La Jolla Lessons

Let me tell you how I found out I got accepted into Berkeley, my brother’s alma mater which became my dream school. Admissions results were released while I was at my high school internship (go me!) but I wanted to open them at home with my mom. I was sweating bullets on the drive home.

On the way I was wondering if my college essay explanation of me “recognizing and taking responsibility” for the ‘C’ I got in Chemistry had resonated with the admissions committee. I distinctly remember writing the ‘C’ was like “a wall I constructed, brick-by-brick, by my own irresponsibility.”

I reached home and settled into the office chair in our computer room with my mom right by my side. We open the email: “Congratulations...”After seeing this word (finally a friendly 'C'!), I immediately bolt to my room, where we kept our little Hindu shrine filled with statues and pictures of the deities. I get on my knees in prayer mode: Thank y'all for this opportunity. I will get a 4.0. I will take all 8 am classes. I will ---  I hear my mom shuffling into my room behind me.

She’s happy but says, “Did you read it’s really admittance for spring semester? If you want to go in fall, it would be through their off-campus Fall Program for Freshman (FPF).” Essentially FPFers were a subset of students who would be taught near campus for a semester, before joining the rest of the freshman kids on-campus. FPF was likely created for more targeted development (and maybe to handle a surplus of freshmen admits). Either way, I like to think of it as Berkeley’s Equal Opportunity Program for class clowns, one-trick ponies, and people who were “too cool for school.”

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely had strengths too: six APs (a nice balanced junior/senior year), got a 5 on the AP Lit test which allowed me to skip the English college requirement, I’m funny, charming, etc. But maybe I needed to develop some more. Is that so bad? #growthmindset

Fast-forward to the recruiting event hosted by the school where they fly prospective admits to spend a night on-campus. My friends who got into Cal the conventional way (i.e. admittance for fall) were given tickets to our hometown airport, LAX. But I, an FPFer, was given tickets from San Diego Airport, nearly 3 hours away. Which meant that my parents would have to drive 6 hours round trip to drop me off the first day and then do it all over again the next day to pick me up. I asked and asked for LAX tickets but the recruiting committee couldn’t make it happen.

I felt like a helpless punk. I felt like I was treated a little worse because of my FPF status and now it was inconveniencing my family.

I was telling my mom about this San Diego situation, and I’m sure she could tell it was upsetting me. She looks at me and says, “Let’s go to San Diego. I’ll spend the night there! I’ve always wanted to explore La Jolla.”

Wow. What a re-framing of the situation! A draining, inconvenient trip turned into a unique, little adventure. Squeezing some La Jolla Lessons from those La Jolla Lemons.

I went up to Cal for the recruiting night, then for FPF, then for normal college. It was great, I slayed socially, survived academically (how many walls did I construct brick-by-brick this time…), and was able to pay my own bills after graduation (had no other option). Looking back with my La Jolla Lenses in full force: I truly didn’t care I started out in FPF. I got more face time and individualized attention with the teachers that fall than in my subsequent normal semesters at the school which was dope. Even more importantly, many of my best friends came from that program!

Fast-forward to 2020: My company underwent a restructuring. My role was cut. Bummer.

La Jolla Lenses: Keep an open mind, reframe the situation. What are some other opportunities available? I applied for a few internal and external positions. I got both internal positions, one came with a promotion! Dope. Then I got the external position! Boom. Bumped up my salary and took on a high ownership role in one fell swoop.

Fast-forward to 2021: My company got acquired (I had no equity) and I’m in the market for a new role (I'm unemployed). Job searching, especially during the pandemic = stressful times. Still got to throw on those La Jolla Lenses: This means I can move back to LA ahead of schedule and join a company in the field I'm most excited about: media & entertainment!

Last week, I had a final round with Netflix for a strategy/finance role in LA. How far we’ve come! The role would leverage my prior expertise in data analysis/strategy, align with my passion for content and story-telling (I started performing stand-up a couple of years ago), offer a relocation package and top-of-market pay, etc. Really a dream fit in this corporate world.

This week, I found out I didn’t get the role. All my #haters can now breathe a sigh of relief.

Truthfully, this rejection did blow because it would have hit a lot of birds with one stone. This all made me think about the La Jolla Legend herself and about ways I can reframe this situation. And to be honest, I’m still trying to figure out what the exact La Jolla Lesson is, but I think I'm getting closer.

What I do know is this: I’m off on a unique, little adventure…