The Life Plan of Rey Serrano
Introduction
Oh man… it has finally come down to this, the moment I’ve been waiting for since I was born and never knew it would come. The day I start coming up with a plan to see my life out from here after high school. I’ve always wanted to be the next Ray Lewis in the NFL in due time, to be “the dude” on the defense, so far the dream of that has been coming closer to success day by day slowly but surely…but then again, everything backfires at some point whether it’s physical or emotional. So where do I go ifwhen I lost everything when it comes to football, what’s my backup plan if the sport I love doesn’t work out with me for some reason?
That’s where it begins… that question that bounces around my head every now and then. I can tell you this, I’m fully prepared for anything no matter what it is because unlike others, backup plans are my thing. Besides being a professional athlete one day, the other things I want to do for a career are majoring in sports medicine/kinesiology or seeking a career in the acting arts, become like the next legendary actor or something. I’ve already enrolled in Mesa College ( “The Juco Route”) and do small time shows at theatres in San Diego to help me out with pursuing these various careers. I’m actually in the process of moving out and living on my own in a condo I have invested to in Rancho Bernardo since it’s close to where I’m going to school at. So… let’s get down to it shall we?
Emotional Wellness
Emotions for me have been on an interesting journey for the past 18 years of my life here on Eearth. Will I say that I have had a perfect emotional upbringing compared to others up to this point?.. No, that’s just not the case for me. You see, the past that I endure has taken a grand toll on me, making me view everything around me in a different lightinsight compared to others. In a sense, it has made me stronger than ever….but at the same time it has also made me weaker than ever when it comes to certain things. A friend once told me that there’s no such thing as man being built like an iron wall, with no chance of him being torn down, physically and mentally; the reality is that we’re all broken down in our own unique ways and the best thing we can do is find pathways to make us not as vulnerable to emotional downfalls. For me personally, I have had my fair share of major downfalls that have made me believe that I couldn’t come back from it… ……until I found my purpose again.
So the question that arises from that is how did I manage to pick myself up again, to find my way out of the shell I was in? I can go on forever about what actions I have taken to make myself emotionally balanced again but tTo make it a brief andbut oh so sweet I’ll list the major aspects of it. The first thing I would like to share is remembering the reason I play football, the reason why I put myself through the rigors of the gladiator sport, the reason I have a burning compassion for it greater than those around me, the reason that it keeps me alive and standing…… the reason I made a promise to a passed teammate on the gridiron itself. The second aspect I will list is the help through my teachers meditation application called insight timer , helping me calm my nerves and thoughts whenever I feel like I’m going to break downbreakdown hard; using it for the past 4 months now twice a week or in some cases 3. The last thing I will put forth that has helped me increasingly is my love and care for my two younger brothers, who I will do anything for in order for them to become the best they can be in the right way…. Those two, no matter what, are the peace to my mind and heart whenever it seems that everything has gone to chaos internally for me. I will continue do everything I can to assure my future of being emotionally strong enough to succeed in whatever I do.
Environmental Wellness
In terms of the environment I have lived in so far, it’s safe to say it hasn’t been too attractive or eye catching as one would say. I have had my fair share of surroundings, from being born in the beauty of Puerto Rico to the broken down and crippled communities of The City of Victorville. I’ve seen the best and the worst it can be for people and the environments they live in, but what concerns me the most is how we as people blindly contribute to the ugliness at hand. The reasonWhy I say this is due to how we say we’re going togonna stop polluting but after a week of doing so, we just end up giving that resolution up. I’ll be honest, I have been like that a couple of times myself throughout my life but iIn the past few years I have changed my mindset regarding the environment and what I can do to aid it. I have taken an interest in taking part in beach clean ups for a while now since I absolutely love the Ocean and shores, me being part polynesian as well. I’m always shocked by how much trash I find after a 2 hour time period of doing so, there was this one time I gathered up to 6 pounds at Newport beach which is awful. I have also planted a 12 trees across San Diego with my most proud planting being located in Julian, which has started to look amazing in its stage its in right now. One last thing I would like to add to all of that is my regular habit of recycling whenever I can since we are indeed running out of precious metals around the world, I know its basic but in my mind the smallest of things can have a lasting impact if done right.
Financial Wellness
This particular subject at hand has been quite a new field of interest for me since I just started look after myself financially. I’m currently working at a different location for UFC Gym, earning about 15 an hour which is considerable for a pay grade. The honest truth however is that I’m a horrible saver when it comes to watching what I buy, as far as blowing my whole paycheck in one day. At the moment in terms of what I have, I’ve earned about 6,000+ to hopefully help me out with seeking a small condo in the Rancho Bernardo Area which is closer to the Juco I’ll be attending in the fall(Mesa College). What has helped me greatly in understanding all of this, our teacher Mr. Stuckey had us take on a budgeting project in which we have to prepare a living situation with a partner. Nelson and I put ourselves in a situation where we were at the peak of our professions earning great amounts of money, sure it was a hard to believe situation but it helped with giving me an idea of how to apply it to reality. As of now, I feel pretty comfortable with how everything will play out for me in this particular life trait now having the knowledge to survive.
Occupational Wellness
When it comes to this aspect of my own life up to now, I’ve only been focused on one thing to fulfill this part of my ongoing personal life. Ever since I was five, All I ever wanted to do for the sake of myself and those that I love dearly is become a professional football player one day to become the providing father mine never was. I know it’s a very far fetched thing to accomplish since the percentage rate of this being fulfilled for anyone is about 1%(hell even lower when the odds seem even more impossible), but when you have a motivated mindset like mine the littlest of things become larger than life itself. Then again, you have to look at the greater reality in terms of how i’ll provide for myself till then. At the moment, I don’t have a job anywhere but recently my folks at home applied me to target and chick fil a, just waiting for them to call back for an interview. I tried to work with pops before in the gym business but he said I was too young and sales isn’t the best fit for me. For now, I believe the best thing for me to do is just evaluate everything going on around my life and see where that gets me in terms of finding an occupation that can provide me with the life (jobwise) that I am truly happy and comfortable with.
Physical Wellness
Ahhhhhhh, the most interesting part of my life in terms of physical health and look, as you can see I’m quite excited to express myself about it……not really, well sort of, I don’t know. So what has it been like for me for the past 18 years or so when it comes to my health, well the best thing I can say is that it has been like a very out of date roller coaster trying to still operate. I’ll start back in 6th grade since that’s when most kids start to look after their health, at least that’s as far as I know. Back then I was in pop warner as an offensive and defensive lineman, so what that meant for is that I had to be a bit on the heavier side to be able to play the position but no, I wasn’t what one woud say “Fat”. I didn’t really have to deal with any health issues at the time, till I got myself caught up in a mindset that I’ll further talk about in the spiritual wellness section. So after all that for 2 ½ years, my freshman year after the season I took a drastic change on my physique and health awareness. I was at 210 pounds but went down to a toned out 185, let me tell you that I was a damn good looking son of a bitch from the bottom up at the point of my life. I felt a sense of cleanliness that I don’t think I’ll ever get back, but what I didn’t realize was that it made me somewhat weaker since I didn’t have that lineman load anymore…..till I started football in a completely different position. I started playing Linebacker and Fullback during my JV year here at Vista(Wasn’t supposed to play JV since I was a Varsity level competitor but CIF made me go down), and my god, I was dominating like it was nothing due to how in shape I was football wise….like a different breed of sorts. So then comes Junior year where everyone’s counting on me to be the boss vista needs, so I take my workouts and diet to the extreme. All of that got me to a very heavy 235 pounds….however all the supplements and over exhaustion of my body got me injured with a hamstring and quad pull, costing me to miss half the season. So here we are senior year…in all honesty I had to tone down my workouts and intake of food so I’d be able to play the entire season, wasn’t as strong as last year but still powerful enough to dominate everyone on the field and get the looks I needed for college ball. So where am I at now in terms of health wellness, I think the best way I can put it is a hybrid of my sophomore and junior mentality which I can see is benefitting me greatly. Today, I’m at a toned out 240 pounds and as one would say, strong as an ox but this time around the right way so I can keep all together and not prone to injury.
Spiritual Wellness
My spiritual stability has somewhat maintained an even path throughout the years, so there’s nothing much to really elaborate on….but I would like to share a time in my life where I stopped believing in anything, taking on the mindset of that nothing is good or worth giving a damn for. It was at this moment of of my life where I was at the lowest point of my entire well being physically and spiritually. I was in 8th grade at the time, barely turning 14 but had the maturity of a 18 year old due the rough upbringing I had to endure, playing in my 5th year of pop warner and 8th overall year of football. I had a one of a kind brother in arms type friend who was with me since the beginning of my journey in the sport, his name was Salo Ta’unga #8 of the Victorville Cowboys….Look, I want to keep this short as possible because Its a subject that has taken a toll on me in terms of sharing it at any given time. He lost his life in a shooting occurring during our championship game due to the soreness of the other team we played, from that point on my whole world that I knew turned to black. I would like to reference this part of the story to another work of mine called “FREEDOM” , which is a more detailed explanation of how bad my downfall was. Beyond this low point in my life, my spiritual part of me has greatly recovered as I continue to attend services at my church, which is a place I would consider my peace of mind as much as football.
Graduation Speech
I never knew this day would come, always felt that life is just cruising along at a slow pace for all of us to be able to embrace everything going on around us. Now here I am, giving my graduation speech right before I set out into the real world ahead. From the very moment I started my journey, I knew that I was going to have a rocky road to embark on educationally and physically. Life has thrown some pretty heavy blows at me, knocking me down to points of no return…but I always managed to fight my way back out. I have lost many friends and family throughout the years which has drove me off course from staying on the path, but I always found new ones to fill in those voids. I have lost many battles with seeking an identity that fits me best that no one can take from me, but I believe I found my purpose in the life god has given me. Do I still struggle with trying to keep a balance in my life, yes I do, but that’s all part of being human. I would like to thank everyone that has supported me up to this point and kept me from failing to reach this moment at hand; Mom, Dad, Noah, Santana, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle lee, Uncle Marty, Messiah, Carlos…. The list goes on but those people are in a better place now. I would like to thank the lord himself for giving me the tools to carve out the life I wish to have one day and for forgiving me for all the wrongs I’ve committed before. Life is truly too short to waste for how fast it really goes by, to all my colleagues here today, believe me when I say this, Make everything count no matter how big or small it is, even when everything is against you at any point of time shake it all off and know everything gets better day by day, with a big ol smile to top it all off.
