Acting for SBCC - Day 2!

Today was another of those incredibly different days. I am truly amazed at the possibilities that one can find if he/she just sticks his/her head out. 

JSB Cafe and the movie set.

I arrived at school around midday. First, I saw a couple of friends and ran some errands. Then, at 12:30, I went down to JSB cafe to record a new scene for the SBCC Virtual Tour. When I arrived, I was introduced by Peter, the cameraman at the head of this project, and he introduced me to Sean and Sarah, two students at SBCC. I never met these people before, but I was supposed to act like they were some of my best friends. They were sitting at a table with two beautiful sandwiches in front of them. I was al little confused, because I wasn't given many instructions… But I was supposed to figure it out!

Camera is rolling, and… action! So the camera is filming Sean and Sarah as they bite on some French fries and talk and I come in the scene, join them, greet them, and seat at the table. Then I steal a couple of fries from Sean, and I join in their conversation. This was very interesting.

Peter was filming us interact and we really didn't have to try that hard… We were not acting, we were just being ourselves, and getting to know each other. Sean is a soon-to-be-22 year old, first at SBCC, completing the scuba diving program. And Sarah is on her second year, and she wants to be nurse. They were actually really cool and we laughed a lot, which was much appreciated by Peter. 

Sean informed us that when he was in high school he took one acting and recitation class, and one thing he remembered from it is that when actors don't know what to say, they just say the word “watermelon.” This is because “watermelon” has many syllables and therefore it gives the impression that an actor is talking when he is really not saying anything… In fact, the camera only records video, but not sound, which is cool because when acting we always end up talking about funny stuff. For example, while Sarah and I didn't know how accurate was the information about the word watermelon, we thought the whole thing was very funny and kept making jokes using that word. 

We were having a great time! And we got a delicious free lunch, too, so nothing to complain about :)

Peter asked us to take a selfie while he was filming!

After that, Sean and Sarah left, my friend Alissa arrived, and we went to film some more. Alissa and I jumped in the car with Peter, and he drove to the Butterfly preserve in Goleta. This is a forest, where, supposedly, there should be a lot of butterflies; however, I only saw two or three. It was definitely fun but also pretty weird. Peter asked us to imagine we saw a storm of butterflies and to point at them and pretend like we were amazed and fascinated by it…. but there were no butterflies. We walked through the forest, a big field, and then arrived to the coast, where we could see the whole ocean. It was an astonishing view. 

Looking at it, I started thinking about how much I am going to miss this little paradise that is Santa Barbara. Of course I am excited about the life journey I am experiencing and about starting a new adventure up in the Bay next semester… But I became very attached to Santa Barbara and I am definitely going to miss it. 

We finished filming a little after 4pm, and then Peter drove us back to school and dropped us off. I probably should not be an actor, but I am having fun. I am excited to see the final video once it’s ready!

A presto,

- Fede

Roman Art and Greek influence.

After my reflection on Greek sculpture, here is another cogitation on the subject of Art History. In this essay, I describe Roman Art, especially compare and contrasting it with its Greek influence. 

As Rome expanded its dominance over Greece, Greek art had a stronger and stronger influence over Roman artists and architects. In Greece, the gods were the driving force behind any major architecture of the Hellenistic period. As a matter of fact, a large percentage of the ancient Greek architecture that we still know of today are temples, because the Greeks built beautiful architecture mostly for the worship of their gods. This was obvious in the ornate exteriors of the buildings; in the pediments and metopes and the relative drabness of the interiors. In a sense, the Greek designed buildings as a sculpture, with all of the beauty to be viewed from the outside.

Roman architectural style turns this around. Although their buildings are beautiful on the outside, the inside is equally beautiful, with the many colored walls and paintings, and a use of space concerned with the lighting of the room so that the interior decorations could be seen clearly. Also, while the Romans did build temples to their gods, their style was more predominantly seen in public dwellings and social gathering areas, such as basilicas and forums, than in their temples. 

Unarguably, a revolutionary architecture was the biggest contribution to art history by the Romans. Very importantly, the Romans revolutionized architectural design by developing concrete construction. In addition to being much cheaper to use than the Greek marble (which also had to be imported), the use of concrete allowed to design and construct new shapes that were not achievable before. We are talking about huge vaults (like barrel vaults and groin vaults) and hemispherical domes that needed not internal supports. 

The most impressive and innovative use of concrete during the Republic was in the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, the goddess of good fortune, in Palestrina, southeast of Rome. While the design featuring terraces is typical of Hellenistic Greek architecture, the construction method is original and distinct. In fact, the use of barrel vaults allows to support the terraces exploiting the natural strength of this kind of shape/construction. Later on, the use of concrete allowed for the construction of amphitheaters, colossal constructions resembling a Greek theater (the word amphitheater means “double theater”) but standing on their own rather than being resting on the side of a natural hill. The earliest amphitheater known is the one in Pompeii, dating around 70 BCE, while the most famous is the Colosseum, in Rome, dating around 70 CE, during the Early Imperial period, under the Flavians. A fun fact is that the Colosseum, which is huge (it can hold more than 50,000 spectators) didn't take its name from its colossal dimensions, but from a statue that used to be next to the Colosseum. That statue, which was also huge, was the Colossus of Nero. The Colosseum was different from the amphitheater in Pompeii, reflecting the technological advances in the use of concrete. Rather than finding support on an artificial earthen mound, the Colosseum has a concrete skeleton made of barrel-vaulted corridors to hold up the enormous oval seating area. The exterior of the colosseum is largely gone because the material has been used for construction of houses and other buildings. Three sets of vaults support the skeleton, each decorated with a different style— tuscan, ionic, and corinthian, respectively, from the lower band to the third one.

Another revolutionary building, the Pantheon was built by Hadrian during the High Empire. Curiously, the Pantheon has the largest dome in the ancient’s world, measuring 142 feet both in height and in diameter. At the top, an open oculus lets a beam of sunlight pass through and move across the dome as the sun moves across the sky. 

Like architecture, a good deal of Roman sculpture was created to serve a purpose— to impress the public and communicate the power and majesty of Rome. In its important works there was a constant expression of seriousness, with none of the Greek conceptualism or introspection. The mood, pose and facial features of the Roman statue of an Emperor, for instance, was typically solemn and unsmiling. As Rome grew more confident from the reign of Augustus (31 BCE - 14 CE), its leaders might appear in more magnanimous poses, but gravitas and an underlying sense of Roman greatness was never far from the surface. Another important characteristic of Rome's plastic art was its realism. The highly detailed reliefs on Trajan's Column and the Column of Marcus Aurelius, for instance, are perfect illustrations of this focus on accurate representation, and have been important sources of information for scholars on many aspects of the Roman Legion, its equipment and battle tactics.

Among the many portraits of Roman sculpture, the Augustus of Prima Porta and the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius are the two best representations of the two types of Roman sculptures, which were the standing figure and the mounted figure. The Augustus of Prima Porta is based on the Doryphorus, a famous antique statue by Polykleitos portraying the ideal human proportions of an Athenian athlete. The depiction of Augustus portrays him as a victorious general making a speech. He is posed in the traditional contrapposto manner: his right leg is placed firmly forward while his left leg is bent and the heel slightly-raised. Augustus’ right arm is stretched out in a noble and controlled Roman gesture, which we can see in the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, too. In this statue, the emperor— who possesses a superhuman grandeur and is much larger than any normal human would be in relation to his horse— stretches out his right arm in a gesture that is both a greeting and a sign of clemency.

So, while much of Roman art is inspired by Hellenistic art or based on Greek standards, Roman art and architecture had been influenced by the Etruscan, too, and has introduced several innovative features as well, resulting in a revolutionary addition to the fine arts. 

Relaxing massage at school & E-Launch final!

After my job, at 11am, I was walking across campus to go to my Art History class when I noticed a lot of people gathered nearby the bridge. I wondered what was going on, and suddenly I remembered that the SBCC Wellness Connection had organized an event that day, called De-Stress Fest. At this event, from 10am to 2pm, some professionals and many volunteers in the club offered de-stress tips, games, yoga, and most importantly: free massages. I love massages, especially by professionals who can massage me with heavy hands without messing up my back… So I couldn't resist and immediately signed up for one spot at 12:15pm. Sure enough, I left my Art History class early to go get the massage. Not that I would recommend skipping class, but I have never been absent anyway, and I have a solid A in the class, so I thought I could afford to do that. I can promise that the additional benefit of the massage definitely outweighed the additional benefit of attending the last part of class :)

The massage was a great way to relax before the storm! In fact, I had no time to waste. After my Philosophy class, I grabbed some lunch, found a quite room, and I began preparing for my E-Launch final. As I mentioned before, the final consisted in a 8-minute business pitch with a Power Point presentation in front of three successful entrepreneur as judges. While they are looking for content and readiness, the professor checks that each student is covering everything that is needed (such as an effective initial value proposition, problem/solution, marketing strategy, industry and competition analysis, etc…) Throughout the semester we prepared five 2-minute pitches, and for the final we put them all together, update the slides, add some more, and and edit the heck out of them! I wrote a new pitch speech based on the new slides, and then edited it more with the professor on Sunday and on Monday. So, by Tuesday afternoon I had already memorized the core of the presentation. However, I had three hours before the beginning of Demo Day, and I needed to memorize the changes from the previous night— such as having added a “Why Us” slide and edited the way we plan to scale the business. With all the help I received from my amazing professor Julie Samson, the result was brilliant. 

At 5 o’clock, Demo Day started. How exciting! Students and judges had a chance to eat some pizza and mingle. At 5:30pm, we started presenting. I was the last one of 8 teams, which means two hours went by before it was my turn…

The audience seemed to really like my presentation. I thought I did a good job, too, but so did most of the teams. It was phenomenal. All of the teams stepped up their game incredibly. I am not authorized to talk about any specific information about what happens in the class or about any of the products or ideas from anyone in the class. In fact, we signed NDAs, or Non-Disclosure Agreements. But I can guarantee all of those ideas are brilliant!

Well, in the end, my friends Rachel and Ken won the competition and the 1,000 dollars with their great presentation and smart dog-related product. They were so good they won almost all of the pitches throughout the semester, too. So they deserved it! I wish them the best of luck in their future entrepreneurial endeavors!

Although I didn't win this competition, I learned a lot from this class. I also made connections with one of the judges, who is an entrepreneur who spent 10 years of his life in Italy— my home country. He gave me his business card, and he seemed to demonstrate a certain degree of availability if I were to need financial help to start my business, which was great.

Overall, it was such an astounding day!!! It feels incredible (in the literal sense) that this class is already over and that the semester almost is over. Time goes fast when you have fun... and I am having the time of my life.

A presto,

- Fede

Talking about Good Life/Death

My Philosophy lecture today was one of the most interesting lectures of the semester. The professor, hilarious and CLEVER (omg so clever) Dr. Joe White, introduced Aristotle to the class, and he did so with his unique, weird, and funny approach that relates strictly to the students’ life on a daily basis. Dr. White, or Joe, started by introducing the concepts of Eudaemonia and Euthanasia. These words come from Greek and indicate, respectively, “Good Life” and “Good Death.” Joe informed the class that according to national polls, only about 40% of Americans declare to be happy. So what’s up with 60% of people in the States? How can you be happy? What makes a happy life?

Well, Joe laid down the some important facts. First of all, happiness is a different concept than joy. A person who is joyful all the time is not necessarily happy, as a matter of fact— suggested Joe— that person probably has some sort of problems! For example, when you get a bad grade, your girlfriend leaves you, or someone dear to you passes away, you are not joyful, you are sad, and you may cry… but that doesn't mean you are not a happy person in your life. 

Secondly, humans never talk about death, but thinking about it is actually very important. Humans tend to never address the issue, and they often end up unprepared (see what I did there, with “end up?”)… Jokes apart, we all need to recognize that death is unavoidable: the clock is clicking for all of us, and as a matter of fact, you are two minutes closer to your death than when you started reading this blog post. Accept it, and carry on.

Then Joe claimed that most people focus their attention on “Eudemonia,” or reaching for a happy life. And in doing this, they often get confused and distracted by material desires. And then they end up always chasing things, always chasing happiness, like they’re ever going to get it. Thoughts like… “I want to go to school, so I can get a degree, so I can find a job, so I can make money, so I can have a house, and then I’ll buy a nice car, and then I will go on vacation in Hawaii, and then I will be happy!” are dangerous. What about the journey to get there? By chasing happiness, people can forget to live.

Instead of focusing on Eudaemonia, in order to understand what makes for a happy life, we need to use reverse engineering and figure out what makes for a good death. We need to think about that dreaded moment, when— hopefully at an old age— each of us will die. What will make you die happy? 

First of all, accepting the fact that you are doomed. Joe talked to us about a person close to him, who was scared and didn't want to let go. He compared this to another person, also close to him, who one day in her 90s woke up and said: “I think today I am going to die… I think it’s my last day.” She felt it, and she accepted it, and all she wanted to do was to think about her past, her journey, her presence in this world, and be able to say: gosh it was good! She knew she had a meaningful life and she knew it was going to end at one point so so she did those things that really created meaning to her life. So… if you want to die comfortable and not in the middle of the street… plan ahead! If you want to hold your son’s hand, or die knowing that your grandchildren will be great, but you still don't have a boyfriend/girlfriend… Figure it out! These are some of the ways Joe made his students smile and laugh even when talking about something so serious and dreaded as death. 

I thought the lecture was very inspiring and thought-provoking. I like Joe White because he is extremely clever, meaning that he is not only very knowledgable, but he also knows how to use his knowledge greatly. He knows his audience and makes every lecture interesting, and funny. And when I say funny, I actually mean students laugh out loud, like at a comic show. This is because he has a great personality and he makes examples that directly relate to the life of a student at SBCC. Here is an example: he told us a story about a guy asking a girl out on a date, and then he didn't show up. He was very descriptive and made sure to tell the story so we would all hate the guy (again, he is very clever). Then he asked us what we would call that guy, and people said words like “a-hole” and many other not-nice descriptive adjectives. Then he conclude: so, when you start the semester, and you make an appointment with me, and you say I will be there, room A-160, Tuesday at 12:45, and then you decide not to come to class… What are you? You are a… [insert here all the adjectives that were on the board]. Everybody bursted out laughing. He is a great man, and I am so glad I took his Introduction to Philosophy class. Totally worth it!

A presto,

- Fede

Greek Sculpture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic

My Art History class has gotten pretty interesting. Here is a reflection on the evolution of Greek art, in the form of a quick journey through Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods.

Ancient Greece is a particularly interesting culture because of its 600-year evolution through three important periods, namely the Archaic Period (c.650-480 BCE), the Classical Period (c.480-323 BCE), and the Hellenistic Period (c.323-27 BCE).

Differently from the realistic statues of the Classical era, Archaic Greek sculpture is rigid and stylized, which reminds the standing figures from Egyptian art. The principal type of Archaic sculpture is the kouros, a nude male statue standing with one foot forward; and the kore, a clothed female statue standing with feet together. Kouroi/kore statues are roughly symmetrical and they face forward. They stand pretty rigidly, with their arms straight beside the body and the hands closed into fists. Their anatomy is much simpler than the detailed and realistic sculpture of the Classical period. 

For instance, the Kouros from Attica, dated 600 BCE, is a very good example of Archaic stylized sculpture. The figure has the shape of a human being, but it is not cured or accurate. The face is flat and triangular, the eyes are bigger than normal, the hair is ordered and geometric. The waist is thin, and not much importance is given to the musculature of the individual. 

The realism of these statues does gradually increase, as the Archaic period drew on. For example, the Kroisos, from Anavysos, which is dated 530 BCE, displays more naturalistic proportions and more rounded modeling of face, limbs, and torso. For instance, I like to notice that the Kouros from Attica has a geometric torso, where the “V” shape on the hips mirrors a “V”-shaped rib cage; the Anavysos Kourus, instead, has more naturalistic shapes, with a rounded rib cage and softer hips, which better resemble the human body. The eyes are smaller, the face is rounder, and greater attention is put in the rendering of the muscles. From the same date is the Peplos Kore, which is interesting to me because the we can still see traces of painting on it, two and a half thousand years later— pretty impressive.

Around 480 BCE, the Hellenic city-states allied with Greece defeated the Persian invaders, marking an important turning point in Greek history and artistic style. This is the beginning of the Classical Era, which is probably the most important, or at least the one most people refer to when thinking about ‘Greek art.’  It is in this period, in fact, that the Greek developed the renown "Canon of Proportions,” one of the biggest contributions to the field of the fine arts. The Canon of Proportion was a set of rules used to represent realistically and ideal human body. 

During the classical period there was a huge improvement in the technical ability of Greek sculptors to depict the human body in a naturalistic rather than rigid posture. Anatomy became more accurate and as a result statues started to look much more lifelike. 

The Classical period could actually be sub-divided into the Early, High, and Late Classical periods. One example of Early Classical sculpture is the Kritios Boy, dated 480 BCE, which is very important to art history because it’s the first statue that has been represented in a realistic way. In other words, the person is standing in a way that a human being would actually stand. The weight of the body is mostly on one leg, while the other can even find some bend (although the caff and foot have unfortunately gone lost). This is a technique called contrapposto. 

This technique is even more pronounced in the Riace bronzes, which are two statues made out of hollow bronze, which were found in the Italian see. These represent warriors, so much more attention to the muscles of the human body is evident. The arms are bent, the torso slightly twisted, the face is not frontal, but is looking slightly to the side. 

Contrapposto reaches its climax in Polykleitos’s Doryphoros (Spear bearer) dated about 450-440 BCE. This is the ideal (or perfect) representation of the human body, representing an athlete or a warrior. This statue is considered the culmination of the evolution in Greek statuary from the Archaic kouros, to the Kritos Boy, to the Riace warrior. In fact, the contrapposto is more pronounced than ever, suggesting balance, movement, and beauty.

The last period is the Hellenistic Era, which begins with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE. Hellenistic Greek sculpture continued the Classical trend towards ever greater naturalism. Animals, as well as ordinary people of all ages, became acceptable subjects for sculpture. I think this is my favorite period because it is so beautiful. The human bodies are portrayed with a divine attention to detail, that renders them even more realistic and perfect than what a human body actually is. For example, the Lacoon and His Sons is my favorite sculpture. I am impressed in particular by the minute attention to the rendering of the bodies, especially the pronounced musculature and the veins, and I am fascinated by the impression of movement evoked by the scene. Also, the scene is very touching because it represents a strong man powerless as he and his two sons are attacked by a group of snakes, which is a very touching scene that communicates strong emotions.

Overall, the evolution of Greek art through the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic stages is a fascinating journey through the development of a culture and the research of perfection, which, at least in my eyes, culminates in statues like the Lacoon and his sons or the Sleeping Satyr even more so than in the Doryphoros.

E-Launch Demo Day - Final Pitch!

Tomorrow is going to be an important day: tomorrow is Demo Day.

Demo Day is basically my ENT 206 class final. As you may recall, this semester I enrolled in Enterprise Launch, or E-Launch, a great class that provides support to students as they work through the stages of (actually) launching a business. Of the 30+ ideas that were brought to the table at the beginning of class, 12 have been selected, and teams have been formed. Throughout the semester four teams dropped out, so now I am competing against 7 other great ideas.

One team in particular, which has created a dog-related product, has been very successful throughout the class. In fact, about every two weeks, each team had an opportunity to win $200 on pitch day. We had five pitch days, and each time we addressed an important part of launching the business. For instance, pitch one was about the Problem, the Solution, and the Team value. The second was about the Industry, the Intellectual Property, and the Competition. On the third speech, Isaac (my friend, and teammate) and I talked about our target market and out marketing strategy. Well, at that point Isaac dropped the class and let me all alone working on this project, which was pretty overwhelming… I spent so many hours at the UCSB library doing research, making slide presentations, and memorizing my scripts. Trimming and editing each speech to make it fit the 2-minute limit. Perfecting my initial value proposition… 

For Pitch 4, I had to construct a prototype of our product, which is an online service, so I I did that by purchasing a domain, and designing a mock website through Wix. You can look it up at vivleo.com :) It doesn't really work that well yet, because I have no programming experience, but that’s what it is supposed to look like when we create a working prototype. I also had to take the prototype in front of my target market and take customer surveys, recording their reactions, feedback, and starting developing relationships with potential customers. Then, present everything in front of judges. 

Pitch #5 had us analyze our financials, use of funds, and exit strategy. I had to come up with a budget, and with a projection of every expense that will be needed to launch and run the business for the first year. I also had to come up with an exit strategy, which is the way business owners can “get rid” of the business and cash in, usually done through an IPO or through a merger or acquisition, among other options. 

Figuring all of this stuff out was very hard but now I am proud of my work. And later today, I will put myself to the test in front of 3 successful entrepreneurs and listen to their precious feedback. I put all my slides together, and added more about how to scale the business and why they should pick us. In fact, today’s competition winner will walk away $1,000 richer. Our professor organizes a whole event for Demo Day, which starts with pizza and beverages, before starting with the competition.

I just received an email from my professor with the order in which the teams are going to deliver pitches, and I am scheduled to go last. I don't know how to feel about this. On one hand, I will be nervous for the whole time, which is bad. I will also be tired, and the judges will probably be too. On the other hand, going last is good because the judges will remember me more easily, so it is critical that I do a great job. In addition, if they are tired, they might be easier on the after-pitch questions, which sometimes can get pretty tough to answer. 

There are a lot of great products competing in this class, and even if I don't win the competition, the experience I gained through this class is invaluable. 

I am very happy an super excited. Wish me good luck!

A presto,

- Fede

GOT INTO MY DREAM SCHOOL

And so, as it turns out, I got into UC Berkeley, at the Haas School of Business.

It was amazing.

I was sitting in the library at SBCC, on a regular Friday which was about to become one of the most important days of my life. I was sitting at one of the public computers near the small cafe in the back, talking to my sister through my headphones. My sister is about to graduate from university back in Italy, and her thesis has to be typed in English, because she has been studying abroad. However, her English language skills are not all that perfect (not that mine are, either) so she asked me to go over her thesis essay and to translate some sentences from Italian into English. Anyway, there I was-- working on her Google Doc while talking to her through FaceTime, one hour before UC Berkeley was supposed to release their admission decisions. Suddenly and unexpectedly, I heard my phone vibrate directly below my face. On the desk, my phone read: “ iMessage from Isaac Eaves: ACCEPTED HAAS!!!!” I almost had a panic attack! My friend got accepted into Haas! WOW! What about me? 

I did my best to put some words together, confused and undecided between using Italian or English. I got my sister to shut up, and I told her UC Berkeley had just released the admission decisions. My heart was beating so hard. My sister knows how hard I worked in order to deserve acceptance into a prestigious school, and she knows Haas has been my polar-star in the past two years. She got excited, too. I opened a new tab, typed MAP@Berkeley, and logged in. Or, I tried... Only to realized I had forgotten my password! My heart was about to explode! 

Damn technology! We are so used to save our username & password in our devices, but that day I left my laptop at home. Luckily, I remembered that I wrote down all my usernames and password of each university that I have applied to. So I pulled out that information, tried it, and it worked. I was logged in. I skimmed through the page, and I read: “there are new updates regarding your application status. Click here...” 

At that point, I clicked, and my heart had either stopped or it was beating so fast I couldn't tell it was even there. Two seconds later, the page had loaded. I read the first three words: they said: “Dear Federico, Congratulations!...” At that point, I saw virtual balloons and confetti falling from the top of the screen, and I yelled in the middle of the library! I was so excited. I couldn't contain myself, I was moving everywhere but trying to calm down. As soon as my brain started working again five seconds later, I closed all the tabs from the computer, logged out of it, and speed-walked out of the library, where I could finally be myself and act it out! In the meantime, my sister had called my dad and they were all talking to me but I was too excited to listen! I WAS STOKED!

I talked to my dad for a little bit, but the Wi-Fi connection on the bridge was terrible like always. So I decided I would call them back later (we use FaceTime, which requires internet connection). At that point, I called my friend Alessandro, who is a very important person to me because I took much of my inspiration for my success at SBCC from him. He was a student at SBCC, and he transferred to the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley last year. He is older than me, and he is also Italian. I told him I just got accepted into Haas, and he was also so happy! He started telling me about all the amazing things that I will find at Cal, such as big companies hiring on campus from day 1, amazing learning and leadership opportunities, and he also told me about the great connections that he formed by joining a fraternity, specifically pointing out how the previous night he was sitting with some “brothers” drinking a beer (everybody is of age) and they were all talking about super interesting and clever topics, like the economy, like politics, like serious discussion. “At Haas you can be truly inspired to do great things because you are surrounded by great people”— he told me. I. WAS. STOKED. 

Immediately, I jumped on the first bus and got back home. I visited Isaac, went to buy ice-cream with him, and then we celebrated, together with a few other friends who got accepted into Berkeley for different majors. 

I was so happy and very proud of myself. I have worked extremely hard in my first three semesters at SBCC, and I worked hard this semester too. 

Achieving this life milestone is a great satisfaction, but I am aware this is not a finish line— it’s the opposite, it’s a new beginning. And I am so ready!

A presto, 

- Fede