Summer Nights.

After getting a surprise visit from the evil twins, Emily and Sonia and causing a great delay in my departure, I finally was on my way to Long Beach. It's been such a long while since I've been there and i thought it would be refreshing to spend some time away from Irvine. I also needed to wash my car, so i figured ill do it at home home.

My dad takes my brother and i out to Guppies, which i haven't been in forever. Its so much bigger than i remember. I ordered a kimchi fried rice which i barely ate any of because of the after effects of a pretty treacherous night. I was definitely not being M.I.P.

My dad then took me to a Korean market to buy some groceries. He was telling me different things he does at his place to cook and was giving me tips on how to cook at home. So i bought some duppoki (rice cakes), some kimchi udon noodles, edamame, and mandoo (dumplings). Im excited to eat Korean food at home. and damn, that bag of rice will last me a long time.

After getting my car cleaned up, scraping the bird shit off and getting it shiny again, i made my way back to Orange County. I pretty much ended the night hoping around place to place hanging out with whoever was down to kick it. It's nights like these that i enjoy most. Where there is nothing better than enjoying the company that surrounds you, even if you are frantically writing up AGTs. When you surround yourself with amazing people, you will have an amazing time, no matter what. You know when you are around the best people when the little things turn into adventures. Heres to the home stretch of Summer 2008.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

It has come, the end of staffing for Gold Year. I never knew this moment would come so fast. How is it that i had already staffed 5 different halls. Each and ever hall has its on unique mark on my heart and each are very different from one another...

SPOP 1: Power Rangers: Lost in OTEROdise
Thus comes T.F.O., the first one. The night before my first spop, I was filled with all kinds of emotions. I was so excited to start my staffing experience during Gold Year, yet so anxious and nervous at the same time. Although I was a returner, the format and set up of this year SPOP was new to me and I am not quite sure how I would approach the unfamiliar. However, i had confidence that i would find some way to cope with the new changes. I guess I was just the most nervous about the impact I would make on the kids. I wanted it to be more than just "orientation" for them, but rather an experience. How could i possibly do that in just two days, and not even that. I woke up that morning pretty damn tired, literally having to DRAG myself out of bed. I arrived at school ON TIME (haha) that morning still groggy. It wasn't until I saw the groups of "yellow shirt people" slowly approaching Puente that my energy started to pick up. All my worries and concern somehow just magically floated away seeing my support system report for the morning staff meeting. I knew if i had any problems or worries, i could really on these amazing people to help me out. The first day went by like a blur. There was a lot of moments where i had to think on the spot or try to work out the solution, but somehow, it worked. My next mission were those SPOPPERS..my first ever gold year spoppers. I dove head in, when i sat next to a few of them during lunch. I rememberely them clearly, they were Neal and Christina. We had good conversation during lunch and i was excited to meet the rest of them during their Mesa Court check in. I don't think i could explain the rest. It turned out to be an amazing first SPOP that although, had its glitches in the beginning, everything else started to figure themselves out. First talent show was amazing, the dance was a fun first trial, and i went home that day so satisfied and pumped for my future SPOPs.

Oterodise Staff:
L-R: Sam Renzi, Ashley Browne, Sly Edrial, Me, Jennylyn Estrella, CP Anne Chua and Ken Tran


SPOP 3: The Poop Stars of poo-poo-POOENTE

A day before i would staff my second spop, i get an email from the coords. That email came to be a shock to me. Of course I know in the course of being a returner, I would CP eventually, but to have a concrete announcement telling me that i was going to be a CP for the very first time scared the shit of me. I mean, the returners never received a "CP for dummies" manual and the only familiarity i had with CPs is my experience with my CP Alan and CP Lauren from teal year. I really didnt know much about the responsibilities of being a CP, but i did know i had to go out and get some CP gifts. Nonetheless, being a CP for a hall wasn't as bad i thought it was. Of course there were times that i was stressed out, but i think it was due to me psyching myself out and putting more stress on myself more than i should of. My biggest concern as a CP was worrying about my staff and making sure they were fine as well as the spoppers. I think i did more worrying than i had to because my staff did mroe than a fine job taking care of the spoppers. Because of them, i didnt need to have a mental freak out and i want to thank them for that. OH SPOP 3 was also the birth of the first hall romance of SPOP 2008. The love between Poo Poo Pooente and SOULtero Train. I love you Wes. You are an amazing CP and an amazing friend to talk to.

Poo Poo Pooente Staff:
Top (L-R): Jeff Fong, Sarah Bana, Regina Gayatinea
Bottom (L-R): Angie Bordador, Esther Chong


SPOP 5: CamiNOTORIOUS B.I.G.s "Blinging in Gold"

This particular SPOP is special to me because it was the "firsts" of many I had during a SPOP this year. It was the first time i truly got to experience a full CHA experience. My Cha trip was cut short the first couple times because i had to tend to the halls. I also got to go an official full SPOP DANCE experience. I consider the first dance our "guinea pig" and trial one and i stayed behind during SPOP 3 as CP (plus i was dead tired). Finally, i was it was the first time during gold year that i was able to play SPolympics. I had such a blast and they made staying up till 4:30 so worth it!

CAMINOtorious B.I.G. Staff:

L-R: Sam Soon, Diana Huynh, Leslie Akizuki, Ashley Browne, Melody Cruz and Monkey C.P. Kristle in the tree


SPOP 6: Party in Pradodise - Where my Prado people at?
When i first got my list of my staff for SPOP 6, i nearly fell to my knees. I had such an all star staff and i was more pumped than ever to get back to staffing even if i had just done SPOP 5. I had no doubt my staff would do an amazing job, and after staffing they more than made me proud. Just watching them staff, i constantly had a smile on my face. They seriously made my job as CP as easy it could possibly be because they knew what they had to do and they seriously handled. More importantly, what made this hall so special for me were the SPOPPERS. These SPOPPERs were seriously down for anything and were always pumped and excited. You could totally tell by their hall cheers because, not being biased or anything, we were the loudest hall at SPOP 6. You could hear it from anywhere "O O, YOU WISH YOU WERE IN PRADO" I had such an amazing time staffing SPOP 6 and it made me so pumped for my T.L.O.

Party in Pradodise Staff:

L-R: Steph Takeshita, Jesus Martinez, my kiddo John Kim, Diana Thai, Theresa Hsaio, Charlotte Simpliciano


SPOP 8: Bahyatt Beaches Resort


So this is it. My LAST ONE. MY LAST HALL I WOULD EVER SPOP. I didnt come into my last spop in the greatest of moods. I had a really bad day the day before SPOP 8 and i also got sick, so i wasn't really excited coming into SPOP 8. I just hoped that i would get over my sickness so i would have the energy to give my TLO my all. However, it was 2:45 pm and i was dirty, sweaty and still sick with the spoppers checking in to Mesa Court within 15 minutes. I quickly took a shower so at least on the outside, i looked fine. Slowly, the kids started trickling in and there was this magical force that just came in. When more and more people came and we moved outside for a round of dance off and and woosh, i felt a transformation. Suddendly, i felt like i had no sickness at all and i was so happy to rock the rest of spop. My ended my staff experience with one of the most amazing halls, with the most amazing staffers and the most amazing spoppers.

Bahyatt Beaches Resort Staff


L-R: Cat Pham, Paulo Aquino, Cory Ishihara-Wing, Eric Kim and Stephanie Chhun



It's pretty funny how the Olympics are going exactly the same time as SPOP this year. Just as hard as the athletes are working for their gold medals, i felt like i worked just as hard to earn a gold medal in SPOP, and after closing, i feel like i have achieved the gold medal that i wanted. I came into this year with a goal. As a returner, i would give my all into the program and give not only the spoppers, but the newbie staff all that i could offer. I put my 200% into this program and it has paid off. The results were wort all that extra responsibility, effort, hard work, drama frustrations. I would like to congratulate the first year staff on their part in SPOP. You guys have truly impacted the incoming freshmen and accomplished your purpose. To the returners, theres nothing more than i can say to you guys than that i love you and am so blessed to be in the same group of returners as you guys. There is one thing i realized this morning and this goes out to all the SPoppas. I feel like we are such a strong group and i feel like we are a band of brothers. Our comraderie is something i felt and i am so honored to be dads along with you guys.

Thank you gold year for all that you have given me. SPOP is more than orientation program, its a way of life.

When you reach for the stars...

Sometimes you miss and land in the clouds but other times, you just fall straight back to Earth.

Lesson Learned

Here are some things i learned from CPing SPOP 3 and going to SPOP NOR CAL

• I have the greatest support system with SPOP -- as "chill" as the job as CP may have seemed, i find myself being stressed at certain points of the day because i felt like i had nothing to do, but had so much to do at the same time. There were so many worries and concerns that i had, i just kind took the job as it came and kind of went with the flow and took care . if you know the type of person that i am, i like to at least have some sort of set schedule and have it written down for me. Of course, we had our CP folder, but it still didn't seem defined for me. It was something i was not familiar with and trying to think about all the things i needed to do or tell the kids really stressed me out. Luckily, i had an amazing group of staffers to help me through the process. Thank you to angie b, regina, sarah, and esther chong for being such an amazing group of staffers. I would really like to give a special thank you for jeff fong. i really can't thank you or express how much i appreciate how you have helped me. I know it may seem like you didnt do much, but to me, you kept me sane. I knew i could turn to you for anything but that i really didnt have to ask you for anything, because i knew you already knew what to do and you did it so well. And it wasn't just my staffers in my hall, it was basically all the golden shirts that were at SPOP 3. I knew i could turn to you guys no matter what with my worries and concerns and i could lean on you guys for support. Wes, you really are amazing. You are an amazing person to talk to and im glad we made the first ever SPOP HALL ROMANCE. i love wes. =]
• The REAL purpose of why i staff SPOP: being CP, i really realized even more the main reason why i do this program. i remember that i kept telling myself..."you're doing it with for the spoppers, you are doing it for the spoppers,". I kept telling myself that because i felt like all the sweat and effort i put into this progam didn't go into effect. Most of my worries as CP came from whether these kids will be excited for UCI, let alone, even have fun. i guess, after writing this, it wasnt the duties of CP that stressed me out, it was the spoppers that stressed me out. Believe it or not, it was making sure they were okay that stressed me out the most. After touch game, when the kids said, "I had a really good time and am excited for UCI because we had the best staffers," it was then i was able to let out a big sigh of relief and told myself "nick, you did your job, and you did it well, congrats".
• embracing connections you have with people...I really enjoy having my personal times with people. I would take those times over any crazy parties any time. i really love to genuinely talk to people and getting to know them and learning about their life. I especially go to do that after going to NOR CAL with spop heads. having a special connection with that someone that makes your friendship unique from other friendships and something only you and that other person can share. Even something as simple as making eye contact and feeling that connection you have with that other person makes it so special.
• taking time for yourself...sometimes you really need to step out of the loop and take the time to have to yourself and reflect. its important to realize that you don't always need to be in the circle and that there are times where you do need to step back. its that whole step up and step down thing. in order to help others, you truly need to help yourself first. you need that time to yourself to re-boost and re-energize and focus on your ultimate purpose not only in the current situation, but as well as in your own life.
• realizing your self worth..its so true when people say that you are your own worst critique. i don't give myself credit sometimes. its hard for me to see it because i really don't give myself enough credit, but yeah. I should realize my self-worth.

"the truth is, we put up walls not to block people out, but to see who cares enough to break it down"

sitting in my room.

im here sitting in my room, early in the morning, getting ready to go to work, except theres 1,000 thoughts running through my head. im just thinking about all the stuff that i have to take care of as well as all the changes that i have gone through the past couple of months. I know, weird combination, but it happens when you wake up earlier than you thought. I'm thinking about the changes that I've seen in myself, as well as my relationship with others. it's been for the good, i can say, but it's also been a roller coaster ride. i honestly really don't know what I'm talking about right now, i just felt like i needed to get something out on a blog.

i guess i'm talking about one relationship. despite the fact that we have grown closer in the past couple of months, i feel like theres still this wall between us. i really dont know what it is, and i really don't know how to fix it, but theres something there that is preventing us from getting closer. I mean, i'm happy with the relationship that we have now. we have moments and we also have our talks, but i still feel like theres something blocking us from getting even closer. we'll just see how time goes and maybe something will help or maybe i should just be content with what we have already. whatever, im getting cheese fries.


on a side note: i really miss disneyland. im hoping being blocked out for a month and half and then being able to come back on August 17th will make my comeback more magical than ever. until then, turkey legs, Fantasmic, fireworks, and the Toy Story ride will just have to wait.

The First One

I can't even begin to describe my feelings and experiences from staffing SPOP 1. Although I'm a returner, staffing the first one seemed like a totally different experience. There were definetly a lot of last minute changes and "go with the flow" moments, but regardless, T.F.O. was truly amazing and I couldn't have asked for anything more.

To the staffers in my hall - My CP Anne, Sam Renzi, Jennylyn, Ken Tran, Ashley Browne, and Sly. You guys were truly an amazing group to work with and all of our personalities mixed so well and we complimented each other. Anne, you were an amazing CP. I hoped i was able to help you out and relieve any additional stress, and to the other first year staffers, i am so proud to watch you wear that gold shirt with pride and connect so well with those kids. My heart will forever belong to and remember Power Rangers: Lost in OTEROdise.
To the other staffers: YOU GUYS WERE AMAZING. you guys really make me proud and just watching you guys staff just brings me pure happiness. Despite all the changes that occurred with in the program and all the fears that i had regarding if these changes would be able to accomplish what the SPOP mission is: mission accomplished. We've impacted those kids and made them excited for not only going to college, but going to UC Irvine. It's pride that we already have and now we have passed it down to future generations. Just imagine, when they are applying to be staffers, its going to be YOU that they inspired them to be staffers. Congratulations and get ready for future SPOPS

To the spoppers: there ARE NO words to describe how much i care about you guys. thank you guys for making my first GOLD YEAR staff experience just truly magical. thank YOU guys for everything.



To the coords: Thank you for your amazing commitment and hard word. You have an amazing staff because we have amazing coords.


so pumped for spop 3. =] SPOP 2: YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO KILL IT!


[p.s. this blog is dedicated to jason kim. thanks for your words of encouragement. you inspire me. i shall write about supermarkets now!]