With that in my blood I was born to be different

Recently I made a trip to Spokane, Washington, where I lived for my elementary years. The reasons why I want to do Teach for America (TFA) started in Spokane.

My name is Jonadan (Korean translation for Jonathan friend of David) Moon, I was born in Korea, but moved to the States at the age of 2 months. I have no idea who my father is since he walked out on us right after I was born. My single Mom and I lived in a one bedroom apartment outside of downtown Spokane (not a nice neighborhood). I went to preschool and kindergarten at the YMCA.

Every night my Mom would have to go to these other tenants and tell them to keep their music down so I could go to sleep and not be tired for school (root of my sleeping problems). The 70+ year landlord could not do anything to stop the guys from blasting their music till 3 am in the morning, but we couldn't afford to go anywhere else.

My Mom worked overtime and graveyard shifts at the post office until it became too hard on her body, and was able to move to less demanding jobs of being a florist or working at the Joe's mini mart located in the downtown bus station. For a while she also had to balance going to community college to obtain an education degree, while raising me, and working full time. I think my Mom wanted to be a teacher, but it was too hard with me in the picture.

Going in to the first grade, my Mom refused to let me go to any of the elementary schools downtown and would commute me to the suburbs to attend Shiloh Hills Elementary School, where she knew I could get a decent education. She wanted to put me through private school, but obviously she did not have the money for that, so she did the next best thing and drove me an hour back and forth to school everyday. Eventually we were able to move out of our apartment downtown and were able to move in to nicer ones in a nicer neighborhood closer to my school.

I didn't realize this when I was a child, and now looking back it breaks my heart all that my Mom sacrificed and did for me. My Mom raised me, so I would not feel that void not having a father.

And now there are children all across the United States that do not have a Mom like mine who did all that she could to provide me the best possible education. I got lucky and it is not fair for those who did not get lucky and that is why I want to apply for TFA to have the chance to make a difference. I am not the smartest person or the most disciplined, but I have passion, I have the desire to make a difference with all that I got, just like my Mom was able to show to me.

This is just the surface of my Mom's character. I regret not being a better son or a better person for my Mom. I love you Mom, thank you for everything and I'll try even harder this year to make you proud, because I have always been proud of you.

Everybody is Free to Wear Sunscreen

This song is pure gold. I just want to list out the 18 parts of this song that I believe in and I try to apply in my life.

Lyrics to "Everybody is Free to Wear Sunscreen" - Baz Lurhmann

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfq_A8nXMsQ

Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis or reliable then my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice....now.

1.) Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, nevermind, you won't understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded, but trust me in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

2.) Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind: the kind that blindsides
you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

3.) Do one thing every day that scares you.

4.) Sing.

5.) Don't be reckless with other people's hearts; don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

6.) Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is
long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

7.) Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. (if you succeed in doing this, tell me how).

8.) Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.

9.) Stretch.

10.) Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of Calcium. Be kind to your knees -- you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll
divorce at 40; maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half
chance, so are everybody else's.

11.) Enjoy your body: use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it; it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

12.) Dance...even if you have no where to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions (even if you don't follow them).

Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.

13.) Get to know your parents; you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings: they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in
the future.

14.) Understand that friends come and go, but what a precious few should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps and geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

15.) Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

16.) Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old; and when you
do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children
respected their elders.

17.) Respect your elders.

18.) Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse, but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you are 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia;
dispensing it is a way of wishing the past from the disposal--wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and
recycling it for more than it's worth.

Shout out

I always forget and I never truly appreciate how much I am surrounded by people that love me and sometimes I get lonely for the wrong reasons. Even if I did not have any friends who love me, first there is one person who always will, which is my Mom and then theres always God. But God has always blessed me through surrounding me with people who love and care about me and I am just really thankful for that.

I have always been terrible at trying to keep contact with people and keep up relationships even if they aren't convenient and one of my goals is trying to do a lot better job and not let my laziness get the best of me. I blame other people for being lazy or not caring about maintaining relationships, but I'm talking to myself

Also another goal of mine that I have been trying to do all college, but have not even gotten close to mastering is the concept of "Work Hard and Play Hard".

Leadership is a lonely place, but love is what makes that lonely place a bearable burden. So thank you everyone

I hate but appreciate finding out that I am wrong

First of all, I should have been doing this a long time ago because I've been so stagnate in terms of growing up, learning and living life and it has just all just rushed upon me this summer. I've learned so much, but I'm always learning. The problem is that I don't retain most of it because I don't write it down (or type in this instance).

Anyways getting back to the title, I always find out that I am wrong 99% more than I find out that I am right. It's obviously annoying, but a useful revelation because I am wrong, but we learn so much from our mistakes. Like I can not believe how many life lessons I learned, but forget them just so I can relearn them. Quick side note: I learned that the best way to progress and learn things is through baby steps like in the movie "What About Bob" ft Bill Murry. If you know me, I have always been one try to change instantly in the fastest way possible, but it never works out like that. Even revolutionaries (Martin Luther King Jr. or Ernesto Che Guevara) took time and essentially i think (I have to read more about them) took baby steps (side note within a side note: I have to read more about Martin Luther King Jr. because he was one of the best leaders of any time and if I want to have any chance at Teach for America I have to learn from previous leaders). I'm so impatient most of the time, that I forget about baby steps. From my knowledge and what I can infer the only reasons leaders were so "revolutionary" is because they had so much passion that drove this baby steps to occur at a faster rate. I need to have the passion and understanding of baby steps to drive my life progression forward and have a chance in to making it in to TFA, to make up for the past 3 stagnate years of my life. Even though I say the years were stagnate, they must have happened for reason, because I believe everything happens for a reason, which gives no reason why I should regret anything which is one of my biggest problems and issues that holds me back sometimes.

I am not saying that I am the same person or at the same thought level I was when I was a senior out of High School, I just need to write my thoughts down or I definitely will have some regrets which is no good. Life is short and goes by at incredible speeds. I have one year of college left which is about to start very soon and once that starts there is no stop till the end. There so much I want to spill out and mind dump on to this post, but I'm tired and it probably won't make sense, much like this post.

I know I am just rambling, but I just wanted to buck to stop here and stop being lazy and forgetful about getting my mediations down on paper.

Blogging to dump all the thoughts in my mind

I have way to many thoughts running through my mind and hopefully this blog is one way I can journal to relieve my mind. I would also like to use this blog to share what I think is cool.