It has been awhile, hasn't it?

So much has happened since 2010 - there have been plenty of changes.

For one, I graduated San Francisco State University. 

For another, I interned and then got a position in a start-up company (so new that the website is still under construction). 

In this blog page, let me just go over what has transpired since my last update:

• Graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Information Systems
• Graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in eCommerce
• Quit a comfortable, decent-paying job to pursue an internship
• Went into an internship at a start-up
• Got hired by start-up

Other people have been quite supportive over my decisions, due to several factors:

• While I did get a fair pay, I wasn't happy
• I noticed that my past job festered unhappy coworkers - they had decent pay but weren't quite happy with themselves or their coworkers. It was a bit depressing
• I didn't want to live a life filled with "what ifs"
• I desired to have a position where I learned new things almost every day and utilized the skills that I acquired whilst in college

After reading that, you can understand the reasons.  However, here are the post-decision...not-quite-regret-but-something-eerily-like-it

• Need to change and learn how to "live within means"

Not really a list, but it's enough to make someone pause and consider.  If you're going to make a transition, this one is a big factor that you need to consider.  This one reason has made a big impact in my life, and it's something that you really need to prepare yourself for.  I assumed that I could last long, but you never know how much you should save up before making that change.

Yes, I had actually saved up money before planning the transition from my job whilst in college to my internship.  I had assumed that a savings of $5,000 for a 6-month to a year-long internship would be long enough before I "got hired".  Yeah, well... that didn't work out as well as I thought.

My thanks that I have survived as long as I have - even if it is barely - is to the whole "living with your parents" thing.  I still have to pay off bills, and a car, and car insurance, and health insurance (once I left my job for the internship, I had to get a personal health insurance), and the list goes on and on.  However, parents... they help a great deal.  My mom, especially, since she's the one who throws me a bone almost every week on getting me some food to last the week, and sorting out my bills.

My advice for new grads or others similar to my position:

• Save up a whole lotta money unless you don't have a lot of debt 
• Make sure you have supportive people around you that you can rely on
• Learn to live within your means (and try to avoid using credit cards or else your bills will skyrocket...)

Despite having graduated, and receiving a position at the start-up, the pay is still severely lacking.

If someone asks me whether I would change my mind if I could do it over again, I would still stand my idea of taking the harder path.  Without taking that step, I wouldn't have learned as much as I did. I wouldn't have learned to appreciate family as much as I have.  I wouldn't have learned the value of money.

And I certainly wouldn't have known the vast difference between what you learn in school and what you learn in the real world.  I knew that what we had learned in class wouldn't be quite as applicable when utilizing it in a job setting.

However, when you actually come across that situation it's very humbling. 

Just recently, in my job, my boss had a "pop quiz" for me. He wants me to start learning ERDs (Entity-relationship Diagrams).  I had to tell him that I haven't learned much from my class (if you had the teacher that I did... you would certainly know why).  In the 30 minute he gave me, I was a wreck. The course I took didn't really apply ERDs in a situation where we could utilize this in the real world - outside of a classroom setting. Everything was by the book. 


There I was, in front of a computer, trying to learn how to use the mySQL Workbench's EER.  I had gotten as far as making tables... and then got stopped because I couldn't figure out why the many-to-many relationship wasn't working like it should. 

So here's another advice:  get an internship / entry-level position as early as you can in your college career. 

This way, you can really get a leg up on the competition.  No matter how minor you think you are learning, at least you're learning something that could be useful to you. 

San Francisco's AT&T Ballarpk is situated at  24 Willie Mays Plaza San Fracisco, CA. 

There are a number of ways to get there, but the best way would have to by by commuter train.  Why?  Because it's cheaper.  Parking is atrocious and trying to get in and out is a hassle.  Much better to just take Bart and switch to the M-train or any other Muni trains that lead to AT&T Park. 

Now what's there to do there?  Well during baseball season ... there's baseball. 

Aside from that there are smaller events like a county fair, emerald bowl, and even concerts. 

Within the ballpark they have family attractions such as the Coca Cola Fan Lot where fans are able to run around the bases. They also have a superslide shaped in a coca cola bottle. 

There's a little park for small children to have fun and experience softball thrown by either a pitcher or a pitching machine.

For those a little older, there's a speed pitch where you can test your arm.  But it costs money.  $2 for four pitches, $5 for accuracy.

Inside the park there's a Build-a-Bear Workshop.  They feature Lou Seal, but if you're not interested in that, they have other options for you, or you can just stop by and check out the products.  It's always interesting to visit and see what they have there.


Now what else?  Oh yes, the food.

I have to say that if you are visiting the ballpark, you should bring a lot of money and a credit card.  What would be better is if you bring outside food. It's really overpriced.

If you are going to eat there, then here are my suggestions:

• Avoid the beer - they're priced at $5.75 for a 12-4oz (really tiny) and $9 for a 16/20oz.  
• Avoid the water unless it can't be helped, they're priced at about $4.75 for a Dasani.
• Nachos sold at the Doggie Diners are pretty small and overpriced that comes with regular corn chips and standard nacho cheese (with jalapenos if you want to get them).  Slightly bigger ones come with slightly more corn chips but same sized nacho cheese and the addition is the salsa.  It's not even the fresh kind either, they come from bottled ones . So I'd avoid that or try to see if the the Compadres (a better vendor for Mexican food) is still there. But last time I checked, people were telling me that they left and aren't going to come by anymore.  
• Pretzels are so-so, but they only come as "salt or no salt" with no other alternatives.  Cheese with it come with nacho cheese and charge you $1 extra for a small cup.  They're priced at about $4-5.
• Candy is now available at the ballpark but the prices are around $4-5 for big box, but the inside is a rip-off.  You're better off with larger movie theater, at least it reflects the amount...
• If you are getting a drink, beware that the place does not provide a cover and straw (they have never provided such a service).  So make sure you can carry the drink around without spilling it, or you'll regret it.  Nice ones I would suggest getting are the souvenir sizes - it's large and are priced around $6 but they're like 32oz or more.  Once you're done drinking it, you should try getting it signed by a player or something.
• Food I suggest to get?  Garlic fries or dogs from the portable stands.  Dogs from the portable stands sell mostly sheboygan dogs or some such - they come longer and more seasoned than the ones sold within stands such as Doggie Diners or Say Hey! 
• Popcorn is iffy, and they do not provide kettle corn, just butter and salt.  With no option of more butter and salt. 
• There are burgers and pizza sold.  The pizza is okay, and comes in a personal pan so it's good for sharing if you can't finish it off.  Burgers are sold at the Pizza Port I believe and they have a vegetarian option for them.  
• Another thing to note there are condiment stands situated a few feet away from the food stands, so you can put your own condiments on them.  I noticed that a lot of people would either automatically say what they want on their hot dogs/burgers... 

Anyways, I'll stop here.  

What you may or may not know:

• It's good to come to campus a little bit earlier if it's your first time - getting lost before you get to your class just shows poor preparation
• You should carry around some extra scantrons and a blue book or two with you, in case you forget it's exam day.  Or if a friend may need one - always good to lend a helping hand
• If time allows, you should join a club or two just to fill in that resume and meet new people while you're at it!
• Get into an internship as soon as possible - may pay off in the future
• If not an internship, try to get a job. Any experience is good experience
• Always bring your student ID in case your Professor asks for it, and some campus libraries will require you to fork it over before you can borrow their computers
• Take advantage of your campus' Career Center. 
• Companies call colleges all the time so they can put in a request for interns or part-time positions, even the occasional full-time
• Career Centers offer services on how to prep you for interview and look over your resume

• Career Fairs are ideal, but most of the time they are targeted towards graduating seniors
• If you don't fall into that category - try to establish a relationship with the people at the booths that you are interested in.  They can give you valuable tips and a card to call for more information,  
• Aside from booths for internships or jobs - there are booths for volunteers that may take on below Seniors
• Bring resumes with you and dress in - at the very least - business casual clothing
• Research the companies attending the venue so you can tailor your resume to suit them
• To research, you can check out your campus' Career Center website where they should list all attending companies

•  Nowadays, a standard one-page resume may not be enough.  Though a good start, I have noticed that more companies are asking for CVs.  
• CV:  Curriculum Vitae
• Limited to two pages, instead of a one-page - though there are others that want more than that
• A more detailed synopsis of your background information
• For more information check out:  Writing Curriculum Vitae

• Don't immediately assume that when you go to college, you're in for a more laid back lifestyle
• depending on your major and the classes you take, the coursework you are lumped with gets more difficult
• Freshmen year is pretty standard but over the years the workload becomes more challenging
• When buying college textbooks, don't limit yourself to the campus' bookstore
• Look online for cheaper deals - Amazon and Half.com are always an option
• Look into ebook if available - but beware, your Professor may not like it, especially if they plan to allow you an open book test
• Group work is not always fun and games 
• Sometimes it can be more trouble than its worth
• Online classes are not always the best
• Even though it is much more convenient, sometimes the response time between a Professor and a student is not that great

There are more that I wanted to list out, but I'll stop here.