Adolescence
It was awkward starting over at a new school. I was now in the Seventh Grade and now attended La Sierra Elementary/Junior High. 1984 was a very memorable year. Not only did we move to Riverside, but it was the year my brother graduated from high school (at MBA, just before the move). It was also the year Los Angeles (60 miles west of Riverside) hosted the Summer Olympics. My eyes were opened to many new things I never knew existed, since I had been living a sheltered life at MBA. I soon became a newspaper carrier for the Riverside Press-Enterprise. I was one of the best carrier’s there was. I walked my route nearly every morning, carrying 90-120 newspapers. Many days, my parents helped me with my route. I recall one morning; I woke, realizing that I had not gotten up to do my route. Panicked, I got out of bed, only to find that my parents had done it for me. I did this job until the end of my Freshman year at La Sierra Academy. My next job was the worst job EVER. I worked at the Loma Linda University Farms poultry. I had to collect eggs, and pull dead, smelly chickens out of their cages, after dying in the 100+ degree heat. This was during the summer between my Freshman and Sophomore years. While it seamed much longer than it, the next month I changed from the poultry to the creamery (milk processing plant). This was a much better job. Prior to my working there, Loma Linda University Farms had sold off its cattle and was now buying milk from other sources. After a couple months of me starting at the creamery, they began cutting back and I was laid off. During my Sophomore year, I started working at Doctor Micro, a computer repair store that had just expanded to Riverside, from Pasadena. I learned quite a bit during the month or so that I worked there. I’d go there after school. I was laid off after a month or so, I’m told because business was too slow. My Sophomore year, I played varsity basketball. It was educational as well as very fun. I was never a fast player, or had a lot of stamina, but when I played, I played at an extreme intensity. Later on during that school year, I got my next job. I got a job at Airoflex Medical, a medical supply manufacturer. We made heated ventilator circuits (hoses) for pre-mature babies. I again only had this job for a month or two. I was laid off with many other employees due to a re-tooling. I needed to get another job, because I had just gotten my driver’s license and my parents had a rule that in order to drive, I had to have a job. My next job was one of the coolest jobs I’ve had. I worked at Castle Amusement Park. I worked in the food sales area. I worked my way up to a unique position. I had no particular title, but was given more responsibilities than people that did have supervisory titles. I worked there from the end of my Sophomore year through the summer after my Junior year. Late in my Junior year, I realized that I REALLY wanted to keep the family tradition of graduating from Monterey Bay Academy. My mother had graduated in 1957, my father in 1959, my oldest sister in 1982, my brother in 1984 and my middle sister in 1988.