The Discernment of a Teen: Call to Cal?

When I told my parents I was going to Davis with Sean, they simply said "OK, take care." HOWEVER, when I told my parents that I was going to visit Berkeley with Ian, they immediately told me to be "Very Careful", to be aware of "pick pockets", and to always be aware of my surroundings. I shrugged and went on my way.

My trip to Berkeley started at the Concord/Martinez Bart stations. My mom dropped me off and I was on my own until I met up with Ian. I've been on Bart several times before, but this was the first time taking it on my own. I bought my ticket and went to the platform. After several minutes of waiting, I panicked and went back upstairs to look for a different platform. To my newbness...I realized that there was only ONE platform at that station.

So as I got onto my train and headed over to my first transfer, I kept thinking about the Free Tibet protests. This led me to think about India, which led me to think about India's population being three times as big as ours and how India is one third the size of the US, which led me to believe that for every person I saw, I should add two more people. This ultimately led me to imagine the Bart extremely full, which made me glad that I had a seat...and then I arrived at Macarthur. When I first got off the train, I realized that I didn't know where to go...so I did what so many High School students do these days, which was to follow the crowd! And with that, I followed everyone to the next train and made it to Berkeley in one piece.

After I got of my train, I walked out of the station and immediately I could tell that Berkeley was radically different from Davis (No Duh Rence!). I met up with Ian and his Stunna Shades and we walked to Mel's for breakfast. Over the Breakfast, Ian and I discussed various topics ranging from Abortion, to the Newman center, and to frat parties. The thing that stuck out to me the most that breakfast was Ian's comparison of Berkeley to that of the "New Athens". Pretty much, he was saying that Berkeley was a the place where different ideas and people are coming together and forming even newer ideas. (No offense to other schools, I'm just blogging how it is!)

After breakfast, Ian and I walked to his philosophy class with Ian pointing out various buildings and sites. The building that stuck out to me the most was the clock tower. Apparently, the tower is engineered to topple over in a major earthquake and slide down into the bay. Whether it is true or not, I don't know. Ian has been known to lie to me about such things (ie. his new diet being based on a chemistry principle, JP not being sexy...those such things).

At first, I was a little apprehensive about being in a class I had no enrollment in, but Ian assured me that it was OK. It was actually really cool because the lesson for today was about Descarte's Mind Body problem, which we actually talked about in class. Surprisingly, I was able to keep up with the lecture and I actually picked up on some pretty cool ideas to bring to class.

I do admit that I did zone out during the end of the lecture, but for good reasons though! It was during that class I began to think about what my college education should entail. After many prayers, I have discerned that the seminary is not a matter of "if" but "when", so should that play a major role in how my college experience is? Is it safe to bank my future geared towards the priesthood...and what if God calls me away from the Seminary, what option will i have?

After class, we went to the South part of Berkeley and went into the main center. Right when I entered through the gates, I was greeted with a flurry of fliers, signs, and...uhm, free whistles? Free whistles and fliers because elections were coming up for Berkeley, and their student Government is crazy! The schools funds them 1.5 Million dollars. Student Government isn't some popularity contest where the members have little say in the affairs of day to day High school life.

When walking into the main area, the first thing that caught my attention was a man on his knees, dressed in colorful cardboard, with a Yahoo bottle on his head and cardboard sunglasses. The next thing that turned my head was a singing group called Decadence. Oh, ya, singing groups are totally normal, that shouldn't be too surprising right? WRONG! They were all dressed in capes, with one guy in a bunch of cereal boxes. Those things didn't really turn me off, rather, it actually excited me to go and actually participate in such shenanigans.

During the course of the day, we skipped Latin class, visited a lot of libraries (the coolest one being the East Asian Studies Library) and met up with some of Ian's friends. I remember meeting an engineering student who had amazing advice for me. When I asked him about engineering, he said right away, "Just do it" and we walked off. Berkeley isn't as abundant in nature as Davis, but it still had many beautifully designed buildings with a lot of culture and art in them.

After some walking around, we met up with Ian's room-mate, Alex ?McCloud? over some sushi. Great lunch because the conversation ranged from serious comments about life, to the dark energy Ganondorf stalks up in his cape. We also compared Davis with Berkeley and I began to formualte my semi-final decision, the final decision being between College or College seminary.

After we ate with Alex, Ian and I took the bus and visited "Holy Hill." The first stop at the Graduate Theological Union was the Jesuit School of Philosophy and Theology. The outside of building was beautifully constructed and the inside was very nice as well. When we went out into the courtyard, we actually ended up locking ourselves out and had to go through the entrance, again. After we re-entered, we wandered upstairs and ended up at the administration office. After a few minutes of wandering in an area we shouldn't have been in, we were greeted by one of the directors at JSPT. She gave us a brief rundown of the various courses offered; most of the courses had words I had never heard of, but apparently Ian was very impressed with the courses offered there. After we gathered our brochures we went off towards the Dominican School of Philosophy (which happens to be the furtherest from the other schools). When we arrived, we were greeted by a beautiful front yard which reminded Ian of a cloister. It was very beautiful there. After we finished up at Holy Hill, we walked back to the Bart station. Ian and I said our goodbyes and I went on my way back home.

After everything was said and done, I feel like I've had a good enough feel of both schools to make a decision. And my decision right now is to take a bit more time to let both options sink in and to let prayer take over right now. So in terms of decision making, my initial choice right now is between Davis and Berkeley. After that, I'm going to discern more between that college or College Seminary in Oregon. So I continually ask for prayers as I discern between Davis and Berkeley right now, and God willing, the seminary. When I make a decision, (which actually may not be tomorrow) I'll be sure to do an extensive blog about the breakdown of my decision.

Peace and Love brothers and sisters.

21 Days until Berkeley AND DAVIS need a decision. (I checked and they both expect it by May 1...my mistake!)

The Discernment of a Teen: Honorary Newmanite

So after a long day of walking, meeting people, and hearing various stories, I realize that going to UC Davis could be a wonderful time for me. I mean, yes I went to UC Davis's open house, but today's tour was so beautiful because it was the "Catholic Tour" given by the retired tour guide Ben (well not really retired) and with the accompaniment of the docent Sean. After all was said and done, wednesdays's trip to Berkeley has a lot to compete with, because right now...I'm really feeling Davis.

So right after I got out of school, I went home and met up with Sean for the drive to Davis. On the way there, we just talked about his college life and the wacky stories Sean had while living with "messy" people. It was very entertaining hearing the various stories of Sean, ranging from the interesting room mates he has lived with to the many experiences he had in the Newman center.

So the first stop on the tour was at the Newman center. Immediately when I walked in I felt right at home. After a couple of minutes in her office, we we were greeted by Mary (which I believe is the assistant director of the Newman center) who immediately offered us fresh baked biscuits. It was so cool because Mary didn't give me any formal treatment, rather, she treated me as if I was a regular student who had been around the Newman center for quite some time. She was a very warming personality and such a good orthodox Catholic. Meeting her assured me that I have a nice, safe, Catholic, place to go when college is weighing down on me and that I'll always find someone to pray or talk with.

While waiting for our Sean's friend Ben, (a little note I wanted to add about Ben...he was really amazing. On the tour, his ability to incorporate different Catholic views and stuff into the background of Davis was really cool to here. Ben's a testament to the fact that there are good, Catholic, college guys out there!) we visited the chapel while lighting a new candle for the tabernacle. It was a very quaint chapel that was pretty well kept, though I do wish that the tabernacle wasn't stuck in the closet. When Ben arrived we began our tour of Davis. We went to all the familiar spots, the MU, the parks, the DRAMATIC libraries with their cages, and the different lecture halls. It was a really great tour because it was the "Catholic tour" with comments about different Catholic speakers that have been around to talk about evolution, good places to mediate and pray on campus, and famous meet up spots. I also remember visiting an actual lecture. I can't for the life of me remember the complicated definitions they were going over in the lecture, but I do remember this clicker remote thing that allowed the students post their answers on a poll. It was kind of like the lifeline on "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" where they ask the audience. It was really cool to see the percentage breakdown of answers students gave.

After the tour of Davis, we went to St. James and finished the tour with adoration. Afterwards, Ben, Sean and I just talked about the Eastern Rite and various rituals and different cultures. After we said our thank you's and good bye's to Ben, we went on our way to Dos Coyotes and had some pretty legitimate burritos. Very good stuff their. Then we went on our way Sean's friend Marie.

Oh man, I can't tell you how much of a blessing it was to meet Marie. She was just so utterly cool! So for what felt like an hour, I told her my story and the troubles I was going through (the troubles outside of my discernment I mean...so with girls). And afterwards, her analysis of the situation, the advice she had, all were like on the spot. I never looked at things the way she did (probably because she is rooted in faith and has experienced a lot). We only talked for a couple of hours but I can't tell you how much respect I have for her and how much of a strong Catholic she is despite the life she has been through. On the ride back, Sean and I were just going over what Marie said and how everything she said was so true and so applicable. So it was a true blessing that night to meet, talk, and pray with her.

After all was said and done, I have come up with 3 conclusions about Davis. The first conclusions is that I really enjoy Davis. Ever since the open house, I've had this good feeling at Davis and today just reconfirmed it all for me. I just really like the environment there, the people, and the fact that I already have several people who I can go to for spiritual support! The second conclusion however, is that when I talked to Fr. Brian about college seminary, I remember being really excited about it. I was so eager to know about the process, I kept asking questions, and kept being inspired by all the things Fr. Brian had to say about the seminary. However, with Davis, I liked everything about it and I could see myself going there and enjoying my life there, but I didn't find myself constantly saying, "I need to be here!" rather I said something like, "I could live here, I wouldn't mind." Of course, this was the second time for me visiting Davis, initial emotions and impressions shouldn't be weighed on too heavily, but maybe it is an indication of something.

The third conclusion: Berkeley needs to really impress me tomorrow/today when I visit because right now, I really want to be Davis Newmanite!

Peace and Love Brothers and Sisters (Oh, and congratulations again Stacey!)

... and what more, God is proud of you





Ok... i'll keep this short, but I just wanted to post this so that Rence wouldn't monopolize the space on this blog.

Just kidding.

But in all seriousness I am very proud of her...(not that i had anything to do with it)
I introduce you all to Kristen Stacey Enriquez, the coolest Nurse i know.
(no offense to all the auntie's out there)





Congratulations on passing your boards, bud.

Let her know you care peoples!