AAAAHHHH!!!!! breathe…breathe…ok. Roll over on your side….AAHHH!!! Ok, ok, ok…*sighs* Lean up on your elbow…*cringe* Scoot your left leg off the bed…now your right. Sit up in 1…2…3….!!!!
To get here in Spain it wasn’t as easy as it has been since I arrived. Actually there has been a lot of uncertainty whether I was going to Spain or not. I’ve noticed that a lot of people like me have been or are currently pursuing something to do after graduating college. Whether it be graduate, law, or medical school, getting a job or taking time to travel to different places. I have also noticed a lot of people struggling to pursue their aspirations and to keep their chin up. It is very sad to me to see people who have great dreams and unlimited potential give up their goals in life because they think it is impossible or it’s too difficult.
The above comment in italics, you might remember goes something like AAHHH!!!! It is what went on in my mind every day for 3 weeks when I got out of the bed every morning. 3 weeks before I was supposed to leave for Spain. I have sciatica which is pain affecting the back and hip caused by compression of a spinal nerve root in the lower back. The pain starts from my lower back and roll down my right hip and leg and into my foot. I had first gotten this injury when I was dead lifting 475lbs off season in football work outs. I had to get a shot in my back to get rid of the pain but unfortunately it had returned while I was helping my parents move stuff from the storage to the house.
This wasn’t the only set back I had…
May 11, 2013
One of the many questions that you are asked as soon as you become a junior in college is, “What are you going to do after you graduate from college”? This question occurs more often as you get closer to graduating. If you’re a “good” student you’ll have all of your plans figured out for the next five to ten years. If your “like me”, you’ll have no idea what you want to do even though you’ve been trying to figure that out for three years. If you are in the middle and have some type of idea what you want to do that’s awesome! On this graduating day I had a few plans up my sleeve: 1. Go to Jamaica for a week as part of a service trip with the school, to help teach children and build part of a playground. 2. Work with housing at my University for the summer as part of the Guest Service Team for people who stay at the University during summer break. 3. Hopefully the people from Spain will contact me very soon this summer so I can get everything prepared to go to Spain. Having a plan B would have been a good idea, but at that time all I wanted to do was get out the country and travel to Spain and immerse myself in the culture. To do what many of my peers have done that are International Studies/Business majors.
August 30, 2013
By this time I have given up on the idea of Spain and was currently applying for jobs. I made excel spreadsheets of where I would like to live, the name of the colleges, benefits, salary, etc…I had spent all my money from this summer because I was not going to Spain. I decided to enjoy the time I had at home and put all of my energy into making a resume, cover letter and applying to a lot of jobs. Many of the jobs that I was applying for required a Master’s level of education but in my head I was like…why not? With Spain completely out of my mind, it was as an idea that was torn down, buried and rebuilt into this job seeking machine…then came the letter. Finally, what I’ve been waiting on for literally four months has arrived!! I was placed at a school in Madrid (the region I wanted) with all the details!! I felt great!! Ecstatic! All of a sudden I wasn’t the job seeking machine any more, I was the guy who finally knew a little bit more of what he was doing with his life.
Then…
September 4, 2013
The news of what just happened finally settled in and I just realized everything that I needed to do to leave the country. I needed to go to Florida to apply for my visa. With that came a lot of stuff that needed to go with it i.e. medical papers, police background check, passport photos, etc…Oh yea, the program pays you once you’re THERE working. The program doesn’t pay your way there nor does it cover your housing and living expenses till you get to Spain. So, I had to come up with money for a plane ticket, first month’s rent and deposit, food, extra money for public transportation, to somehow get to Florida, etc…IN ONE MONTH! The smile I once had was only a facade masking the unwavering reality check I got hit with, which knocked the air out of me. At this point I thought of applying for loans. Didn’t work. Then I thought, why not get a credit card? I applied. Didn’t work. (When I say didn’t work I mean got denied. I got denied because I don’t have any credit…don’t ask. lol) I asked my parents for the money but they said that they wouldn’t be able to lend it to me at this time.
You may have asked in your mind…”why didn’t you just apply for a job”? Remember, I needed to get hired and make….around $2,200 in about three weeks’ time. So to go through the interview and training process would have already eaten up two weeks I could have gotten paid. This seemed like another hopeless case. Have you ever been so close to something yet, so far away? You feel hopeless and there isn’t anything you could do to make things work. To be honest that is exactly how I felt…hopeless. Then my mother asked the simplest question and it sucks because I didn’t think of this before: why don’t you tell them your situation and ask for an extension or something? You know to have a later start date? (Thanks Mom!)
This idea blew my mind!! I immediately got on the computer and emailed them the situation and asked for a later start date. They replied really quickly and said sure, no problem. They’ll send me another acceptance letter in November and that I’ll have enough time to get everything done. And then at that moment I felt hopeful again!!
*Also at this point I was in a cross roads. I got offered an interview at a University in Virginia the same time I got the letter from Spain. I had to make a decision within 24 hours of whether I was going to take the interview with the University in Virginia or jump head first into going to Spain. Obviously, I chose the latter. But at that time it wasn’t as obvious as I wanted it to be. Especially since I thought I was not going to be able to afford to go. I thought I made the wrong decision. My first career move and I thought I made a horrible mistake!
November 11th 2013
So at this point I’ve been working at Chick Fil A for about 2 months now. It had been a pretty chill job and I love all the people I got to work with. They are very nice, friendly and a joy to work with. I saw Catching Fire with some of them which was an awesome movie by the way! Although I have this good temporary job with these wonderful people, in the back of my mind were these thoughts of…ungratefulness. I mean follow my thoughts for a second. I just graduated from a University with two degrees that are not related to business or hotel and restaurant management. I have spent quite a lot of money on these degrees (as well as my parents) to only be working at a place that I didn’t major in. <– You see what I mean by ungrateful? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that these thoughts aren’t natural or that I didn’t feel justified by having them either but looking back…that is exactly what it was. This job allowed me to work towards a goal that I had in my sights on for a while. Speaking of GOAL! I had not heard back from the people from Spain yet, so I decided to email them just to make sure everything was ok.
One of the reasons I chose to work at Chick Fil A was because I was vegetarian at the time and I wouldn’t waste much of my money on food there. I saved a good amount of money!
November 28th, 2013
At this point I still have not heard back from Spain yet. (When I refer to Spain in this case and many cases before, I don’t necessarily mean the actual country but the administration in charge of the program that works with the government. just fyi, I know some of you knew that…I was just covering my assets. lol). I’ve also gone through a program which I think EVERY COLLEGE GRADUATE needs to go through after they have graduated. It’s called: Financial Peace University. My parents have gone through it twice and wanted my sister and I to go through the program as well. They even paid for it…because well I’m trying to save a lot of money! lol Also at this point I am very frustrated because I have not heard from Spain yet and it is getting down to the wire:
- I’m supposed to be in Spain on January 8th.
- I’m supposed to apply for my visa in Florida and would be mailed to my house within 3-4 weeks.
- I can’t get my visa unless I get another acceptance letter from Spain.
As you can see this is very frustrating for not only me but my family as well! They have been with me on this long process.
December 28th, 2013
At this point giving up was a very logical step. I have sent about 10 to 12 emails within the past month with no response until this day. I finally got a response with an acceptance letter that was a month overdue. I couldn’t possibly get to Florida and back as well as getting ready to go across the pond in about a week in a half!! I emailed the school I was placed and told them my situation and they seemed to understand. They wanted me to hurry as quickly as I can. Now all I have to do is go online and make an appointment with the Consulate Generals Office in Miami, Florida. Here are the problems that ensued:
1. The website was not working.
2. I called and they say that the website wouldn’t take appointments until after February
3. I got a number in which I can call and I should be able to book an appointment with them over the phone.
4. I called them and they said that the appointment book was not available. They gave me another number to call to get in touch with the office.
5. I called that number. No one answered. I called again and no one answered. I called the number for 5 days every thirty minutes from 9a.m.-1p.m. No one answered…
6. I went through my emails to see if I can get in contact with someone who can help. I found an email and I emailed him.
7. He no longer works at the Consulate General’s office because I got an error message. I looked on the Consulates website and they replaced him with someone else.
8. I emailed the new guy…he was on vacation….
Meanwhile….January 14, 2014
I received an email from the school I was assigned to that they were sending another assistant to their school because they needed someone as soon as possible. They said they had a list of students waiting to be assigned and she didn’t know if I was going to be assigned another school in Madrid….Now at this moment…you can imagine how badly I wanted to quit. Just to forget it and count my losses. To slump to the ground in defeat and wave the white flag of surrender. I mean, what’s the use any way. Obviously I am not meant to go to Spain. Obviously I meant to be complacent and stay in the same place for the rest of my life….But rumor has it…the plans I had, weren’t my own.
The day before, I received an email from the guy who was on “vacation” (I don’t know why I put the quotations there because he really was on vacation lol) and told me that all I had to do was show up at the Consulate Generals Office in Miami, Florida as soon as I can, tell them my name and they will take care of me. I’m thinking to myself…well that’s just great!! Now you want to answer my email when I just got replaced from my school? I’m like…this has to be just the meanest joke I’ve ever experienced in my life!!!! I’ve told my Chick Fil A family that I was leaving to go to Spain at the end of December….what am I still doing here?!?!
Now you want some cheese? (if you don’t get this reference I’ll just call…SACURITY!!! SA-CURITY!!) Lol
January 23, 2014
I received my final official assignment to the school that I am at now, Seis De Diciembre. Now it was time for me to head down to Miami, Florida.
February 2, 2013
The Incident…
AAAAHHHH!!!!! Breathe…breathe…ok. Roll over on your side….AAHHH!!! Ok, ok, ok…*sighs* Lean up on your elbow…*cringe* Scoot your left leg off the bed…now your right. Sit up in 1…2…3….!!!! (I woke up on Sunday morning to a lot of pain…it was horrible. In high school when I gotten the injury I couldn’t walk for a month. Thankfully, this wasn’t as bad.)
March 30, 2014
I have learned a few things through my experience of struggling for six months to get where I wanted to go. What I have learned is too much to type in a blog but I will share some of my conclusions. Everything that I went through, everything that I am going through is supposed to happen. It was meant to be, if you will. I have a path that I didn’t know existed until I arrived in Spain. It is a specific path only meant for one person, and that is me. Everyone has their different path in life and although we cross paths many times we are never meant to be on the same exact path for long. Beside you, yes. In front of you, sure. But never standing in your way or following behind you to catch up with you. I looked at others’ facebook and social media and wondered, what happened to me? What happened in my life? Where did I go wrong? At this point I was too focused on other peoples’ paths and following behind them that I didn’t recognize my own. As you have seen it took quite a while to get my attention and now I am focusing on my own path. Through my blogs I want people to experience Spain and maybe other countries through my eyes but never stray away from your own path. Although there might be a lot of things blocking your way or obstacles you have to face please know that once you stay on your path you will have a place where you can rest for a while. A place where you’re able to enjoy the road ahead. But first, you must get back on your path.
I know this post isn’t the usual fun explorations of Europe but I felt the need to share with you where I came from so you can understand some of my point of view. Before you can look through my eyes I need you to look at my experiences so you can get a clear vision of where I am coming from and what I truly see. Thank you again for reading my posts and I hoped you enjoyed it. I’ll have another post next week and it will continue the adventures that I have had in Spain. Thanks for all of the support and I hope you have a great week!!
Until Next Time,
Daniel
That Guy in Spain
Life Lesson #7: Get back to your own path and follow it.
That Guy In Spain 