First Week at Harvard

The first week at Harvard has been a rollercoaster. Coming off of a fantastic vacation in Spain, I definitely started out on a high note. Even biking around town in the pouring rain to buy groceries and take care of other business didn’t really phase me. Sure, I miss my car a lot. Every time it rained in San Francisco — actually even when the sun was out — I took my trusty Prius to where I needed to go. This biking/walking/busing lifestyle will take some adjustment, but I’m getting there.

And then orientation at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government started, and let me just say that I have some ridiculously amazing classmates. We’ve got a guy who was one of the first astronauts from South Korea, a lady who has her MD and her MBA and who’s looking to get a third. We’ve got fellow nonprofiteers, former teachers, servicemen and women, and people who have hobnobbed with heads of state. We have this one girl who has three passports, and this one guy who has visited 86 countries. We’ve got future politicians, future ambassadors, future foreign ministers, leaders who are bound to make some real social change in the next few years. Wow. To say that I was humbled on that first day upon meeting my classmates is an understatement, yet I held my own. I know my purpose here, and I am extremely excited to have such high caliber classmates to add to the fabric of my education.

However, I’m not going to lie. There was a millisecond where I felt like I slipped in undetected, like I was a spy living a double life. “I snuck into Harvard! I got in without them noticing! Ha!” I certainly felt a tinge of that as I sat in HKS’s storied John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, where heads of state, celebrities and students all have had the chance to speak. But Debbie Isaacson, the director of the MPP program, reminded us that “Harvard does not make admissions mistakes. You belong here, and you were meant to be here.” And as several other speakers reminded us on day one, each of us was chosen because of our propensity to be leaders and our drive to fix our world’s most pressing problems. We answered the call.

So as I lay here in bed, after a long weekend of being ill (I had to get these vaccinations, which caused side effects, like fever, aches, cramps and tiredness, for about 48 hours), I am still astonished at this journey of which I am about to embark. And I remain grateful to everyone that has helped get me to this place.

Wish me luck as I start classes this week! (And that I get over this illness quick so I can actually go to classes!)

Gates & Buffet Challenge Billionaires to Pledge 50% of their Net Worth

Karla sent me this fascinating article in Fortune about how billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet are urging their billionaire buddies to give significant amounts of their money to charities. The article details how they set up intimate, clandestine dinner gatherings with handfuls of the nation and the world’s wealthiest people — Oprah Winfrey, Eli and Edythe Broad, Ted Turner, David Rockefeller, Chuck Feeney, Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, to name a few.

They are driving to get the super-rich, starting with the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, to pledge — literally pledge — at least 50% of their net worth to charity during their lifetimes or at death.

Can you imagine what would happen if the super-rich gave away half of their net worth to the public sector? Can you imagine the incredible amount of opportunities that would create for education and health care reform, eradication of poverty, and clean energy solutions? We are talking about potentially adding $600 billion dollars in resources to the public sector — this scale of impact and this type of giving is unprecedented.

Check out the rest of the article as it was a fascinating read.  It prompted me to think about a post I wrote a while ago about Personal Philanthropy Plans — creating a culture of giving in our own personal lives no matter how big or small your income is. As evidenced by American generosity (particularly around the natural disasters our world has faced in the last year in Haiti and now the gulf), people want to make an impact. Now how can we systematize and build that into the fabric of our culture so that people give regularly? So that giving isn’t just a knee-jerk reaction, but a thoughtful proactive approach? With trailblazing role models like Gates and Buffet as advocates for the philanthropic sector, I think the millennial generation is headed in that very direction…

[Fortune article via @karlaliliana]

Our culture is the reason BUILD is an amazing place to work

With July 16 as my last day of official work at BUILD, I’ve got less than a month left, and that’s got me feeling all sorts of feelings lately. After the bouts of sadness about not seeing my kids and team any more, I bounce back with excitement about the road ahead, the new people I will meet and the adventures that await. I would say the predominant feeling right now, though, is nostalgic. When I think about the last five years, it’s been an wonderfully difficult and rewarding journey. I’ve worked with some of the most passionate and driven people in my life, and the people are what make BUILD the special place that it is.

Recently our HR manager, Michelle, collected advice from our staff about things we think are important for our new hires to know — to help with the on-boarding process. Before I saw the final product, I thought that it would be another boring bulleted list of HR speak, but I was taken aback by the sincerity, candidness, and humor of the responses. The messages came straight from the hearts of our team. They reminded me about why I love working here, while concurrently reminding me that it was a long (and sometimes painful) road to create the culture that we have now. Below are some of my favorite responses along with pictures from our BUILD Graduation.

I sure will miss this place.

Advice and Insight About Working at BUILD

~From the BUILD Family

“BUILD truly is a family.”

“I’m always greeted with hugs rather than handshakes.”

“Get ready to sing songs – even off key singers, like me, are welcome.”

“You will receive a tremendous amount of support from your teammates and in turn they will need your support and you will want to give it.”

“When the CEO puts on a Darth Vadar mask during a video conference to bring a little humor into the call, you know you’ve found the best organization to work at.”

“Staff lunch is not required but on most days folks will gather in the incubator space to eat lunch. Feel free to join when you are able. It’s a great way to get to know your team!”

“Event dress codes – here at the Peninsula site, we sometimes like to coordinate our outfits when we put on events.  This might mean that we all wear BUILD t-shirts or agree on a color scheme.  It’s silly but fun!”

“All Hands On – when program events are “all hands on” it means that the whole team will be there, start to finish, and are invested in the success of the event.  This means bring your true team-player spirit to the table.”

“Do your work with lightening speed—BUILD moves fast and everyone is expected to get quality work done ASAP.”

“We are a smiley-face-in-email, individualized-thank-you, gifts-on-birthdays, open-door-in-the-office culture that emphasizes laughter, sharing of personal lives and stories, teamwork, humbleness, knowing each other really well, and a shared commitment to youth first.”

“We are a karaoke, dress up at Halloween, prepare skits kind of place.  You don’t have to participate but you have to enjoy being around those who do!”

“Greet our incubator students with a hug; greet our current E1’s with a firm hand shake.”

Message from a Workshop Participant

I do a lot of workshops every year. I love them. I love the energy of being up in front of a room of eager and willing learners and participants. Yet after workshops (of any sort) there is always that lingering question of whether or not it was worthwhile, valuable or if it made any kind of impact.

This morning I received a lovely message from someone who attended a workshop that I gave a couple of years ago, and it absolutely brightened up my day. I’m glad to help, and even more glad to hear that she gained something from what I shared!

A message of thanks

Seven Weeks Left in the Bay Area

I have these gigantic 3 ft by 2 ft calendars on my wall to see all of our activities and events for the upcoming three months. Since today was June 1, I took down my May calendar, and put up the July and August calendars… And then it hit me. I’m not even going to be working at BUILD in August! My last day at the org is July 16, and I have about seven weeks left at this organization that I called home for five years. A few days after my last day at BUILD, I’m driving down to Las Vegas to spend time with my family, and then flying to Boston to find an apartment. Crazy.

Over the last few days I’ve been trying to brainstorm all of the things I want to do/get done in the Bay Area before I leave, so below is my audacious (narrowed down) list of fun things to do. If you are around and available, please join me!

Fun things to do before I leave

One of my favorite places in the city, Dolores Park

Activities

1. Pacifica Beach Trip: Surfing & L&L Hawaiian BBQ
2. Napa Wine Tasting
3. SF Pride!
4. Mistro (Mission/Castro) Crawl: Mission mural tour, picnic at Dolores Park, Castro Slides
5. Yoga Classes: Darren Main, Janet Stone, Rusty Wells, Pete Guinosso, Dina Amsterdam & of course, Eric Kobrick’s Yoga en Espanol in preparation for Spain trip
6. Golden Gate Park & Presidio: Yoda Statue & CA Academy of Sciences
7. Hiking: Muir Woods, Mt. Diablo
8. Singing: Karaoke at the Mint (which is a given!), SFGMC Pride Concert

My Favorite Restaurants

1. Back-A-Yard in Menlo Park
   

   My heaven: Back-a-Yard Caribbean Food!

2. Cha Cha Cha in the Mission
3. Sushi Time in the Castro
4. Sol Food in San Rafael
5. Front Porch in Bernal Heights
6. El Zocalo in Bernal Heights
7. Zante’s Indian Pizza in Bernal Heights
8. Taqueria Cancun in the Mission

New Restaurants that I want to check out

1. Lucky Chance’s Filipino Buffet in Colma
2. Mission Pie in the Mission
3. Thanh Long in the Sunset
4. Pi in the Mission

Anything else I need to add to this already ridiculously long list? And again, join me!

As per usual during the summers, not only is it going to be filled with sunshine and renewal, but also a lot of traveling.

Tentative Summer Plans

• June 12 - BUILD Graduation
• June 24 - SFGMC Pride Concert
• June 26-27 - SF’s 40th Pride
• July 7-11 - College Summit Workshop at University of the Pacific
• July 14-16 - BUILD All-Staff Retreat
• July 16 - Last Day at BUILD
• July 20 - Last Day in SF
• July 21 - Drive to Las Vegas for Faustino Family Time
• July 28 - Fly to Boston
• August 4-8 - College Summit Workshop at University of Southern California - Also my Rap Director Certification workshop!
• August 10-22 - Trip to Spain’s Mediterranean Coast with Karla
• August 24 - Harvard Kennedy School Orientation
• September 1 - First Day of School!

Taking the Next Big Leap after BUILD

After five amazing years at BUILD, I’ve chosen to take the next big leap in my life: this summer I’m going to graduate school at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Yes, I’m going back to school! I’m moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts! I’m going to Harvard! 2010 is truly the year of leaping and landing.

I’ll have more to say about BUILD over the next few months as we go through transition — I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done over the last several years, and very optimistic about what the future holds. I’m deeply indebted to the BUILD staff for believing in me, challenging me and trusting me with our flagship site. All of our amazing mentors, volunteers, and board members have been crucial to BUILD’s success as well, and I would be remiss if I did not thank you all.

And I especially am grateful to our BUILD students and alumni, who continually inspire me to do the work that we do and show me that our society’s educational inequities and problems CAN be solved… even if it is one student at a time.

I’m pretty sure that I’ll have more to say about my Harvard experience as I transition to the East Coast. Ya’ll know that education is extremely important to me — and I specifically wanted to model that by going back and getting more education. Special shout out to my parents for instilling the love of learning in me! And they say it takes a village… to raise a child, and then send that child to college, and then to send that child to grad school. I want to communicate a deep gratitude to all of the people who aided me throughout the application process: Oudete, Karla, Chantal, Suzanne, Larisa, Sal, Tim, Amber, Craig, Kenyon, Alex, Jim, Amber, Sandie, Regan, Steve, Adriana, Elizabeth, Tony, Jed, Richie, Bola, and of course my family–Mom, Dad, Francis & Rachel. I literally could not have taken this gigantic next step without you!

Below is a note I sent out to everyone in the BUILD Family, with a little bit more explanation for why I chose to go to Harvard.

Onward & upward!



Dear BUILD Family,

Over the last five years, BUILD has grown in significant ways. We have expanded into three sites with a robust, life-changing and innovative program. I have had the privilege of working with phenomenal BUILD students, aiding their growth into confident young entrepreneurs and college students. And I have had the opportunity to work with talented community members and partners, like you, in the fight for educational equity. I am so proud of all that we have accomplished together in my five years at BUILD.

This summer I am about to embark on another personal journey. It is with careful thought and great anticipation that I want to let you know that this will be my last school year with BUILD. In August, I will pursue a master in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Pursuing my education in this country has been a lifelong dream. This next step will allow me to be a better leader for communities of youth in our country and around the world. After delving deeper into education policy in graduate school, my goal is to affect systemic, transformational change in the education sector at national and international levels. Although it is hard for me to even imagine leaving BUILD (and California!), I would be a hypocrite if I did not take risks in the way we ask our students to.

The BUILD Peninsula site is in good hands. Nicole Oppenheim, our current E1 program manager, will be the next site director of the BUILD Peninsula site, and I have the utmost confidence that she will lead the Peninsula team to achieve new and exciting heights. Her management experience and innovative vision and implementation of our freshman year program showcase her qualifications for the site director position.

My last day at BUILD will be on July 16th, and I encourage you to please reach out directly if you have any questions before I leave in the summer. I am equally available on phone or email.

Thank you for our relationship, your continued support of BUILD and your partnership in the fight for educational equity.

With deep appreciation and gratitude,

Rey

PS - Because of the transitions, we are hiring an Academic Program Manager and an E1 Program Manager at the Peninsula site as well as a few other positions in Oakland, DC and our Headquarters. Please check out our website for more information and please spread the word: http://www.build.org/browse/employment

PPS - I’d love to stay in touch with you: Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter

Letter to Senior Class of 2010

BUILD Decision Day Celebration 2010

To the Senior Class of 2010,

After seeing each of your in your BUILD stoles today at our Decision Day Celebration, I couldn’t help but be choked up with pride. I am so incredibly proud of each of you for the journey you have taken. I want to acknowledge each one of you for taking that first leap with us and this next big leap in your lives. When you joined the BUILD class during your freshman year, you probably were not quite ready for the risks that you would take or the challenges with which you would be faced. It takes a very special teenager to write a 30-page business plan, pitch concepts to a venture capitalist, sell products at sales events, and take trips with us to check out colleges. As you look back, the risks that seemed huge then may not seem as insurmountable now because you have grown tremendously.

By taking risks and working hard, you each have grown by leaps and bounds while running your businesses and striving to exceed academically. But the road to completing the BUILD program and getting to college was not easy. I remember many nights when staff and volunteers worked with you on homework, exams, marketing plans, financial statements, SAT classes or just personal stuff in the Incubator. As you are contemplating the next big step in your lives and preparing to transition from high school to post-secondary education, know that all of us at BUILD are standing by your side. Also know that choosing to go to your college is a moment of empowerment. Let this choice be the first in a long line of choices that you will make that will positively impact your life and the lives of your family.

Your new challenge is to use your college education as a stepping stone for a successful career and life, just like you used BUILD as your stepping stone to a college education. By participating in BUILD, you are equipped with the business-savvy skills and knowledge to lead an entrepreneurial life.

We hope you use the entrepreneurial lessons you have learned for good. As the first graduating class in a brand new decade, you are primed to create positive changes in your lives, your families, your communities, and our society. I urge you to continue being resourceful, taking initiative, and exploring your passions—like you showed me every week in BUILD.

Thank you for making an impact and leaving your mark at the BUILD Peninsula site, and as you know, once you join the BUILD family, you are always in the BUILD family. On behalf of the BUILD staff, congratulations on your amazing accomplishments! We cannot wait to hear about how you excel in education, lead in your communities and succeed professionally!

Stay strong until the end of the school year! We will see you at your school’s graduation and BUILD graduation!

BUILD Love,

Rey

Thinking about Nanay Ising

My chest is tight, and my head is spinning. My heart feels like Manny Pacquiao’s punching bag after an intense workout. Beaten. Deflated. Achey. Heavy. It has been hard to let the breath into my chest since my grandmother passed away almost two weeks ago, but my will to live apparently is stronger than this sadness. Ever since I got back from Manila, I have felt like my heart has a story to tell. I wrote most of the post below in the middle of the 9-day mourning ritual, and now is an appropriate time to expand upon and share it. Hopefully my heart can feel slightly lighter.

Nanay Ising at her 80th Birthday

I’m sad I didn’t spend more time with my grandmother, or as we affectionately called her: “Nanay,” which is slang for “mother.” She never liked being called “lola” which is Tagalog for “grandmother.” The most memorable moments I have with Nanay occurred in spurts and bursts of concentrated Nanay time. From ages one to three we lived almost next door to Nanay in the little village of Punturin, and I remember such fun times as getting stomach worms and Nanay applying some crazy herbal remedies to help me get rid of them. There were also the joyous disciplinary measures that she took with me and my brother — my aunts and uncles like to remind me that we were quite mischievous little ones, and as you can see, Nanay’s (and my parents’) methods worked.

There was also the month when our parents traveled to Australia, and Nanay took care of us — we were living in Hong Kong at the time, and we were still very young, so I don’t remember much. One of my aunts, however, reminded me that when Nanay would look after my brother Francis, my sister Rachel and me, it’s almost like she stowed us away in little pockets on her body. My brother was cradled on her right arm, while she fed me a bottle snuggled up to her left arm, and she used her foot to rock my sister’s cradle on the ground. I’m sure it took a tough woman to deal with us when we were awake.

After we moved to the states in 1990, our interaction with Nanay (and the rest of our extended family) significantly decreased. We couldn’t leave the country since we didn’t have green cards for almost 13 years, but Nanay visited us once in 2003 for 6 months. She stayed in Las Vegas with my parents while I was finishing up school at USC. Even then, I didn’t get a chance to see or spend too much time with her because I was a few hundred miles away, and we always had a language barrier. Although my Tagalog comprehension was fairly strong, my speaking abilities were almost naught. Nanay was almost the same way except with English. Despite the language barrier and the scarcity of our time together, I cared deeply for her and I know she cared for me and my siblings as well, particularly because my brother, sister and I were her first grandchildren.

When the opportunity arose to celebrate her 80th birthday with her in the Philippines in June 2009, I just knew that I had to do it. Partially, I wanted to make up for all of the lost time since our immigration to the US. Since I didn’t grow up with Nanay, I didn’t get a chance to ask her all of the questions about our family history. I never got the opportunity to hear stories that a grandmother would share during the holidays or while cooking dinner or while cleaning the house. I yearned to grasp where I came from and on whose shoulders I truly stood. I finally got that opportunity during the summer of 2009, armed with pen, paper, and a video camera to capture all of the impromptu and non-impromptu storytelling sessions. I wanted so badly to capture as much of it as possible so I could get an idea of my own ancestry.

What I found out was at once shocking, telling, and also obvious. Listening to Nanay was like watching a really good Tetris player expertly placing the blocks so that they fit together to tell a full and complete story. I don’t have the time here to talk extensively about her story and her childrens’ stories, but I am sure that I’ll compile that all sometime in the future either in the form of a book or a video (since I captured a lot of her storytelling on video).

I do want to share that the way she is now makes so much sense because of how she grew up and where she came from. From an early age Nanay was forced to grow up. Because her mother died of pneumonia when she was four years old and her father remarried when she was 14, she realized she had to fend for herself and grow up in the process. I believe her highest education was elementary school, and in her teens, she started a fabric business in Divisoria — a once popular shopping destination in Manila (nowadays it’s most notably and perhaps notoriously known for being a bargain-hunter’s dream for knock-off Louis Vuittons). She continued the fabric business, selling diligently and tirelessly for days to make ends meet, and when she met her husband, our Lolo Jose, they joined forces. He became the business’ spokesperson, while she remained the brains and the energy behind it. Through the years she continued her entrepreneurial ventures by running a pig farm and transforming their land to rentable apartments and commercial retail stores.

She was resourceful, not wasteful, and lived in relative austerity. After her burial, the entire family went to her house, and I got the chance to see her bedroom. It was almost exactly the same as it had been when I was a child — the bed, her clothes, the decorations, the rosaries, the smell were all the same. The walls were starkly decorated, and everything was orderly and in its place, from her dresses to her shoes, to the extra plastic bags that she liked to keep tucked between her mattress and the boxspring. She, apparently, liked it that way — plain, simple, and uncluttered. She refused to accept new clothes and new furniture and always said that it was a waste.

Family at Nanay's Birthday

Her priorities were not on material goods, money, or other superficial things. She was relentless in her pursuit of a better life for her family, and when her children had children, that spirit easily translated to making sure their families were taken care of as well. But her love and care of people extended well beyond our own family. Her tenants, neighbors and fellow villagers easily regarded her as an important, influential and caring matriarch of the community. While she was living with us in Las Vegas for six months, my parents told me that they could tell she was homesick, not for her worldly possessions (she barely had any), but because of the community that she created in Punturin. She missed her friends, her neighbors, her people.

It was no surprise then to see and meet many of the people that she considered her extended family at her 80th birthday celebration. The Pavilion was packed with people who loved and wanted to celebrate her. She spoke equally kindly and compassionately to her children and grandchildren than she did to the neighbors’ children that she has seen grow up. Thinking about it now, it made me proud to know that I come from this woman. Her relentless work ethic, thoughtfulness, community-building, entrepreneurial spirit, and caring nature are inspiring. I strive to embody those traits as gracefully and beautifully as she did, while also building a life and family that clearly exemplifies love and selflessness.

I loved hearing her old stories because it made me realize the importance of my roots, while realizing that this is but one step in our entire lineage. Because my grandmother worked so hard to build up her family, my father and each one of his siblings had the opportunity to go to college in the Philippines — a feat that Nanay was never able to complete. Because my father and mother went to college, they were able to take a leap and immigrate to the US. And because of that courageous and fateful move, I was afforded the opportunity for a high quality American college education. Imagine what my children will be able to do, if only three generations ago I came from humble farmers and cloth merchants. The certainty and excitement about how the course of our family’s future has been positively affected is astounding to me. I don’t know if my grandmother ever dreamed that her children and grandchildren would be where they are now, but I do know that I am continually striving for educational excellence and seeking to ensure that educational opportunities are available for all children simply because I want to do what my parents and my grandparents did for me. Just like she made a critical choice to work hard and escape poverty, I am choosing to alter the course of the lives of generations of children.

I am at this critical inflection point because of my grandmother’s choices. I hope to never take that for granted.

As I held her hand one last time on January 28, 2010, I felt her warmth, courage, fighting spirit, faith in God, and love. Although she couldn’t speak, the love permeated through the dimly lit hospital room in Manila. Her hands were calloused, and her legs, although immobile, will never be a cause of pain for her again. As I looked around the room at the teary eyes of her children and grandchildren, I knew that although it was a devastatingly sad time, the beautiful works of her life — her children, her community, and her family — outweighed the sadness.

I miss you incredibly, Nanay. There’s no doubt about that. I thank you so much for how you have built our family and how you have catapulted each and every one of us to be the best people we can be.

For that we are eternally grateful.

Rest in Peace, Nanay Cresencia “Ising” Faustino.

Faustino Family at Michael's Wedding in Sydney

First attempt at writing a song

Since one of my goals for 2010 was to write a song, I thought I’d give it a shot on this lovely / gloomy San Francisco day.

Loving Space

Here are the full lyrics for “Loving Space”:

I just wish I could do something for you
But I know I can’t
The delusions of a warm embrace
The instant fire when my lips touch your face
It’s attachment
Emotion, packed, spirits, love
Attachment

I flew 10,000 miles, all the while
Trying to give you loving space
Through distance and time
I thought our love would climb
Instead, I saw clearly

You were in pieces, shattered and scattered
But I didn’t care
The hope that we could be forever
Without being together, no matter
We deserve better than
Attachment

I flew 10,000 miles, all the while
Trying to give you loving space
Through distance and time
I thought our love would climb
Instead, I saw clearly
Take it easy
Baby can you see me
Take it easy
Can you see me

Even in your darkest place
You could count on my loving space
I would climb down those trenches
Brace the defenses
But I realized I love me more

I flew 10,000 miles, all the while
Trying to give you loving space
Through distance and time
I thought our love would climb
Instead, I saw clearly
Take it easy
Baby can you see me
Take it easy
Can you even see me?

I flew 10,000 miles, all the while
I’ll give you loving space

New Years Goals 2010

Leap & Land

2010 is the year of leaping into the unknown and landing into the next great challenge. It’s about taking risks, following your heart, listening to the universe, and opening your eyes to the signs that are guiding you to the next level. I don’t think 2010 is going to be easy.

I think 2010 is going to be a very practical year–a year of rolling up our sleeves and getting things done. If you think of 2009 as the year of preparation, then 2010 is the year of action. And we all know that sometimes it’s not easy to take action. Fear, self-doubt, and distractions will get in the way. But whatever is in store for us in 2010, know that we were born to be there and to take them on.

So I propose that we all take a leap this year. Leave procrastination and fear back in 2009. Do something that you may have been too afraid to do or that you’ve been putting off. Open up your options, make some positive choices, and do something for yourself. Take a leap, and I promise you that you’ll land somewhere amazing.

Alex gave me the "Passion" Angel Card for 2010, and I think it's appropriate

As I do every year during my reflection time, I started by re-examining my goals and values from last year and then brainstorming new goals that fit with my revised personal values. I did not change my personal values at all and have created 10 new goals for 2010.

Personal Values

• Challenging Adventures - I live for new and challenging experiences, whether that’s professionally or personally, with others or in another country. The thrill of adventure stimulates my soul.
• Contribution to the World - I live to make lasting, positive impacts on society’s most pressing problems.
• Expressing Creativity - Being able to express myself artistically, musically or professionally keeps me inspired.
• Lifelong Learning - I love to learn. I am energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence to mastery.
• Quality - I choose to live a full and quality life, which is neither excessive nor is it below my standards of excellence.
• Family & Friends - Above all, my life is about the people I choose to journey with. They are my heart.

New Years Goals 2010

1. Go on a spiritual journey
2. Take a GIGANTIC risk
3. Get more involved and make a positive impact in the gay community by doing some gay rights advocacy work
4. Learn how to write music and then write a song
5. Build something with my hands
6. Continue improving my Tagalog comprehension and speaking skills
7. Deepen my spiritual practice (yoga, Catholicism)
8. Read at least 8 new books
9. Connect with my international relatives at least once a month
10. Continue spending time with family members

It’s going to be a phenomenal year, and I can’t wait to face it head on. So here’s to leaping and landing into all of the goodness in store for 2010!