Final Blog

Final Blog Post

            To reflect back on my blogging experience, I would definitely have to say it was something I really enjoyed. At first I didn’t think I would like the fact that we had to blog for English class and it turns out I loved it. It was a first time thing for me I must say. It was a chance for me to say what I had in mind about the certain blog that we had to write about. More likely I will stop using it as frequently as we did but I am going to try and post something now and then. The blog I really enjoyed the most was probably the one random post of our favorite picture or something like that. As for my last words for my classmates, it has been real “my people” straight up Croker quote! Hahaha but I will definitely miss this class. That’s all for now. Thanks for reading.

The Greatest Time Ever

Week 15 Blog Post

            It was sometime during my senior year of high school when I had a pretty great time. It was just Taylor and I. We had to take my grandma to dialysis and pick her up after but the time between then, we had plenty of time to do whatever and that’s exactly what we did. Right after we dropped off my grandma, I had asked Taylor what she wanted to do, and as usual she says, “I don’t know.” LOLOL and that’s when I came up with the idea to head to the west side of the island for shave ice and a sunset. On our way down to that side I decided to make a quick stop at my old house and show her where I used to live which just so happened to be right next to the shave ice place I wanted to take her to. We didn’t have time to sit and eat it though, so we hopped in the car and continued our way west. I was driving so she had to feed me some of it. The next thing we know were at the beach so we both get out and go sit on the sand and wait. As we waited for the sun to set, she decided to take a whole bunch of pictures and what not. After about 50 pictures we finally got to see the sun set and it was just a great scene. A day that started with nothing planned turned into something like that in less than 5 minutes of deciding. This was such a great time because it was her first sunset down on that side. Then we ended up driving back to go and pick up my grandma and that was that. Thanks for reading.

Important peoples

Week 14 Blog

The first person that is really important to me would definitely be my mother. She has always been there for me throughout the eighteen years of my life. Without her, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. She raised me the right way, teaching me right from wrong and always guided me through the rough times I needed her most. She always believed in me when no one else did. & in my mind, she truly defines a mother. I’ll admit my mom can’t keep her hair one color, right now she has light brown hair with some highlights I think. She isn’t the tallest person in the world, she’s about 5’ 4” and she has a very contagious smile. My mom never puts herself above anyone else, especially her children. I am one of seven and she always puts us first. She really is a hard worker and always strives for perfection. Sure, everyone is supposed to love their mom and what not but my mom truly is one of a kind and I love her.

The second person that I find to be important in my life would have to my step dad. He did come into my life much after I grew up but he brought new experiences in my life that I would never have been through if my mom never met him. He is an outgoing guy and isn’t shy to say something to your face. He was the one to give me the whole birds and the bee’s lesson. My dad is about 5’9” and he has no hair. He chooses to be bald because he doesn’t like the hassle of keeping up with haircuts and it saves money on shampoo. My dad has tats all over his body actually even his legs. Most of which are all tribal. He is important to me because he has been a great father figure in not only my life but my little brothers and sisters life as well.

Another person who is pretty important in my life would have to be my high school baseball coach, Jacob Sur. He is the reason why I’m in college still playing ball. He saw the potential in me and pushed me on and off the field to get better and reach my potential. He is a great guy and he is a hell of a coach. He is probably the best coach I had in my life playing baseball. He’s about 5’ 11” and he is yoked out of his mind. He has tats all over his arms, back, and chest. He is a very distinguishable man if you were to see him. I’m really grateful to have had him as a coach in high school. No doubt, without him, I wouldn’t be at Oxnard College playing ball. That is why he’s important to me.

Fast Food Nation

Blog Entry Week 12

            I thought this book was an eye opener for me for sure. I learned so much about the world of fast food through this book I never even thought about once. Eric Schlosser did a hell of a job when he wrote this book. I will admit, it started off pretty slow, but once it got to the good part it was damn good. This book has definitely affected me. Fast food was such a big part of my life, and then I read this book. I will most certainly think twice before I head to a fast restaurant. I am actually thinking about having my family back home read this and see if they want Mcdonalds next time we drive by. There are so spoiled but I love them. I mean, there is nothing wrong with eating it occasionally but not five times a week. One of the issues that this book brought to my attention was how much cattle are being slaughtered in a day. Just think about that, every fast food restaurant requires beef and where do you think that comes from? When it came down to the chapter where Schlosser described how the whole slaughterhouse works, it made my stomach move. He did a great job putting a visual in my head to where I could see myself upfront watching the guy slaughter the cow. Another major issue was the whole E. coli pandemic, they were dragging the cows all over the place in that dirty slaughterhouse. You never really know what we’re eating when we visit the nearest fast food restaurant. But overall, I love the book, I would skim over it again but not read it. Thanks for reading.

Blog Entry Week 11

 

And to reveal my truth that I posted last week, the truth was number 3, the fact that I have SEVEN other brothers and sisters in my family. Yes everyone, I said SEVEN. True story.

 

How is the semester going for me? It is going ok so far. I am only taking three classes this semester, which I don’t know why. It was sort of a last minute thing during registration week. I am taking Anthropology, Math 14, and English 101 and baseball, but I don’t count that as a class. So I guess you can say that I am taking four classes. But math is going good I guess, I started off pretty bad because I overthought majority of the first exam. Other than that, I am doing just great in that class. My anthropology class is pretty fun, the teacher is funny and he really loves to teach us what he knows. You can sometimes get bored in that class but it really makes you think about life. My English class is a joke! No, I’m just kidding Miss, if you’re reading this, I love that class, even if we write a lot of essays. She is funny and loves her job. Miss Croker is the best English teacher ever! Right now were close to the end and I’m dreading this 8 page minimum research paper we have to write. Now that I think about it, this semester has gone by really fast, I don’t know whether or not that’s a good thing but it happened and now we can just look towards next semester. Baseball is pretty fun too.

How do I stay motivated? What keeps me going? I stay motivated by constantly thinking about going back home at the end of the semester. I miss it so much you guys don’t even know. I miss my family, the beach, and especially my girlfriend. I need to get back home and enjoy it while I can. After thinking about that, I just say to myself that school will be school and I just need to buckle down and get this shit done so I can get back home. That’s how I stay motivated.

Try spot my........ truth.

1) I am the only child in my family.
2) I turned down a scholarship to UCLA for Oxnard.
3) I have seven other brothers and sisters in my family.
4) I have a pet liger who i named Mufasa.
5) I go with my grandma to play bingo.
6) I eat subway everyday.

This is me and my girlfriend on graduation day. This is one of my favorite pictures i have with her. We have been together for about 7 months now and I couldnt be happier. Her name is Taylor Andres. She is back home in Hawaii attending college. I cant see myself with any other girl honestly. Yeah, i know im young and what not, but I am 100 percent sure about her. I can only count down the days until im back home in December for winter break. I. Love. Her.

Church

Recently, I have had a sudden change in both my attitude and opinion about going to church. When I was younger, I would dread the thought of waking up early on a Sunday morning just to go to church. I already have to wake up early for school, and now I only get one day to sleep in? How lame. My parents are pretty strict on the whole going to church deal, so when I would be laying in bed barely awake on a Sunday and I heard the metal part of the belt, making a clingy noise as my mom would walk to my room, you better believe I was up and out of my bed. On the bright side to waking up early for church back home in Hawaii, is that my parents would treat to breakfast. Now that I am on my own, I thought I wouldn’t be going to church as often, just because my parents are not here to make me, yet I find myself at church on time every Sunday since I have been out here. I heard this saying, “Most people can sit through 2 hours of the newest movie out, but they can’t sit for an hour in church?” I told myself, I am not going to be one of those people. I love going to church now, it’s time for me to get away from school, baseball, etc. and just pray. I mean if you believe in the lord then that’s your life. I’m saying that if you do believe in him, then get up and go to church. You should give thanks to be alive and be thankful for everything you have.  Stop looking at what you don’t have. When no one is there for you, God is. Thanks for reading.

Family

Family to me is pretty important. I am one to put family above anything else. I mean, they are the ones who I have been with for most of my life. Of course I did just graduate high school, and I just moved out here to California. So this is like the only time I have been away from my family back home in Hawaii. So it is safe to say I was with my family for most of my life. Family, is probably the best thing to ever happen to anyone. I say this because without them you would be one lonely soul. As you grow up and move on to bigger and better things in life, I feel that it is really important to stay as close as you can to your family. Even if that means a phone call every other day, you should at least give an effort to reach out and stay up to date with their lives, especially the immediate ones, your brothers, sisters, and mainly your parents. They are ones who raised you to be the person who you are today. For my case, that’s exactly what they did, I love them to death. They taught me everything I know about life; they taught me what’s good, bad, etc. I try to at least give them a call every day to check up on them. I really am homesick. As for my six other younger siblings, as much as they drove me crazy whenever I was home. I love them. They made my life not as boring as if I were to be an only child. The importance of staying close to them is that when they everyone gets older and we all have our own lives, I have six families to go to if I were in need of anything. But in all seriousness, family is a pretty important thing in life. You can love them or hate them, but the reality of the whole thing is that they are going to be there for you whenever you need them. So return the favor and keep them close people. Like now, that I am on my own, my aunties and uncles there are all there for me. Seeing how I am own my own here in the mainland, they are there for me, and I love them even more. That just about wraps it up for me. Love your family people. Thanks for reading.

Championship Game

Championship Game

            The day was Saturday, the 24^th of April. It was a warm sunny day, with clear skies, a beautiful day for baseball. Walking up to the field, you could just smell the scent of fresh cut grass. As a breeze of wind went by you could also smell the scent of fresh spray paint down the lines to each foul pole. The stage was set, the number 1 seed in the division vs. the second seed. Did I mention that we were playing our rivals? Both teams hated each other a lot if that wasn’t already obvious. For the past four years it was Radford and Waipahu in the championship game, they took two and we took the other two. This was the deciding game between the rivalry. There really isn’t a better matchup for this championship game. To add to all of the hype, this championship game was televised in Hawaii!

            I remember on the bus ride to the field, I was thinking to myself, “This is the big game baby we got to go harder than ever.” I was only a sophomore that year, playing on the varsity level, so I was sort of feeling like a bad ass. So we’re at the field warming up and, then my coach called me over to talk to one of the announcers for the game. He asked to take a picture of me for the broadcast later. Of course I agreed to take one, and in my head I was thinking, “Don’t look stupid.” After all was said and done with the announcer, my coach pulled me aside and said to me,

Coach: “Don’t let that shit get to your head man, you’re better than that, just play the game right.” Me: “Yes coach” Coach: “Get ready, your starting at third.” Me: “Yes coach.” I mean what else was I going to say? So the game gets under way, at first it was a pitchers dual, it was all defense in the first four innings, just until my second at bat comes around. I get a pitch to drive and I put a good stroke on it into left field. That hit, started a rally. We ended up scoring three runs in that frame. As quick as we scored those three runs, they came right back with three of their own. Then we scored one more run to retake the lead. From then on, for most of the game it was again nothing but defense. I remember having to turn two, to stop them from another rally. It was a hard ground ball towards the 6 hole, I had to get the throw off on the run, so it was quick to second and off to first for the double play. My thoughts during that whole play was “gotta get it out quick”. And as I looked on, I saw the play develop quite nice. The next batter after that play, had flew out to right field, which made the inning come to a close. It was our turn to bat, and during my at bat, Waipahu fans were screaming, making obnoxious noises, and even ringing a cow bell. Yes, I said a cow bell. I guess they brought anything and everything to make noise and try distract us. The things fans will do for their team. Anyways that’s all I could here during that inning, was the damn cowbell. They ended up just keeping the lead to just one run in the final inning. Our coaches were hoping that the one run lead was enough to finish the game. Our fans were hoping the same thing as well.

            So, the first batter of that final inning was a tough one, he had a ten pitch at bat. He was fouling off balls left and right, until our pitcher caught him looking on the outside corner. The next thing you know, the umpire rang him up, Umpire: “Strriiiiiiiiike 3, you’re out!” Of course Waipahu’s fan section was not liking the call. We thought we had the game in the bag after that, but man did Waipahu fight back. The next two batters had back-to-back singles followed up by a 1 out walk. Now this right here, we were panicing at this point. Up to the plate was one of their better hitters in the lineup. He was already 2-3 with a single and a double, we couldn’t walk him because that would tie the game up. So we had no choice but to pitch to him. To everybodys surprise he struck out on three pitches! Man was that a time where your butthole is super tight. Anyway, the next batter was one of the ok hitters in their lineup. So our pitcher and the batter, battle a bit and he works the count full. Its bases loaded, two outs, the count was three balls and two strikes, the next pitch was probably the biggest pitch of the game. If it is a ball, the game would go into extra innings, and if it was a strike, the game would be over. This was another time where everybody was on the edge of the seats. At this point in time I was getting set for the pitch to come as if the ball would be smoked right to me. If to my right I would grab it and step on third, if to my left I would have to throw to first. So here comes the pitch, the batter swings,*tiiiing*, and it’s a high drive out to left field, our left fielder is going back, back, back all the way to the wall.

            Keep in mind that if it turned out to be a homerun, we would lose. But if he caught it, we would win. Well, either way, I would say it was a great game played by both teams, we gave it our all and played like winners. At this point, I was just happy to be playing the sport I love to play, well ahead of my time. Anyway, our left fielder, Bobby, was really on his horse heading back towards the fence, I was really scared because from where I was standing, he was running out of room to run and the ball was still in the air. Turns out he was running to the wall while tracking the ball in flight, as he was taught to do by our coach. Once he found the wall, he took a three or four steps in towards the field, and the ball finds the pocket of his glove. Right then and there, everyone knew the game was over and the Radford Rams hold off the Waipahu Marauders to win the OIA White Division Championship. Let the celebration begin.

            Everyone on the field ran towards the mound and we started a big dog pile on top off our pitcher, because he pitched a hell of a game. Even the players from our bench slammed open the fence door and ran out to join the celebration. It was a very proud moment for everyone from the Radford fan base. We defeated our rivals in the championship game. Tonight, we celebrate, and then it’s onto the state championships.

 

Texting

Ahh, the lovely world of texting. This is another one of those subjects to where you either love it or you hate it. There are many reasons to love it, but let’s just start with the reasons why some people hate it. Now when I say some people, the majority of the people I know that hate it would be adults. I have never met a non-adult who said they don’t like to text. I would say they don’t like it because it’s too much technology. “Back when I was your age, we didn’t have fancy technologies like how you do today” those would be the famous words of my mother. Got to love her! Another reason why adults would probably not like the idea of texting is because kids tend to do it in class. Which to most adults would be a sign of disrespect? Like, how would you like it if someone is trying to talk to you and they are on the phone texting someone else about their plans for the weekend? Bad stuff right there.

Now as for those reasons why kids love to text, I see it as a faster way to talk to someone. Like if you don’t really want to talk to that person, you could just send a text and get your point across without waiting for them to pick up the phone. Or the all famous reason is to talk to each other during class, now don’t lie, majority of you reading this, have definitely texted during class. And you’re probably smiling right now because it’s true. Well that’s all I have to say about that. Thanks for reading.

Reality TV

To me, reality TV is just another channel. I will only actually watch it, if there is absolutely nothing else on television. Majority of the time, there is something other than reality TV on. Me personally, I don’t shun the idea of reality TV, I just frown upon it. All it really is, is just a whole lot of drama, sometimes mixed in with some hot people here and there, with some catchy title. There are some cases where its not about the good looking people. For example, there is the show called 16 and Pregnant, I’m pretty sure you can tell the title itself spells drama. When I hear the words reality TV, the one show that comes to mind would most definitely be Jersey Shore.  I am not really up to date with reality TV, but I believe to this day, Jersey Shore would be the most watched reality show. To tell you the truth, there was a time where I watched it every Tuesday night. I don’t really know why I did; I guess I just got caught up with the drama. See, that right there is the whole point of reality TV, in my opinion. The public wants something to watch, thus being drama. Drama can be very entertaining if you think about it. I know I think so. The show would keep you in suspense pretty good, to where you’re saying, “He did not say just that about her!”  I think this show is definitely harming our society, they basically influence the idea of partying and drinking until you cannot stand up. The good thing they influence is the gym and that’s it, well they do have safe sex. Then again, that is another subject. Anyway, the show itself had so much drama as well. They would fight over who said what, who “smashed” who, and what Mike said about someone. In my opinion, Mike is the main source of drama in that show, and then you cannot really have one person being the drama queen. Everyone had there round of drama throughout the seasons of Jersey Shore. Seeing how I did watch that show at one point, I would have to say it was a guilty pleasure for me. I really do try to avoid watching reality TV. There are better things to watch on TV, like the discovery channel or national geographic. Reality TV has a main goal of getting a lot of ratings. So, when people turn on the TV and find some reality show, you just boost their numbers.

Reality TV is different for everybody. You can like it, hate it, ignore it, whatever. But the reality of this is that reality TV is here and it’s probably going to be around for a long time. It’s basically public entertainment, and what is a world without entertainment? That is my take on reality TV. I don’t like it, but I don’t hate it. It is just there for whoever wants to watch it. Thanks for reading.

Quick Food

Was fast food apart of my childhood? That’s a great question, of course it was. What child doesn’t eat fast food? Maybe I shouldn’t say that, but hey, most children tend to beg their parents for fast food every now and then, right? I was one of those kids. Now that I think about it, It’s crazy how I look back and see how much fast food I really ate as a child. It wasn’t too frequent. I would say, 3 times out of the week we had fast food. Sometimes it would be just a treat, other times it’s a craving. Then of course you have those nights where mom and dad would just pick up some fast food real quick for dinner. Nights like that make me feel spoiled, I don’t really know why, but they did.  We mainly went to the famous golden arches, also known as Mcdonalds. Pretty bad huh? I’m actually quite happy to remember that we didn’t really have much mcdonalds. If we weren’t eating that, it would be Wendys. From Mcdonalds, I would always get the cheese burger happy meal. But if we were having Wendys, I would normally get the nuggets! They were just that good. Especially their fries. But if it were up to me, the best fries at a fast food joint, would definantly Burger King! Then again, I wouldn’t say that fast food was a regular part of my life. It was just a every now and then sort of thing. At the time, I’d say I was pretty excited to get fast food every now and then. Change it up, from mamas cooking to a little treat from the fast food industries.

As for my fast food habits now, you would think a college student, on his own, without his mom to cook those great dinners now, would eat fast food every night, right? Wrong. I can actually cook most of the dinners my mom would make. I love to make fried rice actually. But that’s another story. Fast food for me today, it’s a once a week thing now. & I’m glad I can say that. Not because I shun the idea of eating fast food, but because It’s not quite healthy if you eat it frequently. I definantly do not rely on fast food for me now. For many reasons such as, I don’t have the funds to eat out every night, or I want to stay in shape for baseball, and eating fast food quite frequently, would just ruin that. In Hawaii we don’t have a In-And-Out so I never really had it till I came out here. Which I think is dumb and they should have one out in Hawaii. When I first tried it, it was good. Definantly one to eat every now and then. So overall, fast food sort of plays a role in my college life. Its nice to eat some here and there, just never more than 4 times a week. That’s it for me, thanks for reading.

Past Present and Near Future

I don’t know how far back our “past” should be but let me start in my middle school era. I believe I was 13 years of age, this is when my dad basically abandoned me, my mom, and my three other siblings. It was pretty tough at first, but I had to move on, for my mom. She had her hands full with me and my siblings at the time, yet she still managed to put food on the table for all of us. I did all I could do to help my mom with the bills. I had my first job as a bagger at the commissary. You don’t get paid hourly, strictly tips. If I wasn’t working, I was watching the kids. I guess you could say I was the father figure for the little ones at such a young age. So that was pretty much my middle school years. Now come to high school, I was still working at the commissary and I was still babysitting.  I was never, not busy, if you catch my drift. That meant I didn’t really have time for a social life, sadly. Come freshman year, my mom had met my step dad. So my load was lifted. I still had to babysit though. It wasn’t until my junior year, I had started to grow into a social life. Thank goodness for that. But anyway, all four years I played baseball in high school. I was an A B student never below. Good kid, stayed out of trouble, for the most part. Which brings us to today.

My name is Jesus Tenorio but you can call me JJ. I am 18 years of age and I attend Oxnard College. I recently moved out here from Hawaii. I am trying to play baseball out here for Oxnard. See, the reason I decided to come out here to play baseball is because one of my coaches back home, his dad is an assistant coach here at Oxnard. But in other news, I have been out here for a couple months now and I already miss home! Yes I did cry when I said goodbye to parents, especially my mama. I wont lie, i am such a mamas boy. But, enough about that. I try to talk to my parents and siblings everyday if I can. When I am not too busy with homework or baseball. As for that social life that eluded me all those years in middle and high school. I do have a girlfriend. She is staying home in Hawaii and going to a JC as well. We both plan to transfer to the same university out in Hawaii. We have been together for just about 5 months now and I couldn’t be happier. The time difference does make it a tad bit harder but we manage.

As for my future, I don’t really have a set plan. I am more of a “go with the flow” kind of guy. But more importantly, I plan to finish college and get an associates degree in computer networking. As for baseball, I will ride that train as far as I can take it before it’s the end of the road for me. I really do love playing baseball. Hopefully I can play baseball long after college. To play in the big leagues is one of my main dreams and I would play for free! Well not really free, cause if I can get paid for playing a sport I love, ill take the money. Cause you gotta have money these days. Then again, if baseball doesn’t workout, I plan to go and get a job under my uncle at some fancy hospital business. He is the one who chose this major for me. Other than that, that is basically my past, present, and future. Thanks for reading.