Module 2: Core Assignment (Narrative)

While I don’t have any recent truly defining moments that would stand out from a crowd

in regard to how they affected me and my development, I believe there are a few smaller events

and lifestyle choices I have made in my life that have led me to the point where I am today and

have helped to shape my values, beliefs, and lifestyle choices that I have today. While large,

disruptive, and impactful events can create a large shift in our beliefs and values over a short

period of time and very suddenly, the small events can lead to change slowly and gradually in the

form of a gradual evolution rather than that of a necessary, short term evolution, brought on by

necessity due to a major event in our life. What can make identifying these events difficult at

times, is that we may not realize that an event has altered our perception on life and altered our

beliefs and values. Whether due to subconscious impact or through simply not remembering an

event from an early age while we were still developing. As I develop and tell the stories of what

has influenced me and my life, I hope to paint a picture of my own development from a young

age into the man I am today, with all of life’s ups and downs included therein.

The first life event and story that’d I’d like to share and discuss is my first experience in a

team-based sport and how it taught me the benefits of teamwork and stepping outside my

comfort zone in order to try something new. During my freshman year of high school, at the

young age of 14, I was partaking in my physical education class during 3rd period, playing

basketball with my friend. During this time, the physical education teacher was also our school’s

football team coach. After a month or two or being in high school, the physical education teacher

(also the football coach) approached me and asked if I would be interested in playing football. I

had never envisioned myself playing football because I never even watched on TV with any

interest and I was perfectly happy in my physical education class. However, the football coach
was insistent that I come by practice later that day after my 6th period class, so I agreed and went

about my day of school.

As the end of the day approached, I was nervous about heading to the practice, even

though I hadn’t committed to anything up unto that point. Upon my arrival, I talked with some of

the coaches and some of the players while observing the practice to see how they did things on

the team. Within the next few days I decided to take a place on the freshman team as my

curiosity and desire to be a part of something new took the better of me. Upon my initial joining

of the team, I found it somewhat difficult to make friends as I didn’t know anyone on the team,

and I had joined late into the season. Fast forward to my sophomore and junior years, I was a

part of the Junior Varsity football team and this is where I began to come into my own and make

more friends on the team. While we weren’t a good football team, not in the slightest, we made

up for it in camaraderie and teamwork. There were only 15 or so of us on the Junior Varsity

team, so naturally we became pretty close with one another as we spent a lot of time with each

other and worked with each person on the team frequently. Like I mentioned a few sentences

ago, we weren’t a good football team by any stretch of the imagination, but it felt good to be a

part of a team and have a group of people that I can count on.

Come senior year, I was promoted to the Varsity football team and found myself in a

position of starting on the offensive line. While this promotion and new position was initially

scary, I felt deserving of it because I had put some much time and effort into the team that it was

now my opportunity to take advantage of my skills and fully contribute to the team at the highest

level at my school. Now that my teammates and I had spent years together, working hard and

playing hard, our bond was closer than ever. Even if I wasn’t a close friend with many of my

teammates due to their hard-partying ways and my disinterest in their favorite activities such as
those. However, I would argue that one doesn’t have to share the same personality and interests

in those around them in order to forge a sense of camaraderie with them. Simply experiencing

the same ups and down while working together can be enough to forge that bond.

In conclusion, this experience shaped my values and beliefs by exposing me to the power

and transformative abilities of working together as a team. Each play in football only works like

it’s supposed to when every man does his job the way he’s supposed to, and the same can be said

for work within an organization. Everyone needs to contribute their fair share and complete the

work they were assigned. Because of my experience with my teammates throughout the years

playing football, I believe that I have gained a new appreciation for collaboration and teamwork

throughout all areas of my life that give me the opportunity to work closely with others. Before

my time in high school football, I was apprehensive about working in teams as I’ve had bad

experiences in the past, but know I’m firm in my belief that even if you aren’t paired with those

you would ideally chose to work with, it’s important to give them and yourself the opportunity to

work past those differences and emerge on the other side a better team and a better person.

My next life event also relates to my time on my high school football team but takes

place during the conclusion of my time there and after the conclusion of my time playing

football. During my senior year in high school, I was on the varsity team and finding genuine

success in my position and within my team. This, of course, drew the attention of scouts that had

an interest in me and my abilities. My coaches also did their part in reaching out to potentially

interested college programs for me to drum up interest. This was all very exciting at the time

because I was essentially the only person on my team receiving any significant college interest.

Coaches were visiting me at school from out of state, calling and leaving voicemails daily,

sending texts, etc. Come Halloween time that year, I was at Universal Studios with my friend for
their Halloween celebration and I met a girl while we were there, and this led to a budding

romance in the days afterword’s. The girl I met at Universal Studios was in college at the time,

so I quickly became “the man” at my school because I was the ‘star’ football player on my team

and dating a college girl while still a senior in high school.

As young love tends to do, my rational sense of thinking quickly left the scene and I

began to place a higher emphasis on this girl than I did on the future opportunities that the

scholarships could provide me. I began to not return the calls from college football coaches and

began to tell them I wasn’t interested in their programs while envisioning my future with this

girl. Even typing this out now, I realize how silly this must sound and how silly I was during this

time, but it was certainly a good opportunity to learn from unfortunate circumstances. Before

long, I had declined every offer I had received, and I didn’t have a direction to head once this

relationship with the girl had come to an end shortly after it began. Drawing from this

experience, the main lesson I learned was to not risk my future plans for the sake of a

relationship with someone that I recently became entangled with, or even those that I have

known for a long time. My life is my own to live, so I must stay true to myself and ensure that I

look out for myself first and others second. It’s important to keep in mind that while you are

making sacrifices for someone, it is not a guarantee that they would make those sacrifices for

you should the occasion arise. At which point you suddenly find yourself having made sacrifices

for someone who wouldn’t do the same for you. While this may come off as being selfish and

full of self-interest, I would argue that there’s a difference between being selfish and looking out

for yourself first before other. As they say during the safety brief on airplanes, you must put on

your oxygen mask before helping others with theirs.

 The next life experience that I’d like to discuss is a rather short one, but it still made a

large impact upon my family and me. This experience is learning that my mom had breast cancer

and the resulting impact it had on out family. A few years back, my mom sat me down on the

couch and explained to me that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Initially I was in

shock and I don’t think it fully registered in my head at the time of what she was saying. I

imagine this is a pretty standard response that most people may have when they hear shocking

news like this. With this shocking development, the only thing I could think of to tell me mom to

reassure here is that she would be fine. Kind of a lousy way to reassure her, but it was the only

thing I could think of at the time to say. As the weeks and months went by, my mom underwent

radiation treatments as well as an eventual surgery to remove the tumor(s). In the end, the

treatments were a success and were without major setbacks to the relief of us all. However, a few

weeks back she had a scary letter in the mail saying she needed to have a more in-depth

investigation, but this was a false alarm.

This whole experience goes to show how quickly we can potentially lose those that are

closest to us and that nothing can be taken for granted in our lives. It’s important to value the

time we have with our friends and family and make the most of them while we have the

opportunity to and while we still can. Family and friends are two of the most important groups of

people in your life as they’re always going to be by your side and willing to support you

whenever you need it. The unfortunate thing is that many people will not be able to truly

appreciate the joy and support that a family can give them until it’s too late and they missed their

chance to do so once they’re gone. This experience has taught me to place an immeasurable

value on family and make sure that I am able to enjoy my time with them to the fullest.
 Without a doubt, this next life experience has made the largest impact upon my life as

none of the other experiences I’ve described here would have happened and my life would be

completely different than it is today, who knows where I would be now had this experience

never occurred. This life event/experience is my family’s decision to move from Germany

around 20 years ago to California where I’ve spent almost my entire childhood and the entirety

of my young adult life. Had I not moved to California and stayed in Germany, my life would be

drastically different and likely unrecognizable as I would have met different people, adapted

different hobbies, studied different things in school, perhaps played soccer instead of football,

etc. and it would have been a total 180 degree turn from my life today. Or perhaps my current

views and beliefs are formed through a kind of destiny and greater design in the universe so I

may have ended up the way I am even though I’d have none of the same experiences. While its

obviously not able to be proven or tested, it’s an interesting idea to think about as I contemplate

my development and how things could have been different had different circumstances arisen.

The main motivation behind my mother moving our entire lives to a different country

was to gain a fresh start and to pursue greater opportunity than we would have been able to

access back home in Germany. Being that I was only three years old at the time, I don’t have a

lot of memories around our move or even in the years following it, I do know that it took a great

deal of bravery to uproot ourselves to a different country and start anew. Even though I had no

choice in the matter as a three year old, I have no regrets regarding the move and I believe my

mother made the best choice because know we have both had exposure to know experiences and

opportunities that have changed and developed us both for the better. For example, I became

involved in football at my high school that taught me the importance of teamwork and how to

make the most out of a less than ideal group of people that make up a team that I’m assigned to.
This combined with the other experiences within this narrative and every small interaction and

lesson that I don’t even consciously remember have all influenced who I am today and I’m sure

the same can be said of my mother and her specific experiences she’s had as a result of our move

to California.

Like I mentioned earlier, I don’t have vivid memories of the time before we moved or

during the move, but my I imagine that it was a scary time for both me and my mother as we

entered an entirely new country that we had never been to before or even spoke the language

well at all. At the very least, this big move taught me the value of being willing to accept new

challenges and embrace the change that leads to completely new life and lifestyle. This has

taught me that I can handle just about any kind of major change life throws at me because I’ve

already experienced a huge one at a young age and was able to adapt myself to my new

surroundings and an entirely new language and culture. Personally, I view myself as a flexible

and adaptable person to a variety of situations and I believe that this big change early in my life

likely had something to do with my ability to embrace these values and incorporate them into my

daily life to best suit me and overcome any circumstances that may arise.

While for some families and some people this next event may not seem like a big deal or

anything of note, but I am the first person in my family to go to college so being here and being

almost done with my degree is a big deal for my family and a very proud moment. Now that I’m

in the final stretch, I’m close to making history for and within my family which is an exciting

thought indeed! Back to how I previously mentioned that this may not seem like anything of note

to some people as college has become a very commonplace thing within our society and they say

that a college degree is the new high school degree because seemingly every job nowadays

requires a college degree. But for some families, we don’t have a history of attending higher
education and this movement and normalization of having a college degree has pushed the

younger ones in families to pursue a higher degree.

My college journey began at Santa Monica Community College in California as it was a

local option and I found going to school in Santa Monica preferable to the other options in my

surrounding area, even though the commute was rather lengthy compared to the closer options.

As with many recent high school graduates, I had a hard time deciding on what major I’d like to

pursue or even what area of interest was the best fit for me. It seemed like my major and career

plans would change every other week as I did my research and thought out my options. The great

thing about going to a community college before transferring to a 4-year school, is that I had the

opportunity to complete all of my general education course requirements while saving money

and buying myself more time to decide the direction I’d like to proceed towards. While

researching potential schools to transfer to, I found Arizona State University and their online

course to be an excellent way to keep my current job with the added flexibility of being able to

complete the coursework when I’m able to fit it around my work schedule.

Speaking of my work schedule, I’ve worked varying hours during the entirety of my time

in college from around 20 hours per week while at Santa Monica College, 30 hours per week

while in my Junior year at Arizona State University, and 40 hours per week during my Senior

year. You can see where the flexibility of online classes where I can take advantage of this and

fit the coursework around my busy work schedule. The main reason behind my working through

school and pursuing a full-time education is the fact that my family and I wanted to avoid student

loan debt as much as possible, so we all worked hard to pay for my education without the need

for loans as much as possible. I’m proud to say that this was mostly a success and I’ll be

graduating without a huge student loan debt burden going forward. This puts me in a much better
position going forward as I transition out of the student lifestyle and into a more ‘adult’ lifestyle

with bills and rent to pay.

As with all of the experiences I’ve discussed in this narrative, my time in college has

instilled values and beliefs in me and taught me things that go beyond the classroom and will be

carried with me for a lifetime after I graduate. These being that being the first one to do

something can be scary at times, but it’s likely something you’re doing for the right reasons and

that’s what will bring you success even when you’re unsure of exactly what you’re doing. Hard

work and dedication to what you do, whether it be work or school, will pay dividends down the

road and will instill a quality work ethic within you that you can draw from and utilize for the

rest of your life. In addition to this, my mom instilling a dislike for debt and us paying for as

much of my school in cash as possible, is something that I still hold near as I almost graduating

and getting ready to embark on a new phase of my life. While there is both good and bad debt

and I understand that its necessary under certain circumstances like for education and a home, I

still prefer to have as little as possible as being in debt stresses me out and puts more pressure on

me. I look forward to the day where the only money that comes out of my paychecks each month

are for things that I want to spend money on or save, rather than for paying down debt.

This next event is still unfolding and hasn’t officially happened yet, but the ball is rolling

and promises to be a major change in my life and will likely provide me with numerous lessons

for the future. What those lessons will be, I don’t yet know, but they’ll likely directly add or

subtract to the values and beliefs that I hold dear to me today. This event being me joining the

Army and leaving upon my completion of this semester at Arizona State University and the

subsequent graduation at the end of this semester. This has been something I’ve been wanting to

do since high school and I’ve even written about it in a few of my artifacts within my e-portfolio
that recently submitted for the first have of this course and am still working on completing

during this course.

Like I mentioned, I won’t be leaving for the Army until the end of this semester, the end

of December to be exact, so I can’t say exactly how this move will impact me moving forward,

However, I believe that the act of signing up and enlisting has lessons of it own and has impacted

my values and beliefs in a similar way that the scholarship story earlier in this paper did.

Enlisting in the Army generally isn’t a very popular choice for one’s friends and family, so it’s

important for me to consider what is best for me over the long term and how I want my life to lay

out without letting others dictate my direction in life. While I absolutely value the input of my

family and friends and their advice, I believe it’s important to listen to them and consider their

advice, but ultimately make the decision that I believe is best for me and my future and then live

with that decision. This decision to enlist in the Army also influences my value of taking risks

and trying new things in order to better and further develop myself.

In conclusion, I believe it’s true that we’re all individuals and unique people due to the

major and minor events that have influenced us both over the long term and the short term. These

changes can be quick or gradual, and the impacts can be strong or mild. Everyone and every

situation is different in how it affects them. What may seem like a life altering moment to some,

may seem like a minor event to another. That is what makes all of us unique and individuals with

the billions of other people in the world. This is the exact thing that makes everyone so

interesting! If we were all the same and experienced the same things, the world would be full of

the same people and it would be rather boring in my opinion. During my team in the previous

course, Pro-Seminar I, I was a firm believer in the value of diversity and harnessing the power of

a diverse team to better your organization as they all have different backgrounds that can be used
to brainstorm solutions to complex problems in ways other people in the group may never have

thought of. Because of this connection, I have decided to place this narrative within my E-

Portfolio under its own subheading underneath the main heading of Pro-Seminar II on my

website. This narrative has been an excellent way to look back into my past to see what molded

me as a person and how experiences shaped my thoughts, values, and influences in my life

today.