As I sit in my corner I was thinking to myself alot has changed with me and everything around me. The most obvious thing would be 9-11-01 but its much more then that. I keep thinking about how I have changed over the years. I went from being a rebellious fun-loving teenager to a very hardened person. Having great friends around me and working at Disney was a blast. The environment was alot of fun. It was awesome talking to and going out with all kinds of women there. That helped me grow as a person because I was learning what it means to work and earn money. I worked in foods but it was a start.
I tried going to Valencia Community College but dropped out because of the lousy teachers making classes very hard with no enjoyment whatsoever. I did eventually graduate from FMU 11 years after I quit High School back in 1987 (I did get my G.E.D in 1989) I quit Disney because I wanted more out of life so I enlisted into the Air Force. That experience made me grow up as a man. With all the Training Instructors getting into my face and singling me out, I'm very surprised I didn't get into fights. They took all the rebelliousness out of me in those 4 years.
During those 4 years I got into computers on my own, learning alot from my best friend Mark Gear at the time. That officially turned me into a cool geek. :)
Worked for Convergys and expanded my computer skills. Still I wanted more because I wanted to change and learn even more about computers. I got a job as a computer technician at Rent-A-Center. While I learned alot about hardware there I hated the environment. They work there people to death and also belittle them in the process because no matter how much you do they want and expect more and they are nasty about it. That created a very hostile environment which I was a part of for 10 years. Everybody treated each other like crap and that was the norm and was expected. That turned me into a very hard person and all the love was taken out of me.
I hurt my back towards the end of my employment there and because I couldn't get back in time, they brought on another person to take my place. They cited the Family Medical Leave Act. They were looking for a reason to get rid of me and I gave it to them on a silver platter. I was hurt because I gave so much of myself but the change was necessary for me to grow more as a person. With change you never know at that moment whether its for the good or bad, only God knows that.
I went months without working, finally worked at Rasmussen for a few months doing Help Desk Support which was the same thing I did at Convergys. I was able to expand my computer skills even more. I was let go after the 3 month contract but I was grateful because it was a good experience so more change was to come.
Worked for Sungard as a Help Desk Analyst. The environment was hostile there for the same reasons as Rent-A-Center. Cool thing was I learned how to use Active Directory and troubleshoot network issues big time. This was supposed to be a 3 month contract but they let a bunch of people go including me only after 5 weeks because business slowed down. So much change in my life at this time with employment, parents, my brother and also met Deanna at this time and we married. Thank goodness for her otherwise I may have gotten violent because I was miserable at Sungard.
Another change with work and I'm now with Airtran Airways soon to be a subsidary of Southwest Airlines. I was on a 6 month contract and its been a blast. Biggest change is working with great people in a great environment. I've done so well that I was given another 6 month contract. I feel its a big accomplishment because I showed myself that I can do great work and also because now I'm married plus became a contemporary christian. With my faith in God it has allowed me to become loving again. I can thank Deanna because she was the one that suggested a couple of years ago for us to go to church. I decided to after watching Joel Osteen. He is great. I have also learned how to keep patient and not react to things so quickly because with faith also comes another change, calmness because God I know will take care of me and Deanna because his arms are around us.
The most important thing that everybody should take from this is that change is inevitable. Try your best to keep your mind open. You want your brain to become a sponge so you learn new things all the time. Life can make people very hard so its important to do things that will keep you happy and loving. Its okay to be a bit hard. Everbody will have that in them but as long as your happy, people will see that. Also respect people all the time no matter what they say. You can't control what people say to you but you can control your emotions and be the better person which will allow you to grow. They will also grow to respect you. I've seen it happen to me since finding religion. You'll get knocked down so be resilient. That way you can get back up quickly and shake off the cobwebs.
I'll continue to change as a person but I'll make sure its for the better!
God Bless everybody and remember everybody changes so make sure you change for the better!
Ben's Corner where learning is always fun!
