palo Alto
I grew up on the Stanford campus so Stanford is still paradise to me. Almost everything I loved in Palo Alto is gone. The bowling all, Dinah's Shack, JJ&F. It's like another world now.
