Downright Despair: An Election Night Recap After Five Months on the Campaign Trail

The last time I cried was in college.

Senior year to be exact. After a handful of drinks, I poured out my heart and soul to my then college girlfriend expressing dismay that she would break up with me at the beginning of what was surely going to be the best year of our lives. Despite my drunken pleas, she refused to reconsider her decision to and I was left in our fraternity lounge, overcome with sadness. As I stumbled out of the fraternity lounge, I had two of my brothers follow me out to make sure I was emotionally stable. I assured them I was and I walked through the North Carolina autumn air with a chance to regain my thoughts on the long walk back to my off-campus home. When I woke up the next morning, I immediately expressed regret that I couldn't better control my emotions and I vowed to do what I could to put the past behind me.

Nearly ten years later, I again spent a night in a drunken, emotional haze.

This time, though, it was different. These tears were shared among a group of people who up until five months ago didn't even know each other. We came from different backgrounds and different life situations. Some couldn't legally drink while others had already been legally drinking for a decade or more. Some had been on the campaign trail for well over a year while others had joined the campaign in the last month. Some had advanced degrees while others had yet to complete a single college course. Yet none of that mattered on Election Night as life had somehow, some way brought us all together to a small hotel room in Jacksonville, Florida where we were to learn the fate of our work, our candidate, ourselves, and our country.

And what we learned brought us all to uncontrollable tears.

Because no matter how or why we got involved with the campaign, we all put in our hearts and soul into it. You simply don't work for months straight on a job that isn't particularly lucrative unless you truly believe in the cause. Each person in that hotel room gave up their previous life to help elect Hillary Clinton president. Throughout the campaign we gave our blood, sweat, and tears on her behalf. We personally made tens of thousands of phone calls. We knocked on thousands of doors. We registered hundred of new voters. We texted and email dozens of volunteers with whom we built friendships and created everlasting friendships. We had to organize events for political surrogates including the current Vice-President. We had to ensure power-hungry police officers and obnoxious Donald Trump supporters who attempted to suppress our voter registration efforts. Through it all we endured the hottest summer on record and just narrowly missed being hit head on by a category 4 hurricane. We had to do all this because it was what was expected of us in order for us to win.

But in the end, we lost.

And with this loss came tears. These tears weren't simply for us but for those we worked with. Those whose lives would be forever altered by this election. The field organizers who were undocumented immigrants. The local Muslim leaders with whom we had gotten to know who were now scared for their neighborhoods. The LGBT couples whose love for each other was equally as strong as their love for their own communities. The senior volunteers who relied upon and fought on behalf of maintaining social security. The disabled man whose preexisting condition had denied him medical coverage prior to 2010. The Caribbean-American restaurant owner who wondered how he would be viewed in this new, anti-immigrant America. The mother of two young girls, who had to explain to her children why a sexist man was now the most powerful person in the world.

We weeped for them. For their uncertainty. Because this election was never about us. It was about something bigger than even Hillary Clinton. This election was about what kind of country we wanted to give to our children. For myself, it was what kind of country I wanted to give my unborn children. To be able to tell them that before they were born there was a bad man who wanted to become president but Daddy and a lot of young, energetic organizers along with an army of dedicated volunteers were able get enough people to vote to stop this man from becoming president. That instead of this hateful man, we elected a smart, capable president who just happened to be the first woman ever elected. This woman was able to carry on and build upon the legacy of our country's first African-American president and the two of them were able to provide our country with 16 years of peace and prosperity. It may have taken five months of hard, challenging work but in the end it all was worth it.

Yet none of that happened.

That is why I cried. Not for me, but for others. For my gay friends who now have to wonder if their marriage and the rights associated with that marriage will still apply to them. For my Latino friends who now face a president willing to tear apart their families and threaten their very way of life. For my female friends who may very well be forced to share their very personal and private information beyond their physician and immediate family. For my African-American friends who will continue to be told that their lives do not matter as much as my own. And for my friends will young children who will have to explain why the most powerful man in the world feels the need to yell at and insult anyone with whom he disagrees.

For you, my friends, I weep.

A Wing and a Prayer

Whenever a major life decision looms, I opt to go for a long walk.

On Friday, May 6th I engaged in this activity. The previous day, I had driven down to San Diego for a friend's wedding and ended up staying with another friend in Lakeside. On Friday morning I received a phone call from one of my contacts in the Hillary for America campaign. I had been in contact with this person fairly consistently and after Hillary Clinton's big win in the New York primary, I again touched base with this person to express an interest and desire in working for the campaign. I stressed my commitment to the cause and again reiterated the fact that I was geographically flexible and that I could easily give a 30-day notice to move out of my apartment and join the campaign wherever I might be needed. The conversation went well and my contact promised to be in touch should something become available.

But at that point, I simply couldn't take the uncertainty any longer.

So I walked. For nearly two hours in and around the hotel I was staying at in the Carmel Valley area of San Diego. The consistent holding pattern of the previous nine months had unquestionably taken its toll on me. I applied for a job then waited. I applied for a job then waited. I applied for a job then waited. This pattern of repetition was slowly gnawing away at my soul. My friends and grandparents in Sacramento were keeping me grounded but I was becoming restless. The political world was heating up. Hillary Clinton was moving ever closer to becoming the Democratic nominee. Donald Trump had recently sewn up the Republican nomination. And I was stuck in Sacramento, California wondering if I'd ever get the chance to become involved in the political world.

And so, I made a decision.

I got back from my walk around 4 P.M. and called my apartment manager to announce that I was giving my 30-day notice. I had a wedding in North Carolina scheduled for June 11th and I decided I would drive to the wedding and then from there would go wherever life took me. It might be to a job in a swing state. It might be back to New Hampshire to be with my parents. But I had to do something that would get me out of my current situation. The next day at the wedding when people asked what I did I told them I was hoping to work on a presidential campaign for the next 6 months. That response was greeted positively and even though I didn't know if that hope would become a reality there was something about saying that that simply felt right.

However, to make all that happen. I had to fit a 687 square foot apartment into a 2007 Toyota Camry. That in itself was a challenge. Fortunately, a couple of key pieces fell into place. In addition to the usefulness of Craigslist to sell some larger items, I had a friend of a friend who recently moved into a brand new apartment and needed a dining room set, coffee table, beside table, and recliner. In addition, my apartment complex just happened to have a yearly yard sale two days before I was scheduled to move out. This would allow me the chance to sell some of my smaller appliances and to give away any larger items that remained unsold. Despite the fact that I would inevitably lose money, it would be a great relief to get rid of all of my larger items rather than simply haul them to the local dump.

As this plan slowly came to fruition, I shared my thoughts with my parents via email and then got a chance to talk with them on the phone. I've always been fortunate that my parents have supported me in my journey and this latest example was no exception. Although my parents were both initially concerned about my plan, the more I explained my thought process and rationale behind my decision the more they came to support me. My dad especially knew the kind of toll being out of work for an extended period had been taking on me and so I think he understood my anxiety when it came to my next steps. My mom was said to see me leave California as she had thought that maybe that would be where I ended up. Yet in talking to her, she too, understood the reasons for my move. When I mentioned there was a chance that I would head to New Hampshire after the wedding, my parents were extremely supportive and said that I was welcome to stay there and figure out my next steps if need be. Having their support was an integral part of this process with so much uncertainty in the air.

Yet miraculously, this uncertainty quickly became a resolution.

After my interview on that Friday morning in San Diego, I ended up having an interview the very next day about a position working for the Hillary for America campaign. This was with a staffer who was in charge of staffing the key swing states and she interviewed me and then said she would pass along my information. About a week later, I spoke to a staffer who was working in Florida and who was hiring field organizers for the campaign. We had an interview which was followed up by a writing sample where I had to respond to two separate simulations that a field organizer might experience during the job. Oddly enough, I was also contacted by another staffer in Florida and he gave me the exact same simulation, within a day of my other assignment. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but I was excited that I was being considered for at least one, possibly two positions. The next day, this situation was clarified as I was told that I was being offered a field organizing position in Palm Beach County. I learned that I was also being considered for a position in Broward County but that Palm Beach was the more pressing need, so I was being placed there. I was offered the position which would not only be a paid position but would also situate me with supporter housing, meaning I could even save a few dollars over the course of the coming months. After ten months of unemployment, I now had landed a job working on a presidential campaign.

Despite this success, there was still an emotional side of moving I had to deal with. Specifically, letting my friends and family know that I would be leaving them in Sacramento. It was especially difficult letting my grandparents know that I would be leaving the Sacramento area. Outside of my parents, they are the most important family members in my life and I thoroughly appreciated being so close to them over the past two years. I was fortunate that I got to see them as well as my uncle twice before I left and our last meal in Sacramento took place at a Cheesecake Factory close to my apartment where we parted with loving embraces. Leaving Sacramento also meant I had to leave my Sacramento group of friends, many of whom I had become close with. As a thank you to them, I took them out for a last supper thanks to accumulated gifts cards to The Olive Garden, courtesy of my parents. Fittingly, since the last item I sold was my mattress, I spent my final night in Sacramento at my friend's home, watching Game of Thrones before saying my goodbyes on a Monday morning.

Then, I drove.

And drove. And drove. And drove. From Sacramento to North Carolina in four full days. I stayed in Kingman, Arizona on night one, Amarillo, Texas on night two, Memphis, Tennessee on night three, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina on night four. I stopped only for gas, food, and the potty. I grabbed brunch with my friend in Nashville. I stayed the night with my college advisor in Winston-Salem. When I arrived in Raleigh for the wedding, I had a chance to see several fraternity brothers I hadn't seen in years. When they asked me what I did, I told them I was working as a political organizer for the Florida Democratic Party. When they asked me how that came about, I simply smiled and told them it was a long story.

And is a story that is only just beginning.

Then and Now: An Update on My Previous Employers

When you're between careers, you do a lot of reflecting.

It's natural due to the abundance of time you have to think about where you are and where you want to go. As much as you want to maintain a positive outlook on where you're headed, part of you will always wonder what could have been. When this happens, you have a tendency to look back on your life and the decisions that brought you to where you are. For myself, every once in awhile, I will check in on my previous employers to see how they are doing. I recently did this a few nights ago and felt compelled to share what I learned. For better or worse, here are the goings on of all of my previous employers as well as a summary of where they were when I left them.

Philo Magnet Academy

Status in June, 2009: When I left my first teaching job at Philo Magnet Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina the situation there was very much up in the air. The school had been designated a county-wide magnet school in hopes of attracting a more affluent student population to improve test scores. However that hadn't happened and the five-year magnet grant was set to expire in a year. Should the school not improve its scores the next year (and there's no indication that would happen) then there was the possibility of being "restructured," a term often referenced yet seldom defined. It could simply mean anything from replacing a principal to instituting additional professional development to staff or even to removing the entire staff and starting anew. The problem is that nobody knew what it meant and there was a cloud of uncertainty hanging over all of us. My mentor, a veteran teaching of nearly thirty years, told me that if I had any options whatsoever now would be the time to pursue them. I followed his advice and applied to grad school and when I got accepted it was clear that I would be leaving Philo for greener pastures.

Status in April, 2016: Three years after I left, Philo was restructured in that it was merged with another low-achieving middle school nearby named Hill Middle School. The result was Philo-Hill Magnet Academy. Surprisingly enough, when you combine the two lowest achieving middle schools in the district, the resulting school also performs poorly and this year Philo-Hill has been named one of three "priority schools" that will be scheduled to receive grant money and will undergo "substantive changes" starting in the fall. What those changes will be remains unclear but the current principal will be replaced and, for now, the staff will retain their jobs. Of the people I worked with between 2007-2009, only one still teaches at the school. A couple teachers took jobs as the district office, while a couple others chose to transfer to other schools. There were even a couple teachers who ended up leaving the profession entirely after leaving when I did. Overall, it seems like Philo-Hill is a couple years away from being permanently shut down, pushed aside by a school district that has repeatedly failed to provide them the needed resources to work with students from the most impoverished area of the city.

Health Sciences High and Middle College

Status in June, 2010: When I left Health Sciences in San Deigo, the school had just had its first graduation, with a total of roughly 40 students. The school was set to expand the next year with an additional building down the street as it would be the first time the school would have full 9-12 classes totaling nearly 500 students. I knew the school needed a senior social studies teacher and I expressed my interest to the CEO. However, he dismissed me and stated that the school had only brought me on in a role as a long-term sub and had no desire to bring me on going forward. Eventually, the social studies position was given to the freshman math teacher who had a degree in art education. Long story short, the school was one giant patronage system where the administration with ties to San Diego State would bring on friends, family, and recent graduates with no regard for their qualifications. For those of us with no connections to administration or SDSU, we found ourselves on the outside looking in.

Status in April, 2016: Health Sciences now has full 9-12 enrollment and has also added a middle school as well. The school has continued to promote internally with those using their connections to advance. The high school principal originally got her start by being one of the CEO's secretaries. The new middle school principal had previously been a science teacher at the high school and was originally recruited by one of the CEOs from a neighboring high school after going through the SDSU master's program. The high school's new vice principal is one of the CEO's' nephew who started out as a school resource officer before then becoming a special education assistant, despite not having an education degree or background. Staff such as myself with no connections have gradually been pushed out with five teachers I worked with now having left the profession entirely. One teacher I do keep in touch with teaches freshman English but is also paid by the school to travel once every other week and engage in professional development trainings. When she does these, she references material that the CEO has written and essentially hocks his books. The patronage system is alive and well at Health Sciences High and Middle College.

Coleman Tech Charter High School
Status in June, 2013: Like Health Sciences, Coleman Tech also had its first graduation right before I left. This occurred with the roughly 20 senior graduates, many of whom started when the school opened in the fall of 2010 in a separate building. As I was leaving the school had roughly 160 students in full grades 9-12 in a permanent building located down the street from where the school had started. The big concern was the riff between teachers and administration. Many of us had lost faith in our CEO who seemed unwilling to address various concerns we had had regarding the direction in which the school was headed. In addition, I personally had been asked to take a part-time position as my role as health/PE/Spanish/social studies teacher was deemed to not be part of the "critical needs" staff moving forward. As I pointed out in my resignation letter, I did not agree with a distinction like this when the culinary arts teacher was allowed to keep her full-time position. I also pointed out that the culinary arts teacher's husband and the CEO's husband were good friends and that I felt this played a role in determining why she was allowed to keep her full-time position while I was asked to scale back mine. I ended up leaving along with two other teachers who were also asked to take lesser roles and refused to do so.

Status in April, 2016: Coleman Tech had its charter renewed after five years and currently has roughly 170 students in grades 9-12. The CEO was forced to resign in the fall of 2015 by the board of directors. The assistant principal assumed the role of principal despite not having a degree in educational leadership and a new assistant principal was brought in to take his place. Of the original staff that started there in the fall of 2010, only two teachers remain: the vice-principal and an English teacher. Despite having roughly the same number of students, there are eight full-time staff and nearly half a dozen part-time staff to service student needs. Of those I worked with, three teachers left when I did and another one left a year later and two others are no longer working there. Even the culinary arts teacher, despite being on good terms with the CEO, could not handle her leadership style and left before the 2015 school year. Most recent test scores show that nearly 60% of students failed the CA High School Exit Exam, and the website GreatSchools.org which uses cumulutive test scores to rate a school, gave Coleman Tech a 2 out of 10 for low test scores across the board.

Steele Canyon High School

Status in June, 2014: When I was let go by Steele Canyon in Spring Valley, CA, the big issue was the direction in which the school was headed. The outgoing principal who gave me my pink slip, was to be replaced but the core group of four vice-principals was to remain in tact. The other issue was Cougar Explorations, a program that gave students the opportunity to take a weekly course in a non-academic area for the school's sophomore and junior classes. This program was in its third year when I was there and still faced resistance from the "old guard" of teachers who didn't feel that it was an appropriate use of the school day. Of the teachers in my first year cohort including my colleague who came over with me from Coleman Tech, I was the only one who was not asked to return which I believe was a reflection of the foreign language department seeking to replace me. The foreign language department was headed by a young teacher and this seemed to infuriate the department's eldest member who would frequently shoot down any proposed idea or suggestion. Based on my experience, I believe the foreign language department wanted a teacher they could control and mold and didn't see me as that person due to my core beliefs and values.

Status in April, 2016: Steele Canyon remains largely unchanged. My friend is still teaching and is about to become a tenured staff member. Those in my first year cohort still have positions. The only person I know that left was a member of the guidance department and he took a position working for San Diego State. The foreign language department still has the same staff, including the woman who replaced me in the fall of 2014. However, it is interesting to note that the school no longer has the explorations program but rather has more traditional elective classes in its place. To what extent this decision was driven by the new principal or the old guard is unclear but a new system of elective classes was voted into place in the fall of 2016 that completely replaced the explorations program. The school still has full enrollment as well as a lottery for any potential new students. It was and still is a high-achieving school getting a score of 8 out of 10 from GreatSchools.org. Of course with 80% of students not needing free and reduced lunch it should come as no surprise that the affluence school population does well on standardized tests.

The Fund for the Public Interest

Status in June 2015: When I left the Fund in Sacramento, it was due largely to the realization that I would have no opportunity to grow in the position I was in. During my nine months working for the organization, the three-person management team remained in tact and for the most part our office had about as good a retention rate as you could have for a telephone fundraising office. We had a handful of staff members who had been on staff for six months, including my eventual replacement who had been on staff for nearly three years. At the time I left, the lead director had been in her position for nearly two years and the other assistant director had been in her position for nearly seven years, after having first been a caller herself. Of the core group of staff in the three telephone outreach offices in Sacramento, Portland, and Boston, I was the first one to leave although one other was scheduled to leave in the fall as she was an assistant director in the Boston office and had been accepted into a master's program. Seeing as how things ended abruptly, I chose to cut off contact with both my fellow directors and kept abreast of the organization solely through the new assistant director, who, as I mentioned, had previously been a caller.

Status is April, 2016: I came to find out that both the lead and assistant director resigned in September of 2015. I'm afraid I don't know the reason and neither does the other assistant director, whom I still communicate with. The Fund ended up bringing on a new lead director as well as a new assistant director as well. I don't know much about the callers and whether or not the core group are still around. With the other offices, I know that one of the assistant directors in Portland is now working in Boston, meaning she was replaced in the Portland office. This seems to be common place with the constant turnover and multiple reviews I have read regarding the organization seem to echo my sentiments: that the organization cared more about fundraising than it did about the people. I still have a few Facebook friends from my weekend in Pismo Beach with the younger staff. Most of them seem to still be involved in fundraising although one of them is now doing installation for a solar company rather than running a campaign office. The older ones with families are still involved with the organization as they have reached a point where they have progressed beyond fundraising roles and are doing more organizational work rather than simply raising money.

Conclusion
Being a self-described wandering millennial, I have put myself in challenging situations and as you can see many of these situations got worse, and not better, after I left. Many of the problems I encountered are still prevalent including such issues as challenging environments, patronage systems, poor leadership, in-fighting among employees, and no growth opportunities. Being well aware of the kind of options out there, I always resolved to remove myself from any situation where I didn't feel fully supported or appreciated. I feel it speaks volumes that most people I have worked with no longer work at those places with the exception of Health Sciences (patronage system) and Steele Canyon (teacher tenure). Although there is a part of me that is convinced I need to "get my s*it together" and find a career, I realize that my career paths this far have made that a challenge. In putting yourself out there and working for social justice issues, the hours will be long, the pay will be low, and you will be at the mercy of your employer who theoretically should be fighting for you on your behalf. When that last part is missing, you often have no choice but to look elsewhere as I have done. Based on how my old employers are doing now, I can say that I don't regret a decision I've made thus far. I can only hope that my future job, where I again place myself in a challenging environment, has a support system in place to help get me through the hard times.

Spreading the Word: The Role of Self-Promotion in the Age of Social Media

Each and every day 2,200 people hang on my every word.

Well, not really. But still, each and every day 2,200 people will see whatever message I want them to see. Such is the power of social media and specifically that of Twitter.

Roughly four months ago after I got back from my holiday in New Hampshire, I began thinking about what I really wanted to do. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have become interested in politics, so much so that I now see myself in that career field. The problem is that politics is a hard job to break into without a political science degree. Sure, you can volunteer like I did, but at some point there needs to be a way to get an "in" working for either a candidate or for an organization. For better or for worse, it's very much a patronage system and if you don't have someone on the inside it becomes extremely difficult to break through.

But that's not going to stop me from trying.

Within the past two weeks, I have been in contact with members of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. At this point the campaign is not able to bring someone on, but they are gearing up for the general election where they will most likely be expanding their staff. Until that point, it will up to me to best determine how to remain relevant and how to set myself up for success if and when the campaign decides to bring on additional staff. As a blogger, the first step is obviously to produce top-notch blog posts. But the second part of that is to find a way to market yourself so that you reach a point where the campaign can't help but take notice of you and your work.

For that, I have turned to Twitter.

For those unaware, Twitter is a funny animal. It provides a way to simultaneously create a revolution and to delve into the seething underbelly of some of the worst of humanity. It has allowed us a way to communicate in 140 characters from everyone to celebrities, athletes, world leaders, artists, musicians, friends, family, businesses, companies, and even fictional characters. It provides a way to instantaneously share news and information as Twitter has become THE modus operandi to share on-the-ground observations from protests and other live events. It gives users the ability to instantaneously share a thought/idea/concept and should that thought/idea/concept become popular, it can lead to amazing new opportunities. And it gives anyone the opportunity to promote themselves and their brand.

That's where I come in.

As a political blogger hoping to gain an audience, Twitter has become an essential part of who I am and what I do. Each time I compose an article, I wait to receive notice that it has been published. I then go back and quickly re-edit the article to make sure there are no lingering errors (you don't want people reading a sloppy product) before heading out into the Twitterverse. Currently, I'm focusing on sharing my work with those I know will be supportive of it. The majority of my political posts these past couple months have been in support of Hillary Clinton or have been critical of Bernie Sanders. Therefore, I will share those posts will all the Twitter groups I can find that would appreciate the content of that article: Hillary's own Twitter account, her campaign staff, state groups of volunteers, pro-Hillary blogs, pro-Hillary celebrities, and media personalities all receive a Tweet from my right after my work gets posted where I share a link to the article.  

I then give the Twitterverse a couple hours to digest my work. I do this because people who like or share my work will then have it viewed by people on THEIR Twitter feed in a snowball effect. That helps spread my work beyond the core group who I initially shared it with. I then come back to Twitter two hours later and build my support network. I do this simply by following people who have either liked or shared my work. It's funny that Twitter is very much like a high school cafeteria; there's always an undercurrent of peer pressure. I've found that if you follow someone, that person is much more likely to follow you back. Not everybody does it, of course, but you essentially are playing the odds and hoping that those odds are ever in your favor. Most of the time they are as people will like or share something you wrote because they agree with it and they are interested in reading more things they agree with. In this way, you are able to build up your own personal echo chamber and add followers.

That's the good part. The challenge is that if you are on Twitter and are representing a particular point of view, there will be those who will disagree with your point of view and feel empowered to let you know about it. This is especially prevalent in the political arena, where keyboard warriors will let you know exactly how they feel about you and your opinion, often times doing so in downright offensive ways. As distasteful as it might be, it's simply part of what happens when you put yourself out there. You have to have thick skin if you want to build up your brand on Twitter. Fortunately, I do and thus I don't lose any sleep over the insults hurled at me through my computer screen. Most offensive people I will simply block, never to deal with again. Some I will engage with a fact or counter-argument and the majority of those simply don't respond or hassle me further. And some will be so out there that I will respond in a humorous, snarky way and then will proceed to block them before they can respond. I like to envision them yelling at their computer screens when they realize they will no longer be able to insult me and that I've won the argument by not allowing them to respond.

Since January, I've amassed 2,200 followers. It's not a huge number by any means, but it is significant nonetheless. At the very least, it makes for a good pitch should the Clinton campaign come calling. I can say not only have I been sharing my work with the campaign, but I also have garnered a significant online following. I've even had a couple of cable news personalities retweet myself and my work so I figure that doesn't hurt either. All I know is that I'm slowly and surely creating a brand for myself and in the political world that is unquestionably a valuable thing. All campaigns look for people who know how to get a message out to a broad and diverse audience and I'm proud that my followers are certainly in that mold. I even learn from them, as some of them have sent tips my way or have suggested topics to write about. One person even said that one of my articles made me a modern-day Edward R. Murrow. That praise was clearly a little extravagant, but it definitely brought a smile to my face. Because I'm not a famous newsman. I'm not even a famous journalist or writer. I'm simply a guy trying to use social media to enter the political field.

Something Edward R. Murrow never had to worry about.

Road Trippin' USA: Five Days on the Campaign Trail for Hillary Clinton

You learn a lot about yourself when you're out of work.

A lot of it is mental.  How you respond to the uncertainty of a brand new situation.  How you respond when a good job opportunity never gets back to you.  How you respond when you receive notice that you didn't get a job you applied for.  How you mentally prepare yourself to be on a reduced food budget.  How you think positive thoughts to keep yourself from getting sick during times when you don't have health insurance.

But in addition to the things associated with this new lifestyle, you also begin to learn about what you're passionate about.  What makes you tick as a person.  My no means is it an extended vacation.  Your top priority is finding employment.  But there's only no many hours in a day where you can check job sites, update your resume, alter a cover letter, and organize all your reference materials.  You'll inevitably have free time and how you use that free time goes a long way in determining what makes you feel fulfilled in an otherwise uncertain time.

For myself over the past few months, I have become passionate about politics.  I find the topic fascinating.  The art of politics, the alliances, the policies, the support, the criticism, you name it.  There's just something unique about the entire field of study.  I check the news first thing every morning, I follow hundreds of politicians on Twitter, I've been recently watching The West Wing and House of Cards on Netflix, and I make sure to always catch the highlights from Last Week Tonight, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and The Daily Show.  I've also caught most of the debates and, as I mentioned in my last post, I saw both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton speak while I was home for the holidays.

In addition, I've become a fairly serious blogger in the online world.  I blog for four sites, three of which I contribute weekly political articles to help nurture discussion.  I enjoy the ability to share my thoughts and also to hear feedback from other members of the community.  I enjoy reading the comments and learning about others' experiences as many of the commenters are older and thus can provide me with a window into history that I wouldn't have access to otherwise.  I've been doing the political blogging for a couple years now and have amassed a hearty portfolio of work on various topics.  My work has occasionally been picked up by other progressive sites and every once in a while I'll write something that will be fairly popular for one reason or another.  Unfortunately there is no formula to hitting a homerun every time so as of now I'm not quite famous enough to have my own weekly New York Times article quite yet.

And so as this passion became real, I started looking into ways to potentially parlay it into a career.  As I said, I haven't had my big break yet but I'm also keenly aware that big breaks are often the result of making connections.  For someone like myself that is considering a career in politics, what better way to break into the field than to go straight to the top and work for the president himself?  Unfortunately, President Obama has had his team in place for the past seven years but there is an election this year so why not start off by hopping in with a future president?  With that idea in mind, I signed up to volunteer for the Hillary Clinton campaign as I believe her to be not only my own personal choice but also the most likely to win the White House come November.

I ended up being on a listserv for Sacramento residents and ended up attending an organizing meeting on January 10th.  At the meeting, they announced they were looking for volunteers to help canvass ahead of the Nevada caucus on February 20th.  I filled out a form with my information and indicated that I was waiting to hear back from a couple jobs but that I was interested in potentially helping out.  I got a call the next week from an organizer and I told her that I was still waiting to hear on jobs and that I couldn't make that next weekend.  She told me to call her if I was able to go.  Toward the end of January, I received an email again asking me about my Nevada availability and this time I put down the days leading up to the Nevada caucus to be safe.  They also asked if I could stay with anyone in Nevada and I indicated that I had family in the Las Vegas area.  They said it would be great if I could stay with them as they needed people at the campaign office in Henderson, just south of Vegas.  They gave me the address of the canvass office there and told me to check in as soon as I got into town.

I woke up at 6:00 A.M. on Wednesday and made the 550 mile trek to Henderson, Nevada.  I stopped for gas about 2 hours into the drive, and had lunch just east of Bakersfield at around noon.  I kept driving and got to the campaign office at 4:30.  Once there, I introduced myself to the office staff and was given a clipboard with a list of names to go canvass.  My goal was simple:  To touch base with these people and confirm their support for Hillary Clinton.  I was told that these were people that had been identified as being likely to support her and so the conversations I was to have would be fairly simple and straightforward.  If I encountered Bernie Sanders supporter, I was simply to thank them for their time and move on.  I was not try to dissuade them as time was of the essence.

This was my first time canvassing for a political candidate but I had experience thanks to my four-days with the solar company.  The big thing you want to do is be efficient with your time.  Each time I went out, I was given a list of roughly 50 names and the expectation was to complete the list within about 3 hours.  That meant that you wanted to plan out your walking route so that you didn't backtrack and you hit all needed houses/apartments.  If someone wasn't home, you simply left a door hanger which included information on how and when to caucus on Saturday.  If someone was home and they were a Hillary supporter you gave them the caucus information and confirmed the time and location and made sure they had transportation. And, of course, you thanked them for their support.

I did a total of six canvassing runs over the course of four days.  The "turf" varied as some times I was in a neighborhood while other times I was at an apartment complex.  I did most of my canvassing in Henderson but had one run where I went to South Las Vegas and scouted 4 separate gated communities to see if we could gain access to them.  I was able to get into one and left literature at the front desk of another so I consider that a moral victory.  In addition, I was also stopped once by a neighborhood security patrol making sure I wasn't harassing neighbors and once by apartment security who informed me it was private property.  I smiled and played nice both times, assuring both officers that I was simply dropping off literature and that I was being respectful to any folks who were not interested.  That seemed to be good enough for them and they left me on my way.
The highlight of the canvassing actually occurred at the office.  Friday morning we were visited by a large contingency from California of The Human Rights Campaign, an organization that works on behalf of equality for all citizens.  We also had Illinois congressman Luis Gutierrez come and stump for Hillary Clinton.  Gutierrez is one of my favorite congressmen and he was a strong advocate for Planned Parenthood in the fall when Republicans were insistent on shutting down federal funding to the organization after the doctored videos were released.  Gutierrez then shook some hands and went out into the field to help canvass himself.  Despite being political, this was the first candidate I got to meet in person and I snapped off some pictures to help commemorate the moment.

On Saturday morning, it was go time.  Many of us got to the office at 7:30 A.M., ahead of the caucuses which were scheduled to start at 11.  We went on one last canvassing run where we left door hangers to remind folks of the time and location to vote and then reconvened at the office at 10:00 A.M.  I asked about observing the caucus and was actually told they needed someone to be a caucus chair at a local high school.  I volunteered my services with the caveat that I did not have any experience in the roll and that I also was an out-of-state volunteer meaning that my participation would be limited.  Fortunately, neither of these were deal breakers and I was then told about the role.
The Clinton team had caucus chairs for the precincts at a local high school.  For those unaware, precincts vary in size.  Nevada has 1,835 precincts with some being fairly large geographic areas and others being extremely tiny.  The largest precincts were filled by veteran staff who had previously served in leadership roles but there were several small precincts where our presence could still be valuable.  The role of the caucus chair is simply to organize people into sides and then to potentially engage any undecideds to join our cause.  We were also able to download an app which allowed us to relay the results immediately back to Clinton HQ.  Since I was an out of state volunteer, I could mingle from the hours of 11 to 12 but at 12 when the voting started I could not speak on behalf of my chosen candidate.  That responsibility would have to be delegated to a Nevada resident.  After the voting, was complete and the delegate(s) were awarded it was my job to get the contact information for this delegate (Ex.  if Hillary won 4 delegates we would need to pick 4 Hillary supporters that would represent her at the county level later on)

At 10:30, I got to my caucus site and met with the site coordinator.  She gave me a box with all the needed information.  We then headed to the front of the school where they let in the caucus chairs right at 11 while people were still lining up.  At my caucus site there were probably 600 people or so in a line where three people were doing the check-ins.  It was definitely a clusterf*ck.  People brought their children with them and there were constant questions as to where their caucus location or bathroom was.  For the larger caucus sites (50+ people) the site ended up being one of the bigger classrooms or auditoriums, for the smaller caucus sites the site ended up being a classroom.  I did not witness it, but I was told that some people were actually turned away who weren't in line by 12.  Since the line was moving ever so slowly, the actual caucusing did not start until after 1.  I was stationed in a small caucus and ended up not having any people in my precinct.  I checked the precinct on my phone and learned it was a small area of about 3 separate side streets.  If just one person had shown up then that person would have been able to choose the delegate from their precinct.  I intend on telling this story to anyone who insists their voice doesn't count.

As disappointing as it was that I didn't get to participate in my own precinct, I still wanted to get something out of the experience so I headed to a precinct that had 85 people so I got a chance to witness what a caucus looked like.  Here's the procedure:  People come in, mingle, and eventually organize themselves into sections based on their candidate, including a section for those who are uncommitted.  They then fill out a ballot with that candidate's name and those ballots are connected and counted.  After that, there is a chance to woo those that are uncommitted.  One representative from each side has 2 minutes to state his or her case.  Then, there is a 15 minute window where each candidate can be wooed by people from either side.  Essentially, it's like when a new, good-looking kid starts his first day of middle school and everybody wants to be their friend.  After 15 minutes, the uncommitteds chose their new home and everybody enjoys their Snack Pack.

In the precinct I observed, the 2 uncommitteds ended up siding with Bernie Sanders.  However, in the end this was not enough.  There is a mathematical formula to determine who gets the allotted delegates.  In our precinct, the math ended up breaking down so that Hillary Clinton ended up earning 6 delegates (47 votes) to Bernie Sanders earning 4 delegates (38 votes).  At the end, one gentleman was particularly angry and expressed how he believed Hillary Clinton was a "sell out" and "beholden to Wall Street."  This is what we in the biz call a BernieBro, someone who is needlessly angry and has no respect for his opponent.  Eventually this gentleman calmed down but he made quite an impression on the rest of the room.  The only other incident occurred as a Bernie supporter insisted on filming the results because he didn't believe that the precinct officials would properly count the delegates.  This statement drew some sharp criticism from the Hillary Clinton supporters.  After the tally was official people were free to go home.  We thanked folks for participating and headed back to the campaign office, which happened to be locked.  I decided to use the time to go and grab lunch instead and returned to drop off my materials and bid adieu to the office that had been my home for 4 days.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how amazing my first cousin once removed Becky and her husband Mike were for hosting me for four nights.  I affectionately call them Aunt Becky and Uncle Mike and they went above and beyond in bedding, feeding, and hydrating me over the course of my time in Boulder City where I stayed with them and their two dogs, Callie and Boomer.  Not only did they cook dinner for me and let me steal their cereal but they also took me out to breakfast twice as well.  They also invited over Becky's cousin Dana and his wife, Shagupta, for a delicious family meal of what we call "cheesy noodles" on Friday.  We got a chance to catch up on the latest family news and it was great experiencing everything Boulder City had to offer.  On Saturday after the caucus I had a couple of hours to kill so I drove down to nearby Hoover Dam to take some pictures and then ended the day by grabbing a quick walk from Mike and Becky's house to a nearby hill when I took some pictures of Lake Mead at sunset.  Becky told me that February was one of the nicest months of the year and I could totally see why.

So that was my first campaign experience in a nutshell.  I got up at 6:30 on Sunday and after a delicious breakfast was on the road for an eight-hour trek back to Sacramento.  I managed to make one contact at the campaign office, a local director named Amanda who I exchanged emails with and with whom I shared some of my writings.  I don't know if anything will come of it but it was good to at least try.  I figure at the very least, I can update my resume and add "caucus chair" to my volunteer experience working for Hillary for America with the hope that nobody actually presses me for details and I am forced to concede that nobody actually showed up to my caucus.  All joking aside, it was a great experience and I'm fortunate to have great family who were able to take me in with open arms.  The whole experience was a whirlwind and gave me a sense for how hard people work on a national campaign.  As I continue to search for jobs, I will also continue to do the political writing as I believe that my future lies in that field.

Bay Bridge Blues: The End of a Brief San Francisco Flirtation

Oh, San Francisco we hardly knew ye!

But alas it was not meant to be.  After a nearly month-long flirtation with the Bay Area, I've recently received word that I was not offered a position at either nonprofit I applied to in the area.  Combine that with having heard from another nonprofit in the city in December that I would not be offered a position and it's safe to say that The City By The Bay and I will not be forming an everlasting bond any time soon.

Although this is a setback, I choose to see it as a positive experience.  Not only did I get to have a total of 4 in-person interviews where I got to fine-tune my interviewing skills but I also had a chance to make it into the city and surrounding area, something I had only had a chance to do once so far since I moved to Northern California.  I not only had a chance to drive around the city's famous hills with a manual transmission but I also had a chance to reconnect with an old friend and his wife in the city and go for a hike at the nearby Muir Woods National Park.  Although I will not miss the early morning commute (roughly two-and-a-half hours from Sacramento), I will miss the anticipation of it all and wondering each time I made that commute if this would be the opportunity to get me back on my feet.

Each position I applied for in the region was in a similar vein:  It was an education nonprofit working with low-income students to provide them with support and resources to help them both attend and gradate from college.  At this point, I can safely say that my education resume and cover letter are solid as each organization contacted me after I submitted those materials and then scheduled me for an initial phone interview.  Although I cannot remember the exact specifics of each particular phone interview the questions were roughly the same:  Describe your teaching experience.  Have you worked with this population before?  Have you taken on an adviser or mentor role?  What experience do you have working with a team?  What experience do you have working with parents?  What is your classroom management philosophy?  And the list goes on.

With my teaching background, I was able to comfortably answer those questions.  In fact, it was being able to work with that population that made me want to apply to all three positions in the first place.  It helps that not only do I want to work with students of a low socio-economic background but that I also have worked with that population as well.  I personally believe that you need to have that actual experience to work in that environment as it is a lot more difficult than working with students from more affluent backgrounds.  Students of low socio-economic backgrounds come with a whole lot of baggage and if you haven't experienced it, it might be shocking as to just how many issues they're dealing with outside of the classroom.

So, fortunately each organization found me worthy of at least meeting in person.  I knew that I wanted to limit the amount of times I drove into the city (for both time and monetary reasons) so the first day I actually scheduled two second round interviews on the same day:  One at 10:00 A.M. and the second at 1:30 P.M.  I figured I would be able to end the first interview, then move my car toward the second interview which was in the financial district, (hopefully) find parking, get lunch and then make it to my second interview.  That was the plan at least and surprisingly it worked.  Parking was a pain to find but I got there around noon and used my Smart Phone to find a restaurant within a block of where my second interview was.  I then was able to leave the city around 3 thereby beating the impending rush hour which was sure to cause havoc on those leaving around 5 P.M.

In terms of the interviews themselves, I felt that the second one went better than the first.  At the end of the first interview, a manager briefly came in to introduce herself and just ask me if I had any questions.  We chatted briefly and she left me her business card.  It was then I knew I wouldn't be asked back as I had previously gotten a business card at the end of my in-person interview for a job here in Sacramento as well.  It's essentially a way for employers to make you think they care about you when they really don't.  I know it sounds cynical, but it's the truth.  Why would you ever want to contact an organization that didn't want you?  However, the organization does it to give you a false sense of optimism when you leave the interview.  Psychology 101.  My assessment proved correct when they emailed me a week later telling me I was not offered the position.

The second interview went better and I didn't get a business card at the end of it!  That interview went well and I was actually complemented on several of my answers, something the other interviewers didn't really seem to do.  At the end of the interview, I was told that they would be interviewing candidates and would let people know if they had advanced in a couple weeks.  Since this was right around the holidays, they said that there would be a slight delay between second and third round interviews.  I took this in stride and was actually surprised when they got back to me right after the New Year to ask me back for a third and final round interview.  It would be on a Wednesday and would require me to read over a hypothetical "case study" of a student and then submit how I would address certain concerns with that student.  I took a full afternoon to do this and scheduled a third round interview at 2:30.

Shortly after I received this invitation, I received a different invitation from a third San Francisco nonprofit that wanted to schedule a second interview.  Again, I felt it would be best to make one trek into the city instead of two so I opted for the Wednesday 9:00 A.M. slot.  This meant I would have to get up at the righteous hour of 5:00 A.M. to get there but I figured it was better to bite the bullet than make two separate trips.  I was also told that there would be parking, so I brought sneakers with me and decided that I would walk to my second interview and back rather than have to worry about parking.  It ended up being about a 3 mile walk but it was a nice day and I enjoyed the exercise.

The first interview again ended without a business card so this seemed to be another positive development.  I definitely wanted to keep my options open but if I could actually have not one but two job offers then that would be a huge opportunity.  I felt that either place I was interviewing at would be a good job and would be something that I would enjoy doing.  I then trekked to my second interview, grabbed some lunch at The Cheesecake Factory overlooking Saks Fifth Avenue, did some reading in the lobby to kill time, and then got to my third round interview.  In addition to reviewing the case study, I also had a chance to talk to a pair of employees and ask them general questions about the organization, and I had a chance to interact with two students in the program.  I felt the interview went well and I was told that the organization would make its final decisions by the end of the next week.  With that in mind, I had some time to kick back and relax for the time being and I actually looked up an old fraternity brother and his wife in the city and stopped by their place for dinner.  This was someone I hadn't seen since college so it was great catching up with him and also sharing his food and fine whiskey before I left and headed back to Sacramento.

Six days later I received an email from the second organization stating they wanted to have me back for a third round interview.  Since I hadn't heard anything from the other organization I decided to continue the interview process so once again I got up at 5 AM, drove for over 2 1/2 hours and got to San Francisco for a 9 A.M. interview.  This time, I brought with me hiking gear as I was intent on visiting Mount Tamalpais State Park after my interview as a way to explore the area and kill the rest of the day in the city.  This interview went well and once again I didn't receive a business card so this seemed promising.  I was told that there actually was a FOURTH round interview for candidates that advanced that far in which they would meet with the CEO.  I was told that I would be contacted if I had made it to that point.  After I left, I made the hour-long drive to Mount Tam and eventually found a trail that led to Muir Woods, where Return of the Jedi was filmed.  When you think of California redwoods you probably think of Muir Woods and even though it was a sloppy, wet hike it was definitely worth doing.  I even went down the Pacific Coast Highway for a bit on the way back before heading back to Sacramento.

That was Wednesday.  On Friday I was out to lunch with a friend and saw I had a missed call and voicemail.  This was at 2:30.  Rut-roh.  As I pointed out in a previous blog, Friday afternoons are notorious for letting employees know they weren't offered a position.  I had that sinking feeling when I checked my voicemail and sure enough, I did not get the position.  I sent an email to follow-up at to the reasons and was told that the organization was looking for someone with more "individual" mentoring experience.  This struck me as odd because the organization knew my background as a classroom teacher who also taught an advisory class.  In addition, one of the people I talked to in my final interview joined the organization because she, like myself, wanted more one-on-one interaction with students.  If the organization had concerns that I had never done one-on-one mentoring then they should have let me go after the second interview and not strung me along.  At least, that's how I saw the situation upon further reflection.

So that was the end of organization one but I still had hope for organization two.  At least, I had hope until Tuesday.  Tuesday afternoon I had a missed call (I swear this is my last iPhone) and voice message to call the person who had previously interviewed me.  I did so and was told that they had offered the position to another candidate.  Again, in an effort to better myself I asked what I could have done differently.  This person told me that they had concerns over my classroom management.  This was an odd response to me because they had asked me a single question about it and I had answered with my go-to response about how the best classroom management is a good lesson plan.  If they had wanted specifics, I would have provided them but I was not pressed so I figured my answer was satisfactory.  I don't know how you can rule somebody out who says that as long as he is teaching an engaging lesson from bell-to-bell then students will be unlikely to misbehave if he has done his job and has created a meaningful lesson for the day.  But alas, it was not to be.

So again, I'm a little disappointed but not downtrodden by any means.  It it all three of those organization's loss and I won't shed any tears or break any plates over their decision.  It's simply another bump in the road for a career that I will ultimately find fulfilling.  Had I not gotten the interviews I would have never experienced an early morning commute to the city, driven its hills, caught up with my friend, been to Muir Woods from Mount Tam State Park, and driven down from the park to the PCH.  I can officially add San Francisco to my list of conquered cities to go along with Boston, New York City, Charlotte, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, and Sacramento.

At the very least I won't have to worry about that San Francisco commute for a long time.

Home and Back Again: Reflections on a Three-Week Trip to the Great White North

What a difference three weeks can make.

For the past twenty-one days I was either in route to, in, or departing from my childhood hometown of Londonderry, New Hampshire.  I came home with two half-full suitcases and left with two full suitcases as well as a clearer perception of where I was both personally and professionally.  The three weeks were eventful and served as a healthy break from my Sacramento life that had been centered on my ongoing job search.  By the end of my time in New Hampshire, much had changed from the moment I landed at Logan Airport in Boston to the moment I took off in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The first thing that was clarified during my trip was my job situation.  Unbeknownst to anyone except my immediate family, I had applied for a position at a homeowner's insurance company in Andover, Massachusetts.  It was the same company that my father had worked for for thirty-five years and as he was schedule to retire, he mentioned that the company would be looking to fill a position fairly quickly.  I had never envisioned myself doing this type of work but my father sold me on the idea of finding a profession where you could help people but also one that could provide financial stability for yourself and your family.  He said the company was one where hardly anybody left and was one that had afforded him the ability to be the sole wager earner in the family while my mother stayed home and raised me.  At thirty years of age (soon to be thirty-one), I couldn't deny that finding professional stability was extremely appealing, especially after struggling to find work for the past five months.  I told my father I was interested and he got the ball rolling.

I ended up having a brief interview with the company's vice president to gauge my interest in the position.  I told him of my desire to establish a career after several years of unsuccessfully being able to do so and that I believed that I could do so with the company.  That answer seemed to be satisfactory and the vice president then informed me that the next step in the process was to fill out a personal summary which was to be sent to me in Sacramento.  The personal summary is something that the company had used for decades and it was essentially a longer, more exhaustive way to determine a person's work history, motivations, and desires.  It is hand-written and once it is completed, it is reviewed by hiring personnel, management, and a psychiatrist whom everyone at the company refers to as "the Doc."  If there are any "red flags" or concerns, then the candidate is not advanced to the next level of the hiring process.

In completing my personal summary, I was wary of exactly what I was doing.  It was hard to find a balance between being completely honest and also not making myself seem unemployable.  How do you justify leaving a job?  Does it sound conceited to say you weren't given opportunities to reach your potential?  Do you sound disgruntled if you left over a lack of faith in the leadership of an organization?  Do you sound flaky if you left a situation that you knew would present problems for you down the line?  All of these were things I had to consider in detailing my work history and also providing answers on such questions that dealt with previous supervisors and bosses.  For someone who has had five jobs in eight years, how do I make it sound like lucky job number six will end with a different result than the previous five?

I did my best to reconcile these questions and I completed the summary in a timely and efficient manner.  I mailed it a few days before I left and I received word that it arrived to the company the day I was scheduled to be home.  I didn't hear anything on the matter for a few days, which was good because my second day home I contacted a gnarly head cold that lasted nearly a week.  During that time, I waited out the response from the company and aired out my suit and dress shirt, which I had packed in my suitcase should the need arise to be called for an in-person interview.  My dad gave me the advice that if for whatever reason my personal summary was rejected that I should request an in-personal interview to address any concerns.

This would be advice that would come in handy three days before Christmas.

On the 22nd of December, I received an email from the vice president of the company stating that the company had rejected my candidacy after reviewing my personal summary.  I was not particularly surprised by this and I had been mentally preparing a response ever since my dad brought up the possibility a few days prior.  With his words in my head, I composed a three-paragraph email where I put forth the case that I represented a unique situation in that I was coming from a background of previous employment that many candidates out of college did not have.  I stated that all of my work experiences had been learning experiences and that I now had a wealth of experience and knowledge thanks to each and every one of them.  I concluded the email by saying that I was sure that I could address any potential concerns over my employment in person and could clarify any issues that the personal summary might have raised.  The best way to do this, in my opinion, was to provide me an opportunity to do so via an in-person interview.

The vice-president's response?  Thanks, but no thanks.

And with that, the book was officially closed on me being a second generation LaFauci at this company.  I was disappointed but not heartbroken.  When I told my dad about it, I feel that he took it pretty hard.  I told him that I was disappointed with the decision but that I had accepted it and I asked that he do the same as well.  I didn't want my one experience with the company to sully his thirty-five year tenure at a company that had provided him with professional and financial stability.  Despite my plea, my dad ended up shooting off an email to one of his now-ex co-workers where he asked that the company reconsider its decision.  As much as I appreciated my dad's compassion, I knew that the issue should be put to rest so I actually emailed the same co-worker and told him that I was okay with the decision.  The truth is that it had reached the point that if I was hired, it now would have been a somewhat "controversial" decision.  There would have been at least one high-ranking manager who didn't think I should be there.  There would be rumors and whispers that I only got the job because of who my father was.  There would be people who would see me as having violated the time-honored hiring process by somehow circumventing it.  Overall, it would have been a huge can of worms that I didn't want to open.  I had moved on and once my dad got that email off his chest, I think that he was able to move on, too.

In addition to this job opportunity, I also spent time with my family.  I hadn't seen my parents in a year and I hadn't seen my mom since her second major back surgery in May.  My mom looked well, much better than she had in the previous two years.  She wasn't in as much pain and even managed to join my dad and I on Christmas eve when we went to our family dinner in North Andover, Massachusetts.  We were there for three hours and even though my mom was sore by the end, she was able to sit up and walk around the entire time there.  While she was less mobile, my dad had reached the other end of the spectrum and was overly-mobile.  Now that he was retired, he was focusing all his energy on an upcoming trip to Nepal in nine months where he and two of his friends would be hiking to Mount Everest base camp.  My dad and I went on a handful of walks and hikes in our town's local nature preserve and I helped him pick out a home printer he could use to help print out important trip-related documents.  I also convinced him to join me on a couple of excursions as we saw Star Wars on opening night and we saw Bill Clinton speak at a community college.  I thought about inviting him out to see Donald Trump with me as well but I realized that there was a chance I would protest the speech and get kicked out and I didn't want him to be there for that (don't worry, I held my tongue and didn't get assaulted at the rally).

I also got to see all of my Londonderry friends for the first time during one single trip.  I was able to see them at their houses, at the local pub for a Patriots game, at a local breakfast place, and New Year's Eve at my friend's home in Manchester.  I also got to skirt down to Boston for dinner with one of my fraternity brothers and our mutual friend who told me she was moving to San Diego and asked me to make a list of all the go-to places in the city.  I happily obliged.  My last night in town, I visited my best friend, his wife, and their fourteen-month old son.  The previous year when I was introduced to the little 'un, he slept on my shoulder for an hour and I was convinced that parenting was the easiest thing ever.  However, this year I learned that children don't always sleep and that they do run around the house and play with toys, boxes, books, lamps, the dog, and your hair.  Lesson learned for my future children that are due to start appearing in the fall of 2021.

Lastly, I also had a chance to do some reflecting and I was able to end two previous chapters in my life, both unplanned but definitely needed.  The first chapter I officially closed was my previous job.  It just so happened that I ran into my boss's boss at the Denver airport on the way home.  This is someone whom our last interaction had been a series of emails where I expressed deep concern over the organization and, in particular, the way my office was being run.  I believed that my boss's boss did his best to hear my concerns, but he essentially sided with my boss.  When I saw him in the airport, he clearly was not thrilled to see me.  In fact, he did the whole glance up at you and then immediately look away pretending not to have seen you thing.  However, I've always been one to try and put personal grudges behind me and so I got up and went over to him to shake his hand, make small talk, and wish him a happy holiday.  I don't think I'll ever see him again, so this accidental meeting was a nice way to give me closure on my time with the organization and to also know that when all was said I done, I was the bigger man in the whole situation.

The other chapter that was closed had to do with a previous girlfriend.  Despite breaking up, this person and I had remained friends over the years.  However, I got a random text from her on her birthday and everything bad about our relationship all came flooding back to me.  Her text reiterated that after all this time she hadn't changed and it finally dawned on me that I simply didn't want someone like that in my life anymore.  It was hard doing that after having known this person for five years, but it was something that had to be done.  The saying goes that some people will never change and this person is the epitome of that.  It's one thing to have flaws and to try and address them, it's another one to have flaws that people close to you recognize but you continue to ignore.  This person was simply selfish, she was when we were dating, and her text showed me that she was still selfish today.  Someone like that simply has no place in my life at this point so I pulled the plug on her my deleting both her number as well as her social media contacts.

And so, after three weeks I flew back to Sacramento to continue my job search.  My bags may have been heavier with Christmas goodies (mainly books and DVDs) but my heart was lighter by being able to clear up the job opportunity, seeing my family, seeing my friends, and closing two painful chapters in my life.  All and all, I'd say that constitutes a successful trip.