As my high school career came to its end I have started to reflect on life. Heartbreak, loneliness, frustration, love, joy, excitement... just as most teenagers experience these emotions so have I. I remember back when I was in elementary school I used to get Ds and Fs and was quite the misbehaved child. I used to be in a Special Ed class because I had trouble with everything, but with the help of my family and unwillingness to give up I gradually worked myself to a higher level. I entered fifth grade with a healthy and ready to learn attitude, and was amongst the higher level of my classmates. This seemed to follow me through my later years in school, hard work and dedication sticking with me like second nature. No longer was I a Special Ed child, but rather a diligent scholar challenging himself with honors and AP classes, always succeeding with no less than a B-.
I never really did find the one huge group of friends in high school that I belonged to. I did have lots of great friends however never quite the group to hang out with at lunch. For this reason I felt like a loner in high school as I always stuck to my own routine, doing what I want when I want, juggling perhaps being one I am most known for. I remember ever since the middle of freshman year when I joined the juggling club and started juggling I spent the majority of my lunches and even after school (before cross country and track practices) in D5 as I perfected my juggling ability. I would have to call that part of the school my hang out area a.k.a. the "training grouds". As my hard work and dedication shone in school so did it with my juggling. I worked my way from someone who couldn't even spin a diabolo to someone who can now do four diabolos and is perhaps amongst the best in the United States. It was through juggling, the frustration that comes with it, and the loneliness, that I found out who I am, and what has helped open my mind to the beauty of the world.
And now as I reflect on life this beauty has blossomed even greater. There have been so many people there for me, I have experienced so much. I can't seem to express to my friends, family, and teachers enough about how grateful I am for their support, for it is a thanks to great to be put into words. If there were two people I couldn't ever give enough thanks to, it would be my mother and father. My father is my greatest hero who has always passed on his amazing knowledge and righteousness to me, and the same goes for my mother who has also been ther for me as well. They have influenced me the most in my life.
And now with all this hard work and all this support I reach the end of high school, leading me up to a new chapter in life. There is so much opportunity out there, so much I can accomplish and so many things I can become.
I am going professional with my juggling as a performer, instructor, and community club manager. This summer I plan to really work my skills and my routines with juggling, and hopefully to reach new levels in this great hobby of mine. I have posted a business on Craigslist, and have been handing out business cards (still need to work on the website) and applied for a business license as well. Hopefully someday I can get good enough to go on world tours and even be invited to festivals just like Hall Sensei (he really does have a huge impact on these goals and my juggling passion). Who knows, maybe one day I will be booked with gigs in Vegas or even on cruise ships! Feel free to hit me up if you want me to teach you or perform for you!
Not only am I going professional with juggling, but also with my video game designing as well. I started my own company known as Frogfighters four years back and have created some video games, but only two complete games (Frogfighters Melee, and Mechafrog Adventures) which when compared to my skills now are pretty lame. In game design I used to be a one man team, but now have a graphics artist as well as musician helping me out (although I do a great chunk of the work such as coding from scratch, writing the stories, creating ideas, creating the worlds, characters, etc). We plan on remaking Mechafrog by the end of this summer and hopefully it will be my company's first big game out there. I am attending UC Santa Cruz to major in Computer Game Design and boost my game creating skills to an even greater level. My goal in this hobby is to make it my career and eventually make games for systems such as Nintendo or Playstation. That's going to take lots of work, but I will stay dedicated until the end!
This summer I also plan to work out more with biking, running, swimming and weight lifting to boost my physical state to the next level. All of these plans will be a challenge as I juggle between hobbies, my job at Le Boulanger as well as diabolo juggling and toss juggling. Haha. I am also going to try to get a job as a tutor for Jose Valdes or some other place to make some extra cash for college.
There really is a world in my hands, my world. I have many goals to accomplish and much work to do to get to my dreams. I know they may seem impossible and I know I am only human, but as long as I believe in myself and work hard I know I can reach them! As long as my heart beats I will never stop! I will always stay true to myself until my final breadths and pursue these goals with all my capability! This may be the end of high school, but it is only the first few steps towards my future!
I am finally running (and yes, biking) on my new path of life, and will keep going until I cross the finish line!
Professional Juggling Instructor and Performer,
Christopher D. Garcia
June 15th, 2008
