16-A whats your secret sauce

It seems that each year in al least one class, their comes a point where your asked to complete an assignment like this. However, it seems to me and maybe some of you that each time something like this is assigned, you kind of stare at the screen a moment and try to grasp exactly how you're going to describe yourself for the assignment, and over the years your self-awareness seems to gradually change.

The first thing I would have to give myself credit for is the ability to alter my personality in different environments. I cant tell you how many times someone has told me how serious I was at work or school, then totally different in a social environment, its almost like I'm two different people they say. I think this is important for everyone to have because like most of us know there is a time and place for everything. The only difference about me is how drastic the change is when it comes to being in two totally different environments. The second point I'll talk about is my demeanor that's changed over the years when facing adversity. I think baseball really played an important role on this because I was a pitcher for 10 years, and if you know anything about pitching one of the most important things is to show no emotion. Not I'm not going to lie and say I get discouraged or flustered if something doesn't go the way I planned, but I definitely have developed my matureness to help me shed light on dark things when they cross my path. It's like as if someone were to get to me emotionally, they would never know because I seem to have the same positive attitude all the time. The third is my humor, I know this is what I consider a serious environment because this is school and I take school very seriously, but If you ever catch me outside of school or work you might say yourself "this guy is funny." I give credit to my parents and mostly my friends for that. Growing up we had something similar to a "Jackass" group and that me and my friends posted on youtube and people thought we were really funny. I was then referenced to a drama teacher who I ended up taking classes with for a couple years in high school. I love making people laugh and sometimes I wish I would've pursued that instead of baseball. O well maybe sometime down the road an opportune moment will present itself and I can take advantage of it. Fourth would have to be my determination. This is something I really took to the next level my senior year. I always considered my self an underachiever in high school and finally became fed up with my lack of motivation half-way through senior year. I started taking school and baseball serious and ended up with a 4.0 the rest of the year and received a scholarship to play baseball at a small school. After I graduated high school I promised myself that I would put a lot more effort into any sort of work I had to do. Even though baseball didn't workout for me, I maintained really good grades and transferred to UF in a year and a half. The fifth and final attribute of mine that I would have to give myself credit for would be the ability to maintain myself as a good person. It seems nowadays their is only so little good in this world and I try remain part of that. It seems somedays that their is so much hate and evil in the world and I try to be the nicest person I can be. Even here in Gainesville, people can be so mean to one another and hate one another and I try everyday to prevent myself from being affiliated with that. They're times when even if someone your dealing with is wrong and you know it, but it takes the bigger person to ignore them and walk away. This is the way I was brought up and it gets really tough sometimes to be a good person or to not let someone get to you, but I must say I am very mature when it comes to taking the high road and I humble myself on that trait.

Now for the interviews I called my mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, and my sister. These five people know me better than anyone else and figured in order to get the most accurate responses i'd interview these being that they know me the best and who would be the most honest.

1.) My Mom
    - I started of by asking my mother what she thought made me different than other people and to elaborate as much as she could on it. She started off by reminding me about how honest I am with her  being that not only is she my mother but also one of my best friends. The reason she finds that this makes me different from (most) others is that its rare to find someone so honest these days. Me and her know things about each other and each others lives that no one else on this earth does. She lists m along with me dad and my sister as the only three people that she can talk to us about anything and know that we're going to be completely honest even if it's not what she wants to hear. My takeaway from this is something I kind of already knew was going to be her answer. I knew that she would say something about my honesty or the comfort we give one another, but I didn't realize how important it was to her. I get my humor from her and me and her joke around about a lot of things but to hear how serious and meaningful it was to her was something that I will never forget.

2.) My Dad
   - My dad is someone who motivates me everyday and it inspires me to be like him both as person and as a successful boss. When I asked him what he thought made me different from others he said my humor. It kind of surprised me because I thought he'd say something along the lines of determination but I was wrong. He proceeded to tell me how upset he would get at me for being such a goofball sometimes but also admired the fact that this was a part of my great personality. He's definitely way more serious than me but he think at times I can be one of the funniest people he knows. He also touched on my versatility, he normally sees me with my friends and my mom joking around but he saw one of presentations I had recorded for a class and was surprised at how business-like and professional I was. I think this hits the nail on what I talked about earlier with the ability to completely change when I'm in different environments.

3.) My Grandpa
     - My Grandpa is someone Is someone I'm always trying to impress. He's a very serious guy who is tough on me and my dad but helps our family out a ton. I wish nothing-less than to make him proud and work everyday to do so. When I asked him what made me different than everyone else it took him a minute to respond (he's 80 years old). What he said made me different from everyone else (more specifically his grandchildren) was my improvement. He said "Son at one point I wasn't sure about you. You were always getting in trouble, arguing with your parents and making bad grades. All the signs of delinquency, and I didn't know if you were ever going to grow up." He then proceeded to tell me how proud he was of me for the baseball scholarship, getting into UF, an just being a good person in general. What I gained from this was even more motivation. The amount of change i've went through over the years is tremendous, but it just makes me hungrier and I want to continue to get better.

4.) My Grandma
   - The most surprising but best answer I got from all of my interviewees. When I asked her the question, she said the way I treat women. I was taken back for a second, not because I thought I treated girls badly or anything, but because I thought there was so many other things she would've said. Anyways, she said she's noticed that not only with family members, but friends and girlfriends of mine, that I treat them with a tremendous amount of chivalry. She went on by saying she knew that I'd be successful in school and other things, but was really happy to see her grandson acting like such a gentleman. She did conclude by saying "Im not sure how you act around them (girls) when you're not around us, but if its anything like I've seen I think you're a role model to be people around you and Im proud that I can say that." It was nice to notice that someone, especially my grandma acknowledged my kindness towards girls. I see so many girls mistreated daily and it makes me sick. I proud myself on this and it meant a lot to have someone call me out for it.

5.)
   -My fifth and final interview was between me and my sister. Me and her have a roller coaster relationship over the years so I knew she'd be honest and I was looking forward to what she'd say. When I asked her what was different about me than others she told me my "luck." I thought this was an odd response but told her to elaborate on it. She said she hadn't met someone so lucky in her life, whether it was getting away with things, being at the right place at the right time, or all the scratch offs and raffles I've won. Reflecting on it now, I have to agree with her. As much as I work towards things I Must credit a lot of things in my life to luck. But hey, sometimes its better to be lucky than good.


                                                        Summary

Looking back on what I originally said and what I gained from my interviewees, I must say we agreed on a lot of things. Two things that really surprised me was the my grandmas' response about girls and my sisters response about luck. I guess in response to my grandmas I should continue to make her proud with that, and for my sister, I guess I should acknowledge it more while at the same time try not to push my luck. I wouldn't make any corrections, but the luck thing is certainly something to consider because thats not something you can control. The other things I listed are attainable for everyone, but not luck. Luck is something someone is blessed with, and I'm happy to be  blessed with it. I guess for now i'll just have to enjoy it and hope it never runs out.