The Blog-a-day Challenge

Official Start Time: 12:02 am
Date: 9/30/08
Official End Time: 1:54 am

Today has to be one of my better days for today I have found the time to think. Thinking and overall reflecting is something I try to find time for to make sure that I stick to the right path and do not get side tracked. I need to do this more often for I always find myself doing things at the last minutes or not doing the things that matter most.

Something was different today that some how inspired me to look at what I am doing with my life right now and what I need to do with the life I plan to have. I can't really say what made me achieve this epiphany but something sparked this thought that made me realize what I should have seen from the beginning. I think I might have a general idea of what made me come to this conclusion.

For the past few weeks really a month I have done a lot of reflecting trying to see what I wanted to do with my life and what events/elements of the life I have lived thus far can help me decide. For starters I may sound like I think too much in my entries but most of the time I don't think enough. I lack the ability to act on things that I wish I had acted on differently if I had the chance. Overtime however I learn to accept that what happened happened and that I must continue to move forward.

Things that I have worked hard for in the past really leave an impression that reminds me of the hard work that must go into anything we do that we expect to get something out of. There are no short cuts to success and with diligence anyone can make it. It's easy to say that but confronting this idea for some reason breeds fear in the hearts and minds of the person. It is natural for us to feel this way with decisions that may concern the life we have in front of us. However we must learn to tame this beast so that our lives may continue to coexist.

When in search for an answer I act like a historian and look back at the examples of prior people to see what kind of solution they came up with to address the issue. My issue however is not invasion or disease but choice. I have to learn to choose what my calling is in this life and what I want to be known for before I leave this world. I look back at the examples set by my parents, my friends, and the people I have worked with and decided that I cannot determine what my calling in life is.

The simplest solution is sometimes the one looked over the most. There's no reason to get scientific when the answer you look for is evident to everyone that knows the kind of person you are. I have not lived enough to determine what my calling is and what to expect in the years to come. Not enough can be controlled making me feel that the best solution is to be a well rounded person that is open to change and will be ready to make the right decision when the time comes for it.

No one is perfect in this world and seeking perfection can drive someone to the brink of insanity. We must learn to accept our faults and try to be better at what we do each and everyday. The brick walls we will face are there to prove how badly we want something. When we are able to break through these walls and accomplish the goals we set only then will we be able to understand that we did our best and did the right thing; giving us peace at mind.

Sincerely Hector Guzman

Official Start Time: 2:25 am
Date: 9/29/08
Official End Time: 4:00 am

Today's entry as you can see was done very late, but was alright for me to do it at this hour. For instance, usually I go to bed a lot later because I procrastinate and start my homework around 1 and 2 am versus doing it after dinner like the normal student. My eating habits will be discussed another day which might help explain why I do my homework so late. Today however I was forced to do my homework after dinner and got it done early enough so that it was alright for me to blog at 2 am.

I actually could have started an hour prior to this conversation however I was enlightening my brother on the topic of education and what I hope he does different with his years of high school. We talked for a good hour and a half. In the process I told him to do his best and prepare for the worst, but most importantly learn to respect your peers and the community you associate yourself with. The conversation made me realize a little about the kind of reputation I have as a student and how this may affect my future decisions.

As a student I can say that I do not live up to my full potential. I always think I can do better and wish that my grades stacked up better in comparison to my friends. Currently I am 6th in my class which allows me to qualify for most colleges that look for students who are in the top ten of their class. Extracurricular wise I feel that I lack a lot of proof to make colleges see the great student I am. I don't have any sports on my list, nor am I part of a lot of clubs. Enrichment wise I have a few things on my list but not all these things may count in the end. Hopefully what I have on my list of enrichment will count for something when I begin to apply for college.

I hope that when I do apply, colleges will look at me for more than what it says on the resume in front of them.

Something that I feel that distinguishes me from other students that may be applying is the respect I feel you should have for the peers and community you associate yourself with. I feel that people should be looked at by the morals and the thoughts they express and not by the grades they hold. This also applies to a person's IQ and their financial capabilities. I feel that these factor have importance in our world but should not help us define the type of person we are.

A great author once wrote a story about a 37 year old man with mental retardation. Throughout the novel the main character undergoes a scientific experiment to increase his intelligence so that he may be accepted by the society in which he lives. After getting the operation he notices that the results he imagined where not quite what he expected. Instead of getting the respect and acceptance of his comrades, he becomes an outcast that casted fear in the hearts of those he wished to impress the most. He realized that intelligence is not makes you a person.

His motives however remain pure even after he regressed to his normal state of mental retardation.

“Anyways thats why Im gone keep trying to get smart so I can have that feeling agen. Its good to know things and be smart and I wish I new evrything in the whole world.”

That quote right there by Daniel Keyes illustrates my point that the morals and the thoughts we express should define the type of people we are and not the IQ, financial capabilities, religion, or race of the person . . . it is the type of person we are that others should recognize.

Sincerely, Hector Guzman

It felt good writing this piece and I hope those who may read this entry enjoy it. I hold true the thoughts described above. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes has to be one of my favorite books and illustrates a point that I feel so passionate for. Our world would be such a different place if we would look at our fellow man not for the clothes he wears or the intelligence he has but the thoughts he is able to share with us.

Official Start Time: 12:03 am
Date: 9/28/08
Official End Time: 1:40 am

Today's entry brings hope to my spirit and the experiment I am about to embark on. A day or so ago I posted the first entry to this experiment and since then have received comments from friends providing advice and their opinion about what I am about to do. I am thankful for the comments I have received thus far and I hope that as I continue this experiment that I will continue to get more and more comments.

Going off this point I received one comment that really made me think. This person brought to my attention what it means to do the righteous thing and what to expect after doing the righteous thing. In her experience the decision she has made has had its high moments yet at the same time has caused her a lot of pain. Her advice to me was that doing the right thing should be almost second-nature; that the reason we do these acts is not to see compensation but to know that we have made the right choice in the long run.

In my life I cannot say I have experienced enough to do such an act of kindness. The advice that this person gave me was great and made me realize that whatever we do in this world should transcend into good through the people we know. How this is done or what we can expect by doing this is never certain. But if I could give my opinion on the issue I would say something like this . . .

In my opinion doing the righteous thing should be almost second-nature. As humans we are conflicted between making the decision based on obligations that making the decision may involve and compensation that we hope making this decision will provide. Feeling this way does not make us bad people but human as it is our instinct to expect something in return. Our motives for making this decision may be lost as time goes on, but the words of friends may provide help in reminding us why this decision was so dear that we had to make it.

The hard work and time that goes into making this decision could be another reason to not make it. It is not that we do not care for the decision but that the work and time that goes into making it is something we fear or are just unable to commit to. The brick walls that may confront us along the way make making the decision even harder. However when we do make the decision we can be assured that we have made the right choice.

The impact of this decision does not have to be news worthy, but should provide us with peace at mind knowing that we have done the right thing. We do not find the purpose for making these decisions but instead they find us. We are destined to meet and it is another pit stop on our journey throughout life. Whatever the decision may be in the end I am sure that feeling of achievement we will be enough for us to understand that our actions we're not in vain.

Issues like this are something I love to write and talk about. The issues can be controversial but also give a glimpse of the type of person we really are. Expect future entries in which I try to give my opinion on issues that I feel concern us more and more everyday.

Till Next Time, Hector Guzman

Official Start Time: 12:14 am
Date: 9/27/08
Official End Time: 12:54 am

I've noticed that I'm doing my blog post more and more often after midnight. Around midnight is when I usually have the chance to go on the computer but also the best time to start my blog seeing as I did the first entry around midnight.

Today's entry covers the presentation I gave at IBM and what lays ahead for me. Over the last couple of months I've been doing a lot of thinking in terms of what kind of future awaits me and what I should do to make it possible. The decisions are difficult and never clear which makes it even harder to decide. Hopefully overtime I will find something that gives me a better direction of what I should do to insure a successful tomorrow.

So today was the first meeting of the ITR&D program. This year I will be competing in the E-commerce course but will be helping out with a lot of the work being done with this year's ITR&D course. At today's meeting however my presentation was not related to E-commerce but Scratch and how to motivate in-coming teams to use Scratch. The presentation went well as we (Norbert and I) covered our past experience with the program and the Scratch Moodle Course we had developed in response to what we learned from the program. The course has proven to be successful and will be piloted with 70 students at North End Middle School. I'm excited to see our course come to life and hope that it accomplishes its goal of teaching students Scratch.

We got a lot of positive feedback with the course from Adam Scott and others who have taken a look at the course and say that it has real potential. There is still a lot of work to do to perfect the Scratch Moodle Course and eventually the Alice Moodle Course. Working on these kinds of project is something I love to do and talk about to people. I could imagine myself doing something like this in the future which makes me bring into question what lays ahead for me in the future to come.

I want to be an endocrinologist when I grow up seeing as I have diabetes and would love to give my patients first hand advice as we share the same disease. I think I can make a difference through my patients but I worry about the odds of me becoming an endocrinologist. It takes a lot of schooling and money to make it. Sometimes I wonder do I stack up and if I'm making the right decision. Would taking another career that involves less schooling and money be a choice I should be willing to make?

This is where I meet the fork in the road. On one side I could take the path onto endocrinology and never look back. On the other path I could choose to do something that gives back to the community through education or cultural exchanges. Both paths share the hopes of a successful tomorrow that would allow me to give back . . . but which path do I choose to meet this goal?

The second choice looks more and more appealing as time goes on. Making a difference is something I would always want to insure in whatever I do. So would the second choice be a more direct root to this path? Writing down my thoughts has helped me map out the choices I have but this problem involves more than a piece of paper and pencil. I must think deep inside myself and find a solution that I know is the right one.

Hopefully over the course of this experiment I will have figured out which path I will take and how that decision will help me fulfill my goals.

Till Next Time, Hector Guzman

Official Start Time: 12:09 am
Date: 9/26/08
Official End Time: 1:34 am

Today starts my mission in which I will do a blog a day as part of an experiment to see how I have evolved as a person over the course of a year. A lot of stuff has happened since my trip to China and even more since being part of the ITR&D course. Sophomore year in general transformed me tremendously and has helped mold me into a better person overall.

Being part of the ITR&D course had to be one of the highlights of my sophomore year. In the course I was able to experiment with technology such as Scratch and at the same time meet great people like Steve Wilmarth and Michael Mino. Becoming an intern with Education Connection and helping build the Scratch Moodle Course made that experience complete and is still lived to this day. I still work for Education Connection and hope to do something great and wonderful for students across all grade levels as an intern there.

The community we are surrounded by is something that I always try to give back to. When I first started high school as a freshman we were required to do 20 hours of community service. In that year alone I did over 100 hours and was driven to not just be a volunteer but a working member on community projects that would bring to life the ideals of the Greater Waterbury Community. I understand that adversity stands in the way of everything we do but with the proper resources and motivation anyone can be successful.

After going to China I learned something that you would only be able to learn by melting together the experience I received from the ITR&D program and the ambition I had as a volunteer. I learned the meaning of being an ambassador and what it feels like to want to accomplish the impossible. The ideals of a global education are only something you can understand as a participant of a cultural exchange program. The money, the work, and the fear will always be there representing the brick walls meant to prove how much we really want something. But when you past through these brick walls you are able to enjoy what you have worked so hard for and understand the achievement you have just made.

This is what drives me to be a better person and wake up early everyday even though I may go to bed even later. Determination and being persistent are aspects that we must embrace if we want to be successful. As Albert Einstein once said, "I wish to do something great and wonderful but I must start by doing the little things like they were great and wonderful."

Sincerely, Hector Guzman

So here is a short glimpse about the type of person I am and where I am starting from on this mission. Not all my entries will be like this. Some will be greater and won't be as great. Overall I promise to produce my best work and hopefully learn something while doing so.

Official Start Time: 12:01 am
Date: 9/25/08
Official End Time: 1:36 am

Somehow I got lost in time and never really closed the chapters on my journal entries. Not much was left to the story but I still need to finish with an epilogue and release some news that I hope will bring some positive results.

Epilogue

My journey has come to an end, and without any disappointments I can fairly say. Certain things however I would do over or at least prepare better the next time.

I met a lot of great people and the same time discovered the way some people are at heart. I will remember those who are close and those who are far for years to come and make sure that they are only an email away.

China down, rest of the world left to go!
Hector Guzman
7/15/08 8:00pm

So my adventure in China is officially over and it is now time to move on to bigger and better things. I always hate thinking of change when it involves leaving something I love so much. My trip to China had to be the highlight of my summer and thus far the highlight of my life. However there are milestones to come that will be just as important and memorable.

Will I Ever Go Back to China?
Definitely Someday . . . hopefully sooner than later.

What has this trip taught me?
It's taught me to be prepared for the unexpected. It has also taught that if you really want something you have to work hard and expect a few brick walls along the way.

What plans do I have for the future?
I can't really say. College of course is next on my agenda but I'm not 100% sure on what kind of career I would want to go into. Endocrinology is definitely something I have a passion for, but after this trip I look at education and wonder what I could give back to the world if become a professor. Overall I hope that whatever career I choose I have the ability to fulfill my childhood dreams and the dreams of others.

Announcements!
I decided after realizing how much this blog has taught me about myself and my writing that I will do a blog a day. The blog could be on something related to China or just a thought that came to my mind and I felt I needed to reflect on it. The quality I hope will remain the same but on certain day's I expect it to be a little more bland. It was kind of weird starting this entry at 12:01 am realizing later that I had started my mission at the first possible moment I could.

Hopefully doing a blog a day for a year or however long I can keep it going will show me how I have evolved as a person and what I can expect in the years to come. The journey has only just begun and I hope you can be a part of my experience.