Meep's Vida Loca

Hi everyone, I am glad and thankful to be sharing a piece of my life with each of you. From perusing over the other introduction posts, I see that many of you are doing some extraordinary things, so first and foremost, I am just grateful for being able to join such a powerful and progressive community. Anyways, I am usually the one listening to others, so I hope I can do a good job speaking to you about myself. I do consider myself ambivalent. Introverted mostly, but can flip the switch to a level 10 extrovert when needed.

I am a 26 year old project manager for an engineering firm living in sunny San Diego California, USA. I speak 3 languages-English, Español et Français and enjoy partaking in various activities such as hanging out with friends, visiting the beach, mixed martial arts, and learning new things (current obsession-crypto). I wish life was always as sunny as it is now, because there were plenty of storms along the way that navigated me to where I am today.

THE EARLY YEARS

I am the son of immigrant parents and am the eldest of four brothers. (No sisters growing up. However, I would later end up having more than you can count with your hands.) As a child, I grew up as one of the "gifted" students, although at the time I could not understand why I would be separated from my friends to join the weird kids. I grew up economically disadvantaged but did not truly fathom the extent because I was still a child. At the time, the thing that was very clear to me was that if there was anything I wanted, I would have to work for it. Asking my parents for anything was never an option for me growing up, not because I did not want to, but because it was impossible. I grew up in the projects, but I had food, I had shelter and I was blessed. My first lesson in the School of Hard Knocks. I began working selling candies and then moved on to anything else I could get my hands on that I could flip for a profit. A 'hustler' mentality was born. By the end of high school, I was working two jobs as a newspaper salesman and a City employee, I had amassed over 500 community service hours, held multiple leadership roles, graduated with honors and was accepted into 9 universities from California to New York. My thirst for success had begun.

COLLEGE LIFE

Two weeks after my 18th birthday, the time had come to leave the nest. I was accepted into a Summer Bridge program in San Diego and so the trek began. In the program, I met other students in similar positions as myself and even others that were less fortunate than I was. I met students who were living in cars, and others who had lost parents and siblings. The program reinforced the notion to appreciate everything that I have. The summer of 2009 was over and my college career had officially began. College was a new paradigm. The first semester came as a slap to the face because I was now competing with all the valedictorians and top students across the nation. Sink or swim I guess. Times would get tough. I found out what hunger is. I would learn what it is like to have no support from anyone. I experienced what it was like to spend Christmas by yourself. I persevered.

Fast forward 5.5 years and I did obtain a masters in partying. (I also managed to snag an engineering degree and a minor in Leadership Development). During this time I honed my social and leadership skills. I held an innumerable amount of leadership positions across various executive boards. I noticed patterns. I began seeing what worked and what didn't work in organizations. During this time I started, revived and made powerhouses the organizations I was involved in. I received more awards. One year in fact, I was awarded the #1 Campus Leadership Excellence Individual in the entire United States. I was fortunate enough to have 3 internships in college before graduation came. Was the fun over or had it just begun?

CURRENT STATE OF MIND

My final internship was for a design firm where construction plans are designed. I was offered a job upon graduation and had to decide whether to accept it or choose one of the other job offers I was considering with either the City of San Diego or working on submarines in Seattle, Washington. I decided to continue working for the engineering firm that had given me an opportunity. Maybe because I was comfortable, maybe because I did not want to move, or maybe because they saw something in me that others had not and I wanted to prove them right. I decided to stay. After 2.5 years, I am designing projects, oversee them and work with other consultants on creating construction plans. The drawback is the insane amount of hours and energy that needs to be put in. During my four hours of free time, I began focusing on personal development. I started listening to icons such as Tim Ferris, Tony Robbins, Gary V., Eric Thomas, etc. I also began racking certifications in Architecture, Construction and Engineering to name a few from courses taught by professors from Harvard, MIT, Yale and Columbia. At some point after this I ran into crypto and immediately saw this as the future.

STEEMIT

Steemit. I plan to learn a lot from each of you and hope I can be of some value as well. In future posts I can dive into further details on any of these topics or anything you would like for me to talk about. I still go out a lot so maybe I can talk about some of those stories. Maybe I can discuss the different things someone can do here. If you are ever in San Diego feel free to reach out. Anyways, this is something that I had wanted to do for a while and am happy that I have hopefully finally found the place and community for it.