After being rejected by Teach for America, my life-path was in question. I moved back home and decided to attain a teaching credential at Cal State Fullerton. And so, this was the year I did pre-requisites on campus, while simultaneously working for the YMCA after-school program. The same after-school program that helped me so much in the 4th grade.
It was a rough transition being surrounded by friends you could hang out all the time in college to now commuting to Cal State Fullerton, where I knew practically nobody. And so, starting from scratch, I went ahead trying to join clubs on campus to make friends. Intervarsity was the first attempt, but it was a little too religious for me. My 2nd attempt was reddit club, which was interesting, but met too infrequently for it to be worthwhile.
The eventual club I ended up staying at the entire year was Circle K, a volunteer based organization. It was the college version of Key Club, and we did community service projects all over Orange County. It was a fantastic experience and I made some cliques along the way, including the QuackPack (pictured below). Not only did we do community service, we hung out doing many many activities together. Including movies, Phil’s BBQ trips, and even playing Slenderman together.
Ultimately the quackpack was destroyed as a clique as all eventually do. For a replacement, I eventually made friends with some other people in the club, who happened to talk trash about other people in the club. At the time, it was no big deal, but looking back with the lens I have now, they were very toxic people to surround myself with. Unfortunately, with my association with them, I ran for PR chair for the following year, failing to acquire said position. I think it was because I was friends with the haters that led to my rejection. This led into me of course leaving the club the following year.
Still, I’m grateful for the experience because I had a great time doing so many service projects and embracing the spirit of service, leadership, and fellowship. If I could go back, I would probably end it on a happier note, but I was still too immature at the time to let things go.
That summer I entered my 3rd relationship that only lasted a month. I thought things were going well, and then she went on a church retreat one weekend. When she came back she said she didn’t miss me and ended things. For some reason I was quite hurt by this one, despite it being so short. I think it was because it was so abrupt and I had no idea what I did wrong.
