EJ RODRIGUEZ

#10: What compliment/reassurance do you wish you heard more?
So…. for the compliment, it’s hard because the moment doesn’t come around that often, cuz for me I’m just a big ol goofball. That’s just such easy shoes to fill when I’m energetic and boisterous, and I don’t have to worry about things coming out right, cuz who cares. But I think one compliment—like we’re all smart, but…. like man, if there’s a thing of trivial pursuit, oh my goodness…. I think one of my friends experienced it, her name is Jen. We were hanging out with different people’s majors; I think we met some engineering major and I started talking to him about engineering stuff and she was like “what the heck?! Why aren’t you an engineering major.” And I just can’t do the math, I love engineering, I think it’s beautiful how everything works, but I just can’t do the math. Then, we went to the architecture building later that day to meet her brother and I started talking to her brother about architecture and she was like “damn, this thing too?!” And it just…. I know a lot about a lot of other things, but it just doesn’t come out—there are times when I can actually take a deep breath and say intelligent things, but those times don’t really come out that much. Like once in a blue moon, but once people see it, they’re like “oh man! You aren’t just like some goofball!” Even though I’m smart, I wish people recognized my intelligence. And then for reassurance, I wish more people just gave me a big hug and told me that I was loved…because it’s hard when you hurt other people so much that you don’t feel like a good person anymore, and you don’t feel worthy about feeling loved. So, hearing that from other people would really help. And not just in passing, but like a deep just moment.

#6: Have you ever been fired from a job?
No. However, if I WAS to be fired, it would be for being late…I am always late for things. I always leave my jobs before they can fire me *laughs*! I’ve never been fired and I’m so scared to be. I’m not the most efficient but I’m happy *laughs*.

#38: If you could switch lives with someone for a day who would it be?
I feel like a lot of people would say like a billionaire or something, but the first person that came to my mind was my dad. And the reason behind that is, I want to know ughh man, I want to know what it’s like to be fully focused. To easily be focused on your task and to be driven, versus constantly being distracted and apathetic. Because with my ADHD, it makes it more difficult to concentrate and focus so I take medication, and the medication kinda makes me feel weird, whatever, but at the end of the day I really do need it especially at the hospital when I’m working. There are a long of long days, and even when I do take the medication, it still is difficult to concentrate. It becomes so frustrating, that something as little as a two-to-three-page paper would take like four or five days to write. Everything just takes so long to do. Since I’m in classes all the time and one of my jobs is to give the right medication—heck like right out there about an hour ago, I put my burrito in the tin foil wrap in the microwave—and I was like “yeah whatever” like the fact there was tin foil I didn’t even realize that, and it caught on fire a little bit. And somebody else had to take it out and help. Like stuff like THAT! And my dad is very focused, very driven, very on top of everything. He’s a little more on the OCD side, so just the feeling of what it’s like to finally be able to focus….and kinda experience what other people feel like when they’re doing things.

#4: (Favorite Number, soccer number) What about other people intrigues you?
AHHHHHHHHHHH! Four is my favorite number, it’s my soccer number, anywaysssss. So…. I think one thing that really intrigues me is sometimes we get so caught up in having life feel like you’re the main character, that sometimes it’s interesting to step back and think “wow, other people are main character’s themselves” and how much more different, do they perceive things than you do. Like how am I perceived as a side character in their life? Because for me, it’s “oh I’m the guy, I’m the man, they’re just my homies, I see them on my Tuesdays” but it’s like how do they see it? How do they see me and also how is it for them to be the main characters? Because sometimes, it’s easier when your friends are so outgoing and rambunctious, but for people who are a little more quiet, what is it like for them? Because for ME, of course, I live as if I’m the main character, I live LARGE, I live LIFE, I really want to live my life just action packed just “here I AM” but how is that different than how other people live their lives if they’re a little quieter a little more on the laid-back side? How is that experience for them?

#23: What do you need to get off your chest?
Um I might list like two or three things. One thing is, I’m not as confident in myself as people think, and yeah, I strut out in confidence becuase like “hey man, your hair’s not looking that great today” like okay what can I do about it? So, my brain is able to turn off those things, unlike other people where it will stick at the forefront of their brain. But there’s a lot of things where, I mean I do care about how people see me. Like when I had my beard shaved on Sunday, but when I came to show my roommate, he was like “you paid for that???” because it was still a little frizzy, and I was kinda like dang that sucks. I don’t know, that kinda made me like embarrassed in that moment, because even though I thought it looked good, he said something and it made me feel self-conscious about it. And even though I am confident, it’s more about being ignorant, there’s a lot of insecurities there. I’m always scared to share the music I listen to, because people might think it’s weird or not like it, so that’s another thing. So, it’s all the little things I’m a little insecure about, because I do want to be liked and loved, and heard and known.

#24: Something that brought a smile to your face this week.
…...This is stupid because it’s just TUESDAY! I got it, so Sunday night my—I needed some things from my house because I went back over the weekend—so my parents met me halfway and drove out to Yorba Linda to meet up with me at night, and this was like at 9pm, and they go to sleep pretty early. But just being able to see them was really really nice, and I really love my parents. So being able to see them was great. And that was when my dad started giving me the whole rundown of “COVID Isn’t that scary, just follow the procedure and decontamination and you’ll be fine” and he gave me some masks and a face shield for that, so that was really really sweet of him. So, feeling supported and loved by my parents was really really sweet especially since they drove out to see me. Shoutout Mommy and Papi.

#41: What makes you smile the most?
Okay! Hands freakin down, ughhhh, when I climb things—like when I go to Joshua tree and climb rock formations or little trees, it makes me smile so much! Because the thing is, I’ve been in such an environment that highlights all of my weaknesses and almost none of my strengths, like school or academics. So, it’s great to go into the wild and have all of those weaknesses just taken away and all of my strengths highlighted, because I am athletic! Like I can run this far or climb this, and having some creativity of how I’m going to maneuver something. And the ability to be free and wild is really intrinsic, it always just makes me smile. And another thing that makes me smile the most, like for example, is Star Wars and all the books about it, and I’m super into the universe, I love it so much! So, when I went to Disneyland for the first time and Galaxy’s Edge, it blew me away, because I—I felt like I was in Star Wars, and that’s something—and that’s why I keep reading about the lore, because I want to be in it. So, any time I feel like I can be in a universe that I love, I just love it!

#5: If you were stranded on an island what are three essentials’ items you would bring?
You have no idea how much I’ve been thinking about this question! Okay here’s the deal! So, I watched Lost in the middle of high school and basically, they crashed on an island and since then I’ve been thinking what I would do! Three items ughhhh okay here we go…...dang ughhhh……. would a multi tool count??? A Letterman Multi-Tool, because I’m basically cheating. Umm, okay this is gonna be super—okay so there’s the SMART survival which I would probably bring a Life Straw, and…..so that’s survival SURVIVAL! But if I really did not want to go insane, I’d do multi-tool, my phone, and a solar charger. Because hear me out, I get very irritated when I don’t listen to music for a long period of time. If I’m actually going to THRIVE on the island, then I can’t lose my mind. And what better way to not lose your mind then screaming Domino on a mountain.

#12: What does your wallpaper say about you?
Fan fricken tastic! I—so my wallpaper…. that’s my dad, we were on a backpacking trip just the two of us, and yeah—it was to Bear Mountain, and it was a four-day trip, just the two of us, and everything went wrong on that trip. We forgot extra strings for the hammock, my hiking shoe ripped apart so we used duct tape and string to tie it together, I thought I had some kind of rash on the inside of my thigh…. turned out to be a tick, so my dad on the top of the mountain had to take out the tick from the inside of my thigh, and then on the way down my face started itching, so I washed it with soap and water because I thought I had poison ivy. And thennnn if I go on my home screen—ugh so freakin cute—so I stumbled upon this picture on my iPad, and that’s my brother and my mom from six/seven years ago, and in between them is my dog Chocolate with his paws up, and they’re trying to imitate him. So, a lot of people are like—they have really cool lock screens honestly—but when I stumbled upon those pictures I was like “these are really nice wallpapers” so.

#26: What would your younger self not believe about your life today?
So many fricken things! One, that I actually ride a skateboard, cuz when I was a little kid I never skated. I was never a skater boy at all, but then that all changed the moment I came to CBU so that’s awesome. I think some other things would be—I went through a lot taking my gap semester here at CBU—going from different jobs, working at a warehouse, and then going to be a transport EMT, which are two very big differences, that I never expected or saw coming. I think another thing would be, the amount of amazing people I found since I’ve been here at CBU, because there’s been a lot of people that clearly stayed and I’ve made memories with that I didn’t really expect. Also, the fact, that I would be a nurse, because when I was growing up, I was thinking of being a doctor like my dad. But it wasn’t until I made my full decision after freshman year, so I was like “wow a nurse really?!” And that helps as a nurse, is I can talk to my dad, and it’s really fun to connect with him on that. There’s just a lot of little things, like man, if I told my younger self “You’re going to paint your nails when your twenty-one and it’s going to be a cool coping mechanism” like me as a little kid would be kinda freaked out, like that’s kinda girly man. Just a lot of little details like that, because it’s hard to find something deeper because in a lot of ways, I feel like I’m the same as when I was a kid. The same energy, the same enthusiasm, the same love for others. Like I still climb trees just for fun, and I’m still very much the same kid now.