Like Mike, If I could be...........Wait what?

Posted via web from Darius Gant

Your Get Out of Jail Free Card…No monopoly

What do you call someone whose decisions have caused them to be confined to a box for a given period of time (such as a year, decade, 20 to life)?  Hmmmm… Does prisoner ring a bell?  If someone asked you if you would like to go to prison, the obvious answer would be “Hell no!  Are you crazy?”  Yet, at times we find ourselves sitting comfortably within the confines of a self-imposed jail cell.  Would you be surprised if I told you that we (non-criminals) bare striking similarities to prison inmates?  Yes, it’s true.  Just like inmates, we sometimes make a decision to confine ourselves to mental “lockdown”…our own personal jail-cell.  We have chosen complacency over progression.  The only difference between us and real-life inmates is that we actually possess a “Get Out of Jail Free Card”… CHOICE.  By utilizing the Get Out of Jail Free Card we choose to unlock the door to limitless growth opportunities.  What was previously a jail cell has transformed into a breeding ground for success.

Imagine that we all have our own mental box in which we reside.  This box contains all of the knowledge, skills, and abilities we have accumulated in our lifetime.  Taken as a whole, it is a representation of our potential to achieve certain goals.  If we make the decision to remain in the box, it will remain the same size.  Our potential to achieve is unchanged.  By stepping outside of the box, we encounter knowledge, skills and abilities that we do not currently possess.  Importing these “goods” causes our box to expand as we incorporate this new information with the existing content within our box.  As the boundaries of our mental box are expanded, our potential to achieve GREATER goals also grows.  Our increased value allows us to pursue better opportunities as opposed to finding a way to be content with a “perfectly shitty situation.”  The key to this concept is that the growth (or non-growth) of our box is a CHOICE.
 
In this metaphor, we find two contrasting modes of thinking.  The first, we will call the Jail-Cell ideology.  Many criminals serving a significant amount of time in prison find leaving to be extremely intimidating.  Their fear is due to the idea that prison is all that they have come to know.  The fear of potentially failing at living in the outside world generates a level of complacency or comfort with what they have become accustomed to, the cell.  Sounds awfully familiar huh?  Like inmates, those people that subscribe to the jail-cell ideology escape the fear of potential failure (and additionally growth and development opportunities) by choosing to take shelter within the boundaries of their mental jail-cell.  Do you know anyone like this?
 
After discussing this idea with a friend, a very interesting point was brought up.  He said, “If my ultimate goal is to be happy and I’m content with the size of my ‘box’, why should I care to expand it?”  After giving it some thought, I figured we’d apply his question to a few examples:

-What happens when a person believes they are “happy” with the urban war-zone of a neighborhood they currently live in?  Survival in this neighborhood breeds a literal “kill or be killed” mentality.  When confronted with a “kill or be killed” situation, what is the future of this person if he/she has chosen not to learn of other ways to live?
 
-What happens when a person is content with the skills required to “get by” on the job?  Then the economy slips into a “recession,” which requires those with replaceable skills to be laid off. 
  
What will happen to the person who only knows how to generate income through a 9-5 when there aren’t enough 9-5’s to go around?

-What happens when a student chooses school as his single method of obtaining knowledge, but the real-world requires skills that are learned outside of the classroom?

But certainly none of these things would actually happen to you, me or anyone we know, right? (Who is calling bullshit here? LOL)…  As humans we underestimate possibility of becoming victims of life-altering negative events…until they happen!  Considering the impact of these events, wouldn’t it make sense to insure ourselves against them?  How do we do this?... By making the decision to expand our box in order to grow into a more valuable and knowledgeable person.  How could the lives of the people in the previous example change if they choose to expand their box?  Would a greater body of knowledge and increased ability to make things happen get them into a better situation?

Those of us who subscribe to the second ideology would be a good example for how the above question is answered.  We view our box as a breeding ground for success.  We understand that expanding our box is a CHOICE.  While we may be happy with the knowledge, skills, and abilities we have acquired so far, we choose to expand our box by learning more.  The opportunity to explore uncharted territories excites us.  Why?  Because we develop a new perspective on life and how to become more successful in the goals that we desire to achieve.  Our box is not a jail cell where we allow fear to keep us from exploring new opportunities.  It is more akin to a growing nation that is searching out new knowledge from around the world in order to one day become a super-power. We have developed ourselves into more valuable individuals to our family, friends, team, and community.  As the boundaries of our box expands, so too does our ability to make gold out of the pile of shit life sometimes throws. 

Just like Monopoly, you can choose not to use your Get Out of Jail Free Card and rot in jail as you lose the game (of life)....OR…You can choose to use the card and take advantage of life’s GREAT opportunities.  If you ever find yourself fighting against the Jail-Cell ideology, the CHOICE you made to read this blog will act as your Get Out of Jail Free Card… And feel free to toss me that $200 as you pass GO on your way to success!

P.S.  Anyone that really goes to jail, please don’t tell the police that Darius said you have a Get Out of Jail Free Card.  I will not be accepting collect calls LOL!

I appreciate you taking time to check out the message.  Feel free to comment whether you are tagged via Facebook or just saw it on a friend’s page.

Darius Gant
Website: http://www.dariusgant.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dgant06

Posted via web from Darius Gant's posterous

Your Get Out of Jail Free Card…No monopoly

What do you call someone whose decisions have caused them to be confined to a box for a given period of time (such as a year, decade, 20 to life)? Hmmmm… Does prisoner ring a bell? If someone asked you if you would like to go to prison, the obvious answer would be “Hell no! Are you crazy?” Yet, at times we find ourselves sitting comfortably within the confines of a self-imposed jail cell. Would you be surprised if I told you that we (non-criminals) bare striking similarities to prison inmates? Yes, it’s true. Just like inmates, we sometimes make a decision to confine ourselves to mental “lockdown”…our own personal jail-cell. We have chosen complacency over progression. The only difference between us and real-life inmates is that we actually possess a “Get Out of Jail Free Card”… CHOICE. By utilizing the Get Out of Jail Free Card we choose to unlock the door to limitless growth opportunities. What was previously a jail cell has transformed into a breeding ground for success.

Imagine that we all have our own mental box in which we reside. This box contains all of the knowledge, skills, and abilities we have accumulated in our lifetime. Taken as a whole, it is a representation of our potential to achieve certain goals. If we make the decision to remain in the box, it will remain the same size. Our potential to achieve is unchanged. By stepping outside of the box, we encounter knowledge, skills and abilities that we do not currently possess. Importing these “goods” causes our box to expand as we incorporate this new information with the existing content within our box. As the boundaries of our mental box are expanded, our potential to achieve GREATER goals also grows. Our increased value allows us to pursue better opportunities as opposed to finding a way to be content with a “perfectly shitty situation.” The key to this concept is that the growth (or non-growth) of our box is a CHOICE.

In this metaphor, we find two contrasting modes of thinking. The first, we will call the Jail-Cell ideology. Many criminals serving a significant amount of time in prison find leaving to be extremely intimidating. Their fear is due to the idea that prison is all that they have come to know. The fear of potentially failing at living in the outside world generates a level of complacency or comfort with what they have become accustomed to, the cell. Sounds awfully familiar huh? Like inmates, those people that subscribe to the jail-cell ideology escape the fear of potential failure (and additionally growth and development opportunities) by choosing to take shelter within the boundaries of their mental jail-cell. Do you know anyone like this?

After discussing this idea with a friend, a very interesting point was brought up. He said, “If my ultimate goal is to be happy and I’m content with the size of my ‘box’, why should I care to expand it?” After giving it some thought, I figured we’d apply his question to a few examples:

-What happens when a person believes they are “happy” with the urban war-zone of a neighborhood they currently live in? Survival in this neighborhood breeds a literal “kill or be killed” mentality. When confronted with a “kill or be killed” situation, what is the future of this person if he/she has chosen not to learn of other ways to live?

-What happens when a person is content with the skills required to “get by” on the job? Then the economy slips into a “recession,” which requires those with replaceable skills to be laid off.

What will happen to the person who only knows how to generate income through a 9-5 when there aren’t enough 9-5’s to go around?

-What happens when a student chooses school as his single method of obtaining knowledge, but the real-world requires skills that are learned outside of the classroom?

But certainly none of these things would actually happen to you, me or anyone we know, right? (Who is calling bullshit here? LOL)… As humans we underestimate possibility of becoming victims of life-altering negative events…until they happen! Considering the impact of these events, wouldn’t it make sense to insure ourselves against them? How do we do this?... By making the decision to expand our box in order to grow into a more valuable and knowledgeable person. How could the lives of the people in the previous example change if they choose to expand their box? Would a greater body of knowledge and increased ability to make things happen get them into a better situation?

Those of us who subscribe to the second ideology would be a good example for how the above question is answered. We view our box as a breeding ground for success. We understand that expanding our box is a CHOICE. While we may be happy with the knowledge, skills, and abilities we have acquired so far, we choose to expand our box by learning more. The opportunity to explore uncharted territories excites us. Why? Because we develop a new perspective on life and how to become more successful in the goals that we desire to achieve. Our box is not a jail cell where we allow fear to keep us from exploring new opportunities. It is more akin to a growing nation that is searching out new knowledge from around the world in order to one day become a super-power. We have developed ourselves into more valuable individuals to our family, friends, team, and community. As the boundaries of our box expands, so too does our ability to make gold out of the pile of shit life sometimes throws.

Just like Monopoly, you can choose not to use your Get Out of Jail Free Card and rot in jail as you lose the game (of life)....OR…You can choose to use the card and take advantage of life’s GREAT opportunities. If you ever find yourself fighting against the Jail-Cell ideology, the CHOICE you made to read this blog will act as your Get Out of Jail Free Card… And feel free to toss me that $200 as you pass GO on your way to success!

P.S. Anyone that really goes to jail, please don’t tell the police that Darius said you have a Get Out of Jail Free Card. I will not be accepting collect calls LOL!

I appreciate you taking time to check out the message. Feel free to comment whether you are tagged via Facebook or just saw it on a friend’s page.

Darius Gant
Website: http://www.dariusgant.com
Twitter: aahttp://twitter.com/dgant06

Posted via web from Darius Gant's posterous

Are you 1 OF 7 billion…OR…1 IN 7 billion?

*This post is dedicated to Kimberly Gant. A woman who has achieved GREATNESS of her own*

About a year ago, I discovered this amazing gift. At the time, this gift was simply 1 OF 7 billion in the world. (Pretty rare huh lol?) . Bare with me here, I’m taking you somewhere. As I became more aware of the potential GREATNESS of this gift, its value began to grow. I saw that his gift could go from valuable to invaluable, limited to limitless, good to….GREAT. What was this gift?...A seed, BUT, not just any old seed. This seed was 1 IN 7 billion. I believe that deeply planted within all of us lays the seed of GREATNESS, anxiously waiting to bloom. I write this specific blog because I have a sincere desire to help you surround that seed with the nourishment that will allow that seed to blossom. If you are someone who seeks to achieve your deepest desires, I believe you will find this message GREAT for you.

As you read the words on this page, do not make the mistake in letting the message remain confined to the computer screen. Let the words jump off the monitor so that you may internalize the message. You deserve to be made aware of the untapped potential of your GREATNESS. Sometimes it is hard to take an honest look at ourselves without feeling a bit uncomfortable. Battling through this temporary discomfort is simply another forward step in our progression toward nurturing the seed of GREATNESS.

One of society’s misconceptions of the word GREATNESS is that it is reserved for a select few….The rich, the famous, the political and social elite… Certainly these individuals have achieved a level of GREATNESS of their own. However, I’m here today to tell you (and you can quote me) that no matter your social status, age, financial standing or physical appearance, within all of us lays the potential to become truly GREAT. The moment that we recognize it, honor it, and live to become the GREAT person you can be, we will live a much happier and fulfilling life.

Of the approximately 7 billion people that walk the face of the earth, we were all born with a unique genetic makeup (including identical twins). Yet, some of us perceive ourselves simply to be 1 OF 7 billion, instead of 1 IN 7 billion. There is a slight difference in word choice, but the implications are enormous. What does this mean?... It means we are all blessed with a unique gift…I’m sorry. Let me make this more direct….YOU are blessed with a unique gift. Something that no one on the world can do quite like you… A gift that cannot be replicated by the 3,999,999,999 other humans. The ultimate act of selfishness would be to deprive the world of our value. On the other hand, the ultimate act of giving is to nurture that seed of GREATNESS and share it with the world… How do we find what our true value is?... The answer is simple in the sense that it has always been with you. You just may not have recognized it. Here are some questions that may help. What is it that gets you so excited that it could keep you awake all night? What is it that you could do all day with a feeling of excitement? What do you consistently find yourself attracted to? No idea is too big or too small for you. Your GREATNESS is not dependent upon what society perceives it to be. After all, it is YOURS, right. Take ownership!

While I was at the Yale Pre-MBA Leadership Program, I was fortunate enough to meet a fellow participant named Jon McCoy (not the John from the last post LOL). It was clear that Jon had a bright future ahead of him. At the time, he was beginning a career in Consulting at Booz Allen Hamilton, a top tier consulting firm. A few months into his career Jon sent out an announcement that he had left Booz for a greater opportunity, one that would maximize his potential for GREATNESS. This was quite a bold move for a 22 year old with an amazing job. Jon is now National Program Manager of Operation Hope’s 5 Millions Kids Program.

As National Program Manager, Jon and the children of 5 Million Kids (5MK) have entered the Pepsi Refresh Challenge. Pepsi will be giving away a $250,000 grant to support great ideas. You can show your support for Operation HOPE’s 5MK by clicking the following link.  aahttp://refresheverything.com/fivemillionkids.

What is interesting about us as humans is that we have this obsession with measuring everything. We feel all things must have a number tacked to it signifying its value. A common quote says “if it exists, it can be measured.” The problem with this idea is that things that can be measured must also be finite or limited. When it comes to our GREATNESS and the value we bring to the world, there is no number that can be attached. The number of iPod’s sold by Apple can be counted, but the company’s impact on technology is limitless. Michael Jordan making $30 million dollars in a single year contract can be measured, but the way he changed the game of basketball is limitless. The amount of money Jon makes or kids that he works with can be measured, but the impact he has on their lives is limitless. I say this because I believe that our true GREATNESS lays in our pursuit and execution of things that have an immeasurable value.

We all must understand that GREATNESS is not reserved for a chosen few, but deeply embedded within us all. It is our responsibility is to provide our seed of GREATNESS with the proper nourishment so that it may grow. By pursuing our greatest desires, I believe that we are sharing with the world the gift which makes all of us unique. In doing this, our own GREATNESS is realized and we see that our value becomes….INVALUABLE.

I appreciate you taking time to check out this post.  Feel free to leave comments, even if you’re not tagged.

Posted via web from Darius Gant's posterous

Home Sweet Home

Hello World!!! ….It has been about a month since my last post. As always, this month has been filled with some amazing stories and adventures….(not including “the first few days”). For this reason, I will be breaking up this post into two parts. First, I’ll discuss my trip home and the first few days in America.

The Trip Home

Wow!!! The things I do (or have to do) to save money. I’ll just start by saying that it took me 29 hours in total to get from my home in Madrid to my home in Illinois. I’m pretty sure you could fly around the world in that amount of time. After all, my flight to China last May only took 14 hours. So what happened? Well first, I had to catch a low budget flight (again, trying to save money) from Madrid to Dublin, Ireland. In Dublin, there is an airline that will let you fly to Chicago for as low as $200 (maybe cheaper). Unfortunately, the flight only leaves early in the morning, or later in the evening. I couldn’t get to Dublin until midnight. Therefore, I was forced to deal with an 11 hour layover at the airport! Shortly after arriving in Dublin, my first mission was to get my bags and find somewhere to crash. I made my way to the eating area where I saw about a hundred people sprawled out on the couches and chairs in a deep slumber. All the good spots were taken! After walking around the eating area for about an hour looking for a place to sleep, I decided to settle down right behind one of the coffee stands. (Was I really sleeping behind a coffee stand LOL!!!). The floor was quite hard…but hey, I was exhausted. I took a few t-shirts out of my bag to make a pillow. Then, I arranged my bags so that no one could take them without me waking up. In less than 10 minutes out was out like a light in the middle of the airport aisle. It looked like a bum village LOL…. I woke up about 5 hours later with pain in my hip from sleeping on the hard tile floor only to realize I had another 5 hours left in the airport. To make a long story short, I wasted the rest of my time watching movies until my next flight…

The flight from Dublin to Chicago wasn’t bad at all, except for one small thing. We got about an hour into the flight when the pilot announced that there was trouble with the AC….So we needed to go back to Dublin. My immediate reaction was to be upset. “Why can’t I just be home!!!!” I thought. However, after thinking a bit more about the problem, I decided that I’d rather have all problems be fixed rather than taking a nose dive into the Atlantic! I realized that the pilot could have just been down playing the true problem so that he doesn’t incite panic in the passengers. We ended up being stuck on the plane for 2 hours while they fixed the… “AC”… problem. Seven hours later I had landed in Chicago! I was looking forward to the clear skies and the warmth of the sun….But as I exited the plane it was gloomy…and cold, in June? Hahaha…Oh well, I was still happy to be home.


First Few Days

So what were my first few days like at home?... Ok so by now I know you are expecting some wild and crazy story that usually comes along with my blog entries. Unfortunately, this time you may be slightly disappointed LOL. To be completely honest, over the first few days at home I did absolutely NOTHING LOL. While in Spain, I had made all of these plans about what I’d do when I returned home…and I did not complete a single one. The perfect picture that could describe my first few days at home would be of some lazy guy lying on the couch watching TV in his boxers…with a bag of chips and a remote LOL. At first I felt bad about my laziness. However, it only took about 24 hours (or 24 seconds) to rationalize why I couldn’t compel myself to do anything productive. Here goes….Within a span of 4 months I had:

• Successfully battled the flu (twice) with no medicine
• Nearly went hungry trying to pinch pennies
• Skipped lunch for 2 weeks straight (ate ham sandwiches for the rest)
• Had to think about everything I said before I said it (second language)
• Worked 2 jobs
• 6 day going away party (which all lasted til about 6am)
• Taught English to children (which sometimes turned into a battle)
• Experienced a 29 hour trip to return to America
• No need to continue right LOL

After rationalizing my laziness in this way, I didn’t feel so bad about the bag of Doritos and the remote control being glued to my hands LOL. It was time for some good ‘ol reeeelaxation! (Plus, I think something was telling me to rest my mind before I battled through an intense 2 weeks at the Yale Pre-MBA Leadership Program, but that’s another story).

The greatest part about coming home was that I could return to my comfort zone. As much as I talk about getting “outside of the box”, your time away makes the return that much better. After 2 days of being a serious couch potato, I decided to go pick up a pizza that my little brother ordered for the family dinner (so American LOL). This was my first exposure to the American environment in 4 months. As I got out of the car to get the pizza, I was shocked to hear everyone around me speaking English. Weird right! I had become so used to hearing Spanish, and then only hearing English when it was translated in my head. But now…information was going directly to my brain without taking a pit-stop at the translation station LOL. Moments later, I caught myself listening to someone’s conversation as we waited for our food. Now this is something that I had become accustomed to doing in Spain because I was trying to see if I could understand what they were saying. But now, I had no excuse. I had to snap out of my trance quickly before people thought I was eavesdropping on their conversation! LOL Sorry….it was just weird to hear something that felt so natural.

Another exciting experience I had was when I went to the T-Mobile store to get my phone turned on. As you know, the United States has a huge population of Spanish speakers. For 22 years of my life, I was never able to understand a bit of what they were saying. This had become a normal thing to me. The Spanish speakers would converse, and I would ignore the conversation because I had no clue what was being said. As I walked into the T-Mobile store to reactivate my phone, I noticed that there were other people being served. At this point it didn’t occur to me who was being served. It wasn’t until I heard the familiar sound of Español did my ears perk up. Clear as day I heard, “I would like to see the Blackberry… No the black one” At that point my eyes lit up, I could hear exactly what they were saying. After 22 years of being in the dark, I clearly understood the conversation. Now obviously this is something I could do while I was in Spain, but it was an entirely different feeling when applied to my home environment. Ok Ok Ok….I know all of this sounds a little corny…BUT HEY it’s my story!!! LOL

As you can see, much of my first few days at home were very anti-climatic. They don’t have the glitz and glamour that surrounded my crazy adventures in Spain LOL….Sometimes it feels good to get back to a more normal, less drama-filled (good and bad) lifestyle…… Of course, for me “normal” doesn’t seem to last very long. In a post to come soon, you’ll see how my Yale Pre-MBA experience completely flipped me on my head LOL.

P.S. Below I've posted some photos of the school I taught at, the classrrom, a few of the kids, and one final picture of me camped out in the airports





Once again, thank you for tuning in to the BLOG. See you again soon….very soon!!!

InternationalDarius
Email: internationaldarius@yahoo.com

5 Hours Til Lift Off

As I sit hear writing this post, I literally have 5 hours until my plane takes off. I knew I had to get at least one more post in before leaving so please forgive the errors. I’ll update this post once I get home.. With that being said, I’m in a rush against the clock so let’s get started!!!

InternationalDarius’ Revenge

As I told you before World, revenge will be mine…And I’m talking about these crazy kids that I’ve been teaching LOL. Just as a reminder, here is the current score:

Kids – 2 InternationalDarius – 0

So what happened? Well…after finding out that I was in my last week of teaching in the school, the other teachers decided that I should play games all week with the kids. Now normally we may play “Heads Up, Seven Up” or maybe even basketball. I usually never participate though. However, on the final day of teaching, the kids insisted that we play Futbol/Soccer and that I play as well. I must admit that I was a little intimidated to play against these 8 and 9 year olds. I have never played Futbol in my life and these kids were pretty good….But hey whatever, I figured I’d give it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen?... The kids (moreso the guys) decided to play Chicos vs. Chicas – and they put me on the girls team LOL. In the first few minutes of playing the boys scored two goals on us. What’s even worse is that I had a 9 year old completely fake me out as I tried to steal the ball. He literally left me frozen in my position as I watched him score. The celebration that followed was even more insulting LOL. He had the nerve to run around me with his hands in the air screaming “Tomaaaa!!!”… At that point I’d had about all I could take. After 15 years of playing sports, the competitive spirit in me just took over. Play time was OVER!!!...The next time the ball was inbounded I took a couple very awkward dribbles and kicked the ball pretty far ahead of me so I could use my speed to my advantage. After blazing past about 5 boys like a bolt of lightning, I raced toward the goal… It was just Me and the Keeper face to face in what would be pivotal part of our battle! I gave the ball one swift kick as hard as I could and it shot clean over the top of the goal LOL (almost over 2 story high fence)!!! Oh Boy!...I turned around to walk back to my position as we all looked at each other in disbelief LOL. After that slightly embarrassing moment, the next play provided a splitting image of the previous play. However, this time I made an adjustment on my shot. I was a bit more under control as I delivered a rocket directly to the back of the goal. “Tommaaaaaaaaa!!!”, I yelled as I circled around the guys with my arms raised in the air. The girls and I had a good celebration together as well. After that goal, it was GAME OVER. I was in my zone. The guys went on two score to more points, but that only fed into my determination to lead us to victory. The following play I stole the ball out of the air and dribbled the length of the field with the guys chasing me. I found myself resorting to American Football tactics as I tried to maintain possession of the ball while the guys tried to steal it. A stiff arm sent one kid to the floor (hahahaha that’s so bad!) and a little bit of hip knocked another off balance. I raced toward the goal to score once again… While soccer may not be as high impact as American Football, I have learned that the game can get quite a bit aggressive at times. A couple plays later I was chasing down a ball and collided with one of the kids. Of course I didn’t fall, but he definitely hit the pavement. I was sure to be a good sport and make sure he was ok….after I scored LOL….(And this is what I mean by revenge. (Now I understand why my grade school teachers liked to play dodgeball so much toward the end of the year LOL!!!). Toward the end of the game the girls and I found ourselves celebrating quite a few goals. We even had some of the guys asking to switch to our team! The final score was 7-5, Girls Team win. I had 7 hahaha! The guys were quite upset.

InternationalDarius – 7 Students – 7

*Ok Ok Ok…So yea it does sound a little… ummmmmm what’s the word?...pitiful…to be boasting about beating up on little kids LOL. For the record, I know I’m not the next Renaldo. But hey, we had fun. Despite me being a little out of control, no one was hurt or injured during the games. We all had a good laugh everytime I found myself playing American Football LOL. Overall, I must say that I truly enjoyed my experience with the students. I joke about going to battle with them, but in all reality we have all benefitted from the entire experience.

InternationalDarius – Overnight Celebrity?

HAHAHAH not quite, but it sounded good….As usual, my stay in Spain never fails to provide some sort of wacky story that I can pass on to you all. I’ll tell this story from beginning to end so that you can have a complete understanding of it… One day on the job at Kapital, I met a lady, Lana, who has also had the opportunity to travel the world. Naturally, I wanted to know a little more about her experiences. After speaking for awhile we decided to meet up again sometime the next week. Well, 2 days later I get a text from her (in Spanish) asking if I’d like to go to some expensive cologne store (or atleast that’s what I thought it said). I’m not much of a cologne or perfume connoisseur but hey I had nothing else to do. I through on some clothes and headed to meet her….Okay, so when I finally get to our meeting point, I see her decked out in jewelry, high heels, and a fancy dress. I didn’t think much of it until she hands me an invitation, which is when I became skeptical of this trip to a “cologne store”….Something isn’t quite right. There is no way this cologne store is that nice for me to need an invitation LOL. Just then Lana explains to me that she works for Cosmopolitan and that we will be attending an award ceremony thrown by them. “Juuuuuuust great!!!” here I am going to an award ceremony in Jeans, a button-up, and some Air-Force 1’s. Yea reaaaaalllll classy!!!... But hey, it couldn’t be that bad right?!?...As we walk up to the door, I saw people coming out of the most expensive luxury cars. They were also dressed in gowns and 3 piece suits. Again, I’m wearing JEANS…A BUTTON-UP….and AIR FORCE 1’s. Upon walking up to the door, I just new they were going to tell me that I couldn’t come in…Luckily, I still the didn’t. I imagine that they thought “Wow, this 6’4’’ black guy must really be big-time if he came here wearing that!!!” LOL…Anyway, after getting in I was told that many of the most popular celebrities from Spain were at the ceremony. Here I was literally standing next to Demi Moore, Halle Berry, Jessica Alba, Matt Damon, Samuel Jackson, Tom Hanks, etc… Well not actually these people, but I had to use these names so you can better understand the type of people there….and because I have no clue of their names. This is how it was described to me LOL. The award ceremony was really nice as well. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera since I though I was going to a cologne store.

What’s Next?

Surely all of the learning and excitement doesn’t come to an end now does it?... As you know, I left the US as a busy bee, and I will be returning the same way. When I return I have many things to accomplish.

Yale Pre-MBA Leadership Program

Upon touching down in the Chicago, I will have 8 days until I board a plane once again. I will be attending the Yale Pre-MBA Leadership Program on June 14^th. I am extremely excited about this great opportunity. This program was designed to assist students in building leadership, networking, analytical, and various other skills important to those in pursuit of an MBA. I feel like this program is a great fit for me. The Yale Pre-MBA Leadership Program has a dual focus. Not only do they want to develop our business skills, but they also seek to enhance participant’s ability to have a positive impact on the community. What more could you ask for? In my opinion, there is more to success than prosperity within your given career. It is also important to assist others in realizing their hopes and dreams. For me, assisting someone in overcome the inevitable obstacles that come with success is one of the most fulfilling acts of kindness.

GMAT

Just when you think being a nerd comes to an end, it creeps right back up on you. I have committed myself to taking the GMAT. It’s a test required to be admitted into business school. I have planned to study 4 hours/day in effort to achieve my desired score. My goal is to earn a 700+ GMAT test score. Scores range from 200 to 800. A 700 would put me in the 90^th percentile, which mean I would have scored better than 90% of test-takers. Four hours/day sounds quite easy compared to the 10+ hours/day I was putting in before coming to Spain. However, the GMAT is an entirely different test than the CPA exam. The CPA is a Pass-Fail exam. Therefore, you just hope to beat the benchmark level. With the GMAT I will be aiming to score as high as possible (at least top 10%) I recently had a huge reality check when I attempted a practice GMAT exam last week. I scored a 480, which puts me in the 31^st percentile LOL. Although I took the test without studying, it is obvious that I have a lot of work ahead of me. It’s time to put that work-ethic to the test once again!

The fact that I will be returning to the life of a nerd once again is hilarious to me. I felt like this is one of those Steve Urkel/Stephon Urquelle moments (please tell me you know what I’m talking about LOL). At home I had my nose buried in the books all day. There was no time for parties, valueless television, random outings, and other types of fun normal people have. I might as well have been wearing glasses with tape in the middle, suspenders, and a pocket protector LOL. After coming to Spain I transformed into the “cool” InternationalDarius (well at least I think so). I was at a party over half of my days. I met new people everyday. Everyday I’d find myself in very interesting situations that I get to put on my semi-cool BLOG. I even had a 6 day going away party!!!…and now it’s time for cool InternationalDarius to go back to the nerdy InternationalDarius, Stefan Urquelle back to Steve Urkel LOL… Ok Ok I’m done being so dramatic.

Maintaining Level of Spanish

After all of this work with my Spanish, I’d be an idiot to let it go. Over the next 3 months I will need to maintain my level of Spanish (assuming time permits). I have about 5 books that I can study from. Therefore, the grammar should not be a problem. I also have movies and TV shows that I can watch in Spanish that will help me better my comprehension. Now all I need is a buddy to volunteer to speak Spanish with me!...........And ummmm what is this talk about maintaining? Hmmmmmm….I wonder if there’s something more to this story?

Stay Tuned for the next post. I will document the feeling I have after returning home. My initial feeling, change in perspective, new developments, etc… I am very excited to see how Spain has provided a change in my life. As of right now I feel fine….But then again, I’m still in Spain. Alright I have to go now….I have about an hour left to pack so that I can catch my flight LOL!!!

I'm Back!!!

Hello World…(I say world because we now have international viewers) It feels like forever since I last posted. Of course, I have gotten myself into a million good and bad things since my last post in April. Nevertheless, I’m happy to check in with you and let you know that I am still alive LOL!!!

How Is Life?
So where did we leave off last time….Oh yea, I gave you a break down on why I had made the decision to stay in Spain when all I had was about 40 Euros and a bag full of hope! How has life been over the last 5 weeks?...Well, I’ll start at the beginning. I’ve been working 2 jobs. I teach English and work at a club in Madrid, Kapital. I am proud to say that today I am eating 3 meals a day and 100% healthy. I eat breakfast and dinner with my Spanish family, and the school I teach at provides my lunch. But hold on a second…Let’s back track to the beginning of April when things weren’t so peachy LOL. Here’s where you see the obstacles I had to overcome due to the decision I made to stay in Spain.

Problem 1, the first two weeks in April are a holiday. Therefore, there is no school, which means I have no lunch. Having little to no money, I decided (not like I had much of a choice at the time) to go without lunch everyday. I developed a strategy to cope with the hunger during those 2 weeks. I tried to wake up as late as possible in order to reduce the amount of time I had to wait until dinner. I’d try to eat breakfast around 2pm. Dinner is around 9pm. Spanish breakfasts are not as large as the portions in America. It’s usually just a croissant and coffee or something of the sort. It’s not the pancakes and sausage, bacon, eggs, omelets, french toast – …Okay I need to stop I’m getting hungry. Essentially, each day I was eating the equivalent of one snack and dinner! Trust me, the 50+ continuous days of ham sandwiches that I spoke about having in the previous months sounded like heaven at that point.

Problem 2, working two jobs had become very time consuming. During the day I’d teach kids and at night I’d be working at the club (Thursday through Saturday). It’s required that I be in the club until at least 4:30am. Unfortunately, the metro doesn’t open ‘til 6:00am, which means that I didn’t get home until 6:30am and sleep by 7am. That would leave me about 2 or 3 hours of sleep until I had to get up for work on Friday. Not only that, but trying to keep up with the “clubbing” lifestyle can be taxing on the body…drinks, dancing, staying up all night. Needless to say, all this madness lead to me catching the flu…and NO not Swine Flu LOL. One Friday, I woke up feeling great after a long night out. But throughout the day I started to develop pain in my neck and the worst headache I’d ever had in life. I toughed out the weekend working at the club, but by Monday I was completely dead. I found my self unable to move as I was glued to my bed for the next 4 days. One of the days I slept for 20 hours, and this is not an exaggeration. Because getting medicine here is the biggest pain, I had to kick my illness naturally. This all lead to Problem 3…Spanish.

Problem 3 - Between getting sick, teaching English, and working in Kapital, I hardly had time or the focus to do what I had stayed in Spain to do….Learn Spanish! Without having classes, I was forced to study on my own. This proved extremely difficult when battling exhaustion. I also didn’t do much practicing through conversation. Obviously, as an English teacher you have to speak English (this comment deserves an asterisk). Also, Kapital is a very popular place for international travelers, which means many of the people that come can speak English. What’s more is that when you’re laying in bed sick there isn’t very many opportunities to speak. Nor do you have the desire LOL. Now when you put all of this together, there is only one possible feeling that you can have….And That Is….Wanting to go HOME!!!

Problem 4….So here is what I was looking at. I was broke, hungry, sick, constantly working, and not learning anything. I can’t lie World, I was definitely regretting the decision to remain in Spain. My pride never let me beg to come home, but believe me when I say that it was on my mind 24/7…And even more so in the morning before I arrived at work only to deal with you know who LOL!

But hey that was then, and this is now. I had to make some major changes in order to make it through the last 5 or so weeks. What are they?... Well now that I have more money, I make sure that I have lunch EVERYDAY. I found out how to ride the night bus home so I could leave the club early and get more sleep. I have about 3 or 4 Spanish grammar books that I study as much as possible. I have come to accept that kids are kids and they are going to act crazy, especially when they can’t understand you. These small changes have made all the difference in the world. Now that I have survived through the worst of a tough situation, I look forward to great days during my travels. I have no doubt that the struggle that I went through over that period of time has helped me grow in many ways. By no means am I rich, but comparing how I felt be for to how I feel now is like rags to riches to me. What's even better is that the entire time I felt that I wasn't improving my Spanish, I actually was. By continuing to push forward through hard times, I was moving toward my goal without even realizing that my language ability was improving. To this day, I'm feeling great about my decision. Let's hope it stays that way LOL!

InternationalDarius vs. Students
When I said that these kids were a riot, I couldn’t have been more serious! Over the past 6 weeks I have learned that I need to be on my toes. They will not hesitate to pull the wool over your eyes if you’re not careful. Don’t believe me? Let’s have a look at the following battles LOL….

Round 1
The movie High School Musical is like the best source of entertainment ever created. Not one class goes by that I’m not asked to play a song from the movie. While the kids do not have a very high level of English yet, they have no problem naming each and every character and singing every song in the movie (in English). Furthermore, they are amazed that I’m not as knowledgeable about High School Musical as they are. After only two weeks their amazement combined with the thought that I didn’t know any Spanish, turned into an opportunity for trickery. One day, all of the students started asking me if they could see Gabriela Desnuda. (FYI Gabriela is Vanessa Hudgens, one of the main characters and desnuda means naked. Apparently, paparazzi got ahold of some revealing photos of the young actress). This was all happening while the kids were in one of those out-of-control moods, so I was quickly trying to find something to calm them down. Already on YouTube, I almost started typing it in… G-A-B-…. Just then it clicked as I thought aloud “Waaaaaiiiiiiiit-a-miiiiinnnnnuuute!!! Did these little comedians really just ask me if they could see “Gabriela naked” in class?” LOL…Never in my wildest dreams did I have the courage to make that sort of request when I was that age! But then again, I never thought I could try to trick my teachers by speaking another language…And kids do say the craziest things. Anyway, for that split second when I was about to start typing, I was thinking Gabriela Desnuda was a song or something….I know you didn’t think I would really show nudity to children did you?…. In the end the attempt at getting one over on me warranted a good laugh, but you know they had to be punished afterwards LOL. OK OK OK jokes on me!

Students – 1 InternationalDarius – 0

Round 2
This next story comes from a class that I was teaching for the older kids, 11-12 year olds. I was teaching the difference between the ‘ch’ sound in English and the ‘sh’ sound. In Spanish, there is no ‘sh’ sound. For example, when they are trying to say be quiet, they say ssssssssssssss as opposed to shhhhhhhhhhhhh! Anyway, after a few examples, I decided that I would try to get tricky and use an irregular word. I chose the word Chicago….So I spell the word on the board and I pronounced it for them. Then I had them repeat after me a few times. After about 2 or 3 times I started to here a giggles. In my mind everything seemed to be normal. I thought that they were laughing because it was a cool word and they were having problems pronouncing it. So what do I do? I start saying it more and more “Chicago, Chicago, Chicago”…Just then I began to think….The true meaning of Chicago (history lesson) is an Native Americna reference to the strong smell of onions…And there was no way in the world that they knew that. Then it dawned on me! I was hanging out with some friends when I had learned the verb ‘cagar’, literally meaning “To Shit.” (excuse my language) When you conjugate the verb in the first person you get ‘cago’ or “I Shit”. So when you split the word Chicago, you get Chi – Cago…So all they see is the professor standing in front of the class laughing and saying, “Chicago, Chicago, Chicago hahahaha. Repeat after me…Chicago” TRANSLATED ”I Shit, I Shit, I Shit hahaha. Repeat after me…I Shit”….OK OK OK world they got me again!

Students – 2 InternationalDarius – 0

Round 3 (still to come)
Hey … Round 3 is going to be different. I can’t let them keep beating up on me LOL!

*For the record, I just think these are funny stories. In all reality, we have a lot of fun while learning. Not all my kids are crazy…..Just some of them LOL.

NightLife
Pheeeeeeew!!!! It just never stops LOL. It seems like I’m out every single night these days. I remember saying how I’m going to limit all of the partying but it just seems impossible LOL. There is always something to celebrate. Heck, I’m still celebrating passing the CPA exam and that was in February! But I’ll tell you what, Spain has more holidays than any country I know. On top of the national holidays that are already long, each city also gets to choose 2 additional days for holidays. Personally, I’ve had over 16 days of vacation from teaching already. Let me just explain how last week was for me. On Tuesday, I met a friend to have some drinks. Wednesday I rested. Thursday was a huge party. Friday was a huge party. Saturday was a huge party. Sunday was a huge party. Monday I had a meeting with KPMG office in Madrid. Finally, on Tuesday I had to go to work….Then I went out with some friends hahaha. While this is a true story, the reality is I work in a club as I said. So I have to be at a party Thursday – Saturday. Normally, I would rest the other days but it was a friend’s last week in Madrid. But hey I don’t have to explain myself LOL. I’m just making up for spending every day of the last year in the library without a glimpse of fun. Plus, I’m on semi-vacation!

Coming Home!!!
What? What was that???.....Yes Yes I have finally decided to pack my bags and head home, June 5th. Actually, it wasn’t much of a decision being that I will be preparing for the Yale Pre-MBA Leadership program on June 14th. I’m excited about going out to New Haven for a new experience in leadership. After looking through the tentative agenda, it appears that we will have plenty of opportunities for developing valuable professional skills.

I hear that the final weeks go fast than all of the other weeks of your stay. This means I’m going to have to move fast to see some of the historical attractions that are here such as the Palacio Real and Thiessen (Picasso paintings). Lately, I haven’t done many touristy things because I’ve been so busy working. Also, I know I still owe you all a video of me speaking Spanish. Once I’m done being lazy I’ll put it up LOL.

Thanks for tuning in once again.

InternationalDarius
internationaldarius@yahoo.com