For today’s “Tourist in my own city,” I visited Santa Monica’s “ICE.”
Year after year, I would drive pass the outdoor ice rink, promising myself that I would try it one day. Well, this year, after finding a coupon on Groupon, I made it a priority to attend.
ICE at Santa Monica is a little ice skating rink that comes around every holiday season. What makes the rink so fun is that it resides in the beach-side community and is on the corner of 5th Street and Arizona Avenue in Santa Monica.
According to the downtown Santa Monica website, the rink measures at 8,000 square feet. I visited the rink today when it opened at 2 p.m. I was surprised to find so many young children waiting in line at 1:45. Parents, nannies and children of all ages skated and laughed with joy, even when they fell.
Personally, I LOVE ice-skating but go to larger, indoor rinks like the Toyota Center in El Segundo. Although the rink was fun because of the energizing music and the lack of needing a sweater, it was a little too crowded for my liking. I enjoy skating in large rinks because I don’t have to be too cautious of others whereas in a smaller rink like ICE, you have to be extremely careful.
Furthermore, as weather is always unpredictable in So-Cal, it was a hot day. At 78 degrees, the ice was melting which made for sliding and lots of falls among the crowd. Despite the crowds and slippery ice, I suggest everyone visit ICE in Santa Monica at least once this holiday season.
It’s a nice place to gather with friends, drink some hot cocoa, and make everlasting memories.
The rink’s hours and days of service are as follows:
November 1, 2015 — January 18, 2016
Admission with Skate Rental: $15
General Hours of Operation
Monday-Thursday: 2:00pm – 10:00pm
Friday: 2:00pm – Midnight
Saturday: 10:00am – Midnight
Sunday: 10:00am – 10:00pm
Holiday Hours
Thanksgiving
November 26: 10:00am – 10:00pm
November 27: 10:00am – Midnight
Holiday Break, Christmas Eve
December 21 – December 24: 10:00am – 10:00pm
Christmas Day
10:00am — Midnight
Holiday Break, New Year’s Eve
December 28 – December 31: 10:00am – 10:00pm
New Year’s Day
January 1: 10:00am – 12:00am
Martin Luther King Day (Last Day of ICE at Santa Monica)
January 18: 10:00am – 10:00pm
Today for lunch, I stopped by the Farmers’ Market in Hermosa Beach to visit my friends at BreadCrumbs Gourmet Sandwiches. I got to meet so many wonderful locals and try delicious organic fruits.
If you’re ever looking for a quick bite, stop by on your lunch break. There is a wide variety of delicious foods to try and you can never get enough of the ocean views. The Farmers’ Market is every Wednesday on the Hermosa Pier between 11-4 p.m.
To see more of the Hermosa Beach Farmers’ Market, please watch my YouTube video here.
“It’s a sweet, sweet life living by the salty sea…”
For today’s “Tourist in your own city,” I wanted to share a local park I love.
Although Hesse Park wasn’t a new place for me to visit, I still wanted to play tourist so that I can share with you this awesome place.
Growing up, I spent every Saturday at Hesse Park in Rancho Palos Verdes. My father and his friends would play soccer there while my cousins and I spent several hours playing in the field, playgrounds, and dirt.
Like most parks, there is a playground, walking path, and acres of green field. Yet, Hesse Park remains to be one of my favorite parks due to its serenity. I visited the park today, a lot older than my childhood days, and admired things a little differently.
When I was younger, a good park to me was one in which I could run freely and swing high. Today, I seek to find parks where I can gather my thoughts, read a good book, and possibly take a nap. Hesse Park seems to meet my criteria fully.
he park which is located at 29301 Hawthorne Boulevard is a little different than most parks because of its meeting rooms. Guest can rent out the recreation rooms for events, weddings, and parties. Often times, park visitors can also find brides and grooms capturing their wedding photos in the park.
Some of the features of Hesse Park include baseball fields, picnic areas with barbeques, playgrounds, a sand volleyball court, soccer field, and plenty of walking trails. Stairs along a walking trail will take you “downstairs” to two playgrounds for children, recreational rooms, restrooms, and additional walking trails. Downstairs, which is considered the lower park area includes a sand volleyball court, picnic tables, and plenty of trees.
Above, where the main park area is, one can find a beautiful panoramic view of Catalina Island. The breathtaking ocean view attracts many brides and grooms who come to the park to take their wedding photos.
Fred Hesse, Jr. Community Park remains to be one of my favorite places to explore on any day. No matter the time or day, one can find a shady tree to relax under or a picnic table to have lunch on.
What park did you grow up playing at?
To learn more about Fred Hesse Community Park, please visit the website here.
For today’s “Tourist in my own city,” I wanted to share one of favorite ramen spots.
The weather is becoming chillier and for a lot of South Bay natives, that means it is finally cool enough for a big bowl of ramen!
Asa Ramen, located at 18202 S. Western Ave in Gardena is one of my favorite hole-in-the wall restaurants. Like most ramen restaurants, it is not open all day, however, is open until 1 a.m. for the evening hours.
You can pop in between 11:30-2:30 p.m. for the day or in the evening between 6:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. The restaurant, which has 3.5 stars on Yelp from 570 reviews is a favorite for many locals because of its flavorful soups. I personally like to order the pork-flavored noodles with bamboo.
One Yelp reviewer writes, “I used to come to Asa about once a week when I worked in the restaurant business because they are opened late and the ramen is always so comforting. After a while, it became my go to spot for ramen, which says a lot because the South Bay has a lot of different ramen shops. This little hole in the wall is normally pretty consistent, flavor wise and it’s so convenient because it’s never too crowded where we can’t get a table.”'
Indeed, there are numerous ramen spots in the South Bay which makes choosing one difficult. Although the restaurant is not very large, I have never had any trouble with being seated in a reasonable amount of time.
What’s your favorite go-to place when it is cold out?
Every Wednesday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place.
Today’s #WCW title belongs to resident of the South Bay for over 45 years, Irene Chalakee, who opened her home to 26 children and nine adults from Uganda after hearing they needed a place to stay.
Chalakee’s family resided in Torrance for over 45 years but began moving to Oregon two years ago. While at church in Ashland, Chalakee learned about a group of children from Uganda who were traveling across the country to bring awareness of their nonprofit organization, Imani Milele Children Inc.
The choir group consisting of 15 girls and 11 boys began their cross-country tour earlier this year in May, beginning in Florida. The group of children travel across the states in a large bus in hopes of bringing awareness of their country and the orphans back home who are in need of education, consistent meals and health care.
Since moving to Oregon, Irene’s home in Torrance was vacant while completing final repairs. She was planning a trip to visit family in Los Angeles when she learned about the Ugandan children and decided to give the Pastor her phone number and the address of the empty home in Torrance.
Within just a few days and short notice, Irene was preparing to host a group of children and their chaperons. By word of mouth, friends, neighbors, strangers and family, the children were provided with daily meals, toys, games, activities, and clothes. In addition, friends and family helped by bringing over snacks, hosting an ice-cream party, pretend weddings, and bonfires. The local community came together and in result, the children were immensely grateful and happy.
The children experienced going into the ocean for the first time, trying new foods, and celebrating Halloween.
The Imani Milele Children Inc. is a nonprofit organization created in 1989, which rescues children of rape, neglect and abuse and educates the children. The group was created to assist children who were orphaned during the civil war of the 1980’s that affected their country of Uganda in East Africa.
The children were scheduled to perform at St. Lawrence and planned to stay in the city for only two days. However, because Irene and her family and friends were able to arrange several concerts and performances at nearby churches, campuses, and arenas including El Camino College and the Hills Academy in Torrance, they stayed for over a week. In addition, they performed for West Angeles Church who televised the show to 20,000. During the events, there are photos and stories of the children on display in hopes of finding people who’d like to help the children.
“Everything kind of just fell into place. I called my aunt as soon as I found out and wanted to help her so I made some calls and put it on facebook and everyone just kind of helped,” Jessica Hua explains. Hua is Irene’s niece who lives across the street from the house where the children stayed. Hua helped with many of the activities including painting the girl’s nails, taking them to Krispy Kreme, and rallying locals to help.
While in San Francisco, when their bus broke down and they had no place to shower, the children met two elder ladies (above) who funded their entire trip to Disneyland and even drove in to experience the trip with them. In addition, Skechers donated a brand new pair of sneakers to each member of the choir. The children were ecstatic and to thank Skechers for their generosity, the children sung for the crew.
On Saturday, Irene’s brother Herman took four of the children with him to downtown Los Angeles to feed the homeless . The children also sung for those they gave meals to. In addition, after playing at a beach for their first time in Redondo Beach, the children performed for locals on the pier. Two men were so moved that they bought all the children churros.
Some of the activities the children took part in included dance parties at home, playing dress-up, playing soccer at Colombia park, and acting out a pretend wedding. Gloria Hua, sister of Irene’s donated an old wedding dress to one of the chaperons who had plans on marrying upon returning to Uganda and donated Tux and shoes to another chaperon who was also getting married. The joy of receiving the items resulted in a fake wedding and the kids gathered around, sung, and laughed in honor of the make belief wedding.
The Milele group hosts annual tours in the United States with their children’s choir to bring awareness of Uganda and the children. The organization began with only three orphans and is now at 3,000 members. Uganda has the youngest population in the world with over 50% of their population being children. By donating $35 a month, a child will have their education, medical and nutrition needs met. One can sponsor the child with the choice of a year minimum or ongoing payments that can be paid by cash, check, or credit card.
On the last night prior to the children’s departure, the Pastor entered the backyard around 11 p.m. when the kids were dancing, writing goodbye letters, and spending the last moments with the family. Irene asked the Pastor if there is anything else the kids needed. She told him, “I can’t help you unless you tell me.”
The Pastor explained that the children slept on floors in Uganda so they’d appreciate coming home to a nice bed. He made several calls and calculated an expense of $55 for the beds and sheets for the 36 members. Irene generously wrote a check for $2,500 and handed it to the Pastor. He decided he would tease the kids by telling him that the neighbors complaint of them being too loud.
The children knelt on the floor, apologizing. He quickly turned the joke around and told them, “There is good news, right here in my hand is a check for a million dollars, and when you go home each of you will have a brand new mattress, pillow and sheets.”
The kids squealed with excitement and began dancing, doing high kicks, picking Irene up, lifting chairs, hugging, crying. He then told them each to pick one of us up one of the family members, and all laughed in joy. Irene was lifted in the air by three children in excitement. Jessica Hua explains, “They were so grateful and it was beautiful to see that it took very little to make such a huge difference in their life.”
The children left last week on Thursday morning at 5:00 a.m. After nine days in the South Bay, they departed to continue their tour in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas before returning to Florida where they’ll take a flight back home to Uganda. The choir plans on returning to the states for their next tour in early 2017.
Irene’s random act of kindness began a domino effect of good deeds across the South Bay community as locals participated in giving back and brightening the day of the children. Thank you Irene for remaining a wonderful contribution to your South Bay community even miles away.
To learn more about the children and how you can donate, please refer to website here.
All photos were taken and kindly donated by Jessica Hua.
Although I grew up in Los Angeles, I love finding hidden gems and playing tourist in my own city. One of the best ways to find things to do is to pretend you’re new to the area or a tourist.
Today I found this little piece of heaven in Los Angeles. I absolutely love hiking, picnics, and walking trails. The outdoors have always been my favorite way to stay in shape and I love greenery.
Vista Hermosa Natural Park in Los Angeles is the perfect place to read, have lunch, or just relax. Although surrounded by high-rises and buildings, you’re walking along green grass and feel at one with nature.
The park reminds me a lot of New York and how you see buildings when looking up. The park is very similar, yet comforting because you have benches and puppies all around you to take a break from the chaos.
The park is located at the western gateway to Downtown at 100 N. Toluca Street and is an urban national park. The park has walking trails, streams, picnic grounds, and a playground for kids.
I love finding new places to take my friends and family who visit Los Angeles. It is nice to be able to share with them how awesome the place I live is.
What’s your favorite spot in Los Angeles?
Every Monday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place.
Today’s #MCM title belongs to South Bay resident and my dog’s trainer, Leroy Singh, with Mission Underdog Group who is the South Bay’s dog whisperer!
Leroy was born and raised in Jamaica, while surrounded by animals from the very beginning. His family always had Rottweilers on site, and he herded goats and cows, collected chicken eggs, chased lizards and frogs, and raised birds. Growing up, Leroy felt a desire to better the lives of animals of all kinds and at the age of 10, traveled to Los Angeles, CA.
Although he was no longer in his hometown with a backyard filled with sheep, birds, cows and dogs, he did everything within his power to continue to study animal behavior. He began collecting magazines dedicated to pigeons, flock, feline and canine, to volunteering at local animal shelters. Leroy was constantly in pursuit of attaining knowledge of animals, so following high school, he began to work at Petco.
While at Petco, he became a licensed specialist in any academia possible – including reptiles and birds. Soon after, he began working with local shelters and dog rehab facilities, where he built a philosophy that would go on to fuel his future.
Leroy worked as a dog walker and trainer for more than five years. His first training client was a referral who he met while dog-walking and one of his main clients had 15 dogs living on her sprawling mansion property.
Her assistant knew Leroy loved and worked with dogs and asked him to help a friend of hers with their out-of-control dog. From there, he received referral after referral until he had a strong enough client base to open an official boarding and training site. In July of 2011, Leroy officially began MUG training and rehabilitation in hopes of providing dogs a second chance at life by rehabilitating and training them, so they would not end up in a shelter.
Leroy worked for almost five years as a dog trainer with Brandon Fouche before branching out to open his own facility. Leroy explains that the greatest joy is working with the dogs and seeing them every day. He never leaves, never has a whole day off, and hates the thought of being off site for more than a few hours. Despite how much he loves the dogs, he explains that, “The greatest difficulty are the people.”
Despite all efforts to inform his clients, Leroy finds that many owners fail to adopt the methods he tries so hard to teach, and many dogs lapse back into poor behaviors and have to return to rehabilitation. It can be incredibly frustrating to work with a dog every day, to watch it change for the better and become an excellent, well-balanced companion, and then watch it revert back into aggression or disobedience beaches the owner failed to continue the work. Regardless, he never gives up on the dogs or his clients.
Leroy suggests that dog owners do full research on a breed before adopting. He finds that too many owners take home a dog because they find it cute and friendly as a puppy and are shocked to see it grow large, or to find it’s energetic or destructive. Before taking home a dog a family should research breed characteristics, temperament, energy levels and grooming needs to make sure the dog really is a good fit for the family. This alone would prevent thousands of good dogs for ending up in shelters for doing no more than growing into what they were bred to be.
The drive to fix dogs seems to vary by culture and area. Some areas seem to shrink from the idea of neutering dogs, preferring to breed them and make money off the puppies. Some areas all but insist that dogs be neutered and prefer rescuing mutts to buying purebreds. While volume is a huge problem and contributes to an unheard of number of shelter deaths, one of the main reason for dogs being surrendered or abandoned remains behavior issues.
When he isn’t busy training, Leroy likes to go for long drives along the coast. He loves food, of all kinds, and is always looking for new hole-in-the-wall gems with great food. He raises birds and owns a flock of almost 50 pigeons of different species, some very rare.
Leroy recently turned 30. In five years, he hopes to have at least two more branches of MUG in the area so his training and rehabilitation methods will be fully operational all the way out to Orange County and Hollywood, with a fully functional rescue as well so dogs are no longer abandoned or euthanized for aggression.
MUG deals with dogs of all types, breeds, ages, sizes, and temperaments, from Chihuahuas to Mastiffs, puppies to seniors, and the excessively fearful to the overly friendly. MUG offers everything from dog walking, boarding, basic training, intense training, and even full rehabilitation.
In addition, the team takes friendly dogs to the dog park or hiking adventures, train dogs how to walk nicely on a leash or deal politely with strange dogs, and rehabilitate dogs with severe aggression or bite histories. All kinds of dogs are welcome to join Leroy’s pack for walks, hikes, and to visit the dog park so they get a lifetime of refresher training and good socialization. MUG will also board so owners can leave town without worrying.
Rescues came to Leroy as referrals, just like all other clients. His willingness to offer discounted services and his unqualified success with last-chance cases earned him great reputation and made him the go-to guy for many local rescues with problem cases
With the Mission Underdog Group, Leroy hopes to share this knowledge, specifically surrounding dogs, with people that need help providing the best possible life for their animals. What makes Leroy so loved and admired by his clients his not only his affordable cost and love for what he does, but his willingness to bend over backwards for dogs as he often does.
To learn more about Leroy, his rescues, and MUG, please refer to his website here.
Every Wednesday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place.
Today’s #WCW title belongs to South Bay native, Jacqueline Raid Younis, 25, who is currently residing in Dubai as an Executive Administrative Coordinator for an Investment Company.
Younis grew up in the South Bay and graduated from South High School in Torrance. Upon graduating, she went to EL Camino College then Cal State University, Dominguez Hills. She majored in Health Sciences with an Emphasis in management.
Two weeks after graduating from CSUDH, Younis flew to Dubai in pursuit of finding a career while also finding herself. She explains that, “It was a dream of mine to work here. I told myself if I didn’t leave now, I never will.” She took a chance and flew to the foreign country and began immediately applying for jobs in the UAE.
Upon arrival, Younis connected with several women she calls, “great ladies” who referred her to open positions. With the help from these women, Younis began working for one of the biggest investment empires in the Dubai Investment Park region called AL Khayyat Investment Group.
Younis’ duties include managing logistics, purchasing, and contracts for over 50 franchised locations around the UAE and Gulf areas. “It’s a very tough, tedious position with a high turnover, but I didn’t come this far for anything easy. I wanted a company I can grow with and I learn something new every day I go to work,” she explains.
Although many miles away from “home,” Younis has been a wonderful contributor to her community in Los Angeles. She joined an organization called Mealsforsmiles that feeds homeless on skid row. In addition, she was an intern for an AIDS/HIV facility called AIDS project Los Angles.
While there, she participated as a case manager to help a needy group of AIDS/HIV patients that were disabled. Furthermore, she is really passionate about her heritage and country. During the war on Gaza, July 2014, she raised $5,000 to aid injured women and children. “I enjoy giving back to my community and my country any way I can,” she says.
Younis’ life goal is to be successful in anything she decides to pursue. In five years, she sees herself still working in Dubai, with the hopes of being promoted in her current position with Al Khayyat Investments.
Younis who is full Palestinian, was born and raised in the U.S. and some of her hobbies include shopping, running, cooking, and modeling. She is also passionate for her country, Palestine and her career. Younis’ favorite part of the south bay is the Redondo Beach Pier. “I miss the beaches very much,” she states.
One of her greatest passions is fashion which she says comes to her naturally. “I love styling, shopping and trying new trends. I never really applied for modeling jobs, people would approach me and offer me modeling gigs. I always took every opportunity that came my way. Modeling was more of a hobby for me. I enjoyed meeting new people and learning about new clothing lines,” she explains.
Her role model is Amal Alamuddin, who she describes as the epitome of brains and beauty. She also admires Victoria and David Beckam. When asked to define more of who she is, she simply replied,
“I’m a hardworking woman with a big heart and big dreams.”
Thank you Jacqueline for being an inspiring role model to your community and teaching others that you can reach your goals…no matter how big they are.
Every Monday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place.
Today’s #MCM title belongs to South Bay resident and my Hero, Matthew Morales, 6, who is kicking cancer’s butt all while keeping his contagious smile.
Upon meeting Matthew, I couldn’t help but notice a distinct yellow cap on his head. After telling him how much I liked it, I was surprised to learn from his mother and aunt who were nearby that this was his “lucky” hat and apparently, he went nowhere without it.
Matthew, like most kids, loves sports, super heroes, and dinosaur-shaped chicken; but Matthew is not like most kids. When asked what makes Matthew so special, he simply replied, “My sickness. I have cancer.”
At only six years old, Matthew is able to explain to me that he has leukemia and has had it since he was four. He remembers the year before being diagnosed when his mom tried to wake him up. His mom, Brandy Jackson says, “He was so grumpy. He did not want to be woken up.”
Brandy explains that she has noticed Matthew was more tired than usual, not acting like his upbeat self and complaint of leg pain. Although there was nothing specifically wrong, Brandy felt like something wasn’t right and when the symptoms were not lessening and an onset fever continued, Brandy decided to take little Matthew to the hospital. Within just 10 days, four hospital visits, and after being misdiagnosed, Matthew was finally diagnosed with leukemia at just four years old.
In order to ease Matthew’s comfort and allow him to understand a little better of his illness, his Doctor, Dr. Kirov joked that Matthew had monkeys in his ears and rocks in his throat. In result, Matthew believes that the monkeys in his ear are sick, causing him to feel ill.
Although Matthew’s visits to the hospital have lessened to just 2-4 days a week, it wasn’t always this way. Brandy explains that she and Matthew spent nine months in 2014 in the hospital. At one point during this time, Matthew’s organs were not stable enough, causing kidney stones, ulcers in his stomach, a drop in sodium, and had vomited so much, it resulted in dramatic weight loss. Matthew had dropped to only 24 lbs.
Brandy explains that because of this, he was unable to eat or have any liquids for five days straight. This was one of the worst experiences for Brandy to witness in that everything was happening at once, including her young child, “begging, pleading, and crying for food.”
From September of 2014 until early this year, Matthew had a dry cough and severe fever which cause his to have slight hearing loss. Brandy explains that it’s as though he can hear his own heartbeat, which makes noise and sound too much to handle sometimes. This causes Matthew to become irritable and annoyed of even the slightest sounds.
Matthew’s current condition is considered “stable,” while he continues to receive Chemo treatments. The treatments can have an immediate effect or sometimes won’t be noticed until 2-3 weeks later. During that time, Matthew will also lose patches of hair which upsets him. However, his subtype of leukemia is treatable, but it is longer than most at 3 ½ years.
Matthew’s favorite part of the hospital is seeing his friends Niko, Ryan, and Jack, which is very bittersweet. Brandy explains that two of Matthew’s friends have lost their fight to cancer, yet he doesn’t know.
Brandy faces many challenges today in result of the sickness including anxiety, stress, and financial concerns. The pill that Matthew must take daily costs $9,000 for only a month’s supply. After having to quit her job to be by her son’s side, she finds small ways to make extra income.
Brandy explains that she didn’t realize that she was having post-traumatic stress until a Doctor explained her anxiety and hearing ambulance bells and hospital sounds were a result of the stress. In addition, she was recently diagnosed with vertigo, causing periodic moments of severe dizziness. However, it doesn’t take much to make her happy. Brandy explains that sitting anywhere outside, even outside of the hospital, alone, brings her a sense of peace. She has learned to handle things, “One day at a time.”
In addition to the financial, emotional, and mental stresses, Brandy must remain a strong mentor for her two older boys, Michael, 7, and Martin, 11. “I have to give my sons warnings when Matthew is on steroids, because he can be very mean. He does get disciplined, but my kids need to know that his behavior is in result of the medication,” Brandy states.
Despite the emotional toll, Brandy explains the most important thing for her is to remain as most honest as she can with Matthew. Doctors have told her that kids with cancer need to feel a sense of control, so she has allowed Matthew to decide when he can take his pills by allowing him to decide based on when the big-hand on the clock reaches a number of his choice.
And regardless of the long hours, stress, financial stress, and worry, Brandy says she wants Matthew to fight and be angry and not like it. “If he doesn’t get fussy or mad, it means he is giving up. I want him aggravated and fighting,” she explains.
Matthew has no problem swallowing pills on his own, but many of them result in him becoming sick from it which is hard for a mother to witness. However, Brandy insists that she needs Matthew to trust her so she doesn’t lie when she knows things will hurt and lets him know ahead of time. Since the beginning of his diagnosis, Matthew now has trouble sleeping alone and feels most comfortable with his mother by his side.
While Matthew cannot go back to school due to his restrictions on his immune system, he is homeschooled and can read and signal sign-language incase his hearing is ever completely gone. Matthew wants to one day grow up to build things and be a “You-tuber.” He loves Spiderman because he “shoots webs and climbs walls.” According to Brandy, he has dressed up as Spiderman for Halloween several times and wants to be him again this year.
Although Spiderman is Matthew’s hero, I can’t help but think how special of a person Matthew is and how much of a hero he is to me. At such a young age, he is amazingly mature, polite, and most of all, courageous. Thank you, Matthew, for bringing a smile to all the people who are blessed to be in presence of you.
Matthew was also filmed in a small commercial that can be seen here.
Every Wednesday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place.
Today’s #WCW title belongs to South Bay resident, Gricelda Vasquez, 24, who juggles her role as a 92Y in the military, work, school, and her recent and most rewarding job, as Noah’s mom.
In, 2008, at a young age of 17, during her junior year, Vasquez enlisted in the military. Vasquez decided to join the Army National Guard mainly to do her part in keeping this country, a great country for future generations to come.
In 2011-2012, Vasquez deployed to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. In addition to her deployment, Vasquez spent a month away with the fire mission to help manage fires that broke out in Northern California with the national guard.
Vasquez’s role in the military is called the 92Y, more commonly known as unit Supply Specialist. Her duties include maintenance and accountability of supplies used such as office supplies, weapons, tactical vehicles, and more. Her main duty is to ensure that her unit is always prepared for deployment at any point in time.
Since joining the military, Vasquez has realized there are negative connotations about the military she wishes others knew. “People like to generalize the military by a bad action done by a few and think that is how everyone is. Just like in anything in life there are certain few that mess up and do things they shouldn’t do but we don’t say everyone else is like those certain few,” Vasquez explains.
Despite what others may think, Vasquez explains that while deployed and on missions, she would give water, food, or even something as simple as pen to the children. She explains that, “Just as we don’t label all the Natives there as terrorist we should not label all military with negative connotation. Another thing I would like people to know about the military and I’m quoting an officer while I was deployed, ‘In combat there is no males or females. Combat doesn’t care if you’re white, black or even yellow. In combat there are only soldiers.”
Fortunately for Vasquez, she has never felt any discrimination from her male colleagues for being a woman. “Most of the males treat me as one of them. They don’t say that because I am a female I can’t do certain things or lift heavy objects. There is no segregation in anything we do except the barracks we sleep in and the bathrooms and that is all. We don’t get special treatment for other things and nor do we expect them. We are a military of one regardless of what branch and sex because ultimately we are all fighting for the same goal.”
Although not currently deployed, Vasquez meets with her unit once a month and 2-3 weeks during the summer. Vasquez plans to complete 20 years with the military and retire as a Veteran.
Today, Vasquez is working fulltime at Marcone Supply and is also a part-time student, majoring in Sports and Exercise Psychology. When Vasquez is not juggling school and work, she is taking care of her 7 month old son, Noah.
On her free time, Vasquez enjoys working out, taking Noah out for a run with her since he love the outdoors, and spending time with Noah any chance she gets. Vasquez explains that her greatest accomplishment thus far is not giving up for her son. With school, work, military and now a new baby, Vasquez has felt like giving up many times. “I like giving 100% to everything I do and I felt like I was being a bad mother for not being with him all the time. I would stress myself out so many times during the day that I would break down at times,” Vasquez states.
Despite the struggle, Vasquez has found the most rewarding part of her job is knowing that even in a small way I am helping make this nation safer for not only her son for all the future generations to come. She has received two AAMs, an Army Achievement Medal, 1 ARCOM Army Commendation Medal, a Combat Badge and soldier of the month to name a few. Despite all the rewards, Vasquez says the most difficult part of her job is being away from her family.
Vasquez has been with her unit since 2010 and wants to stay with the unit as long as she can. “When people say we are a family, it’s 100% true. We look out for one another, go out of our way for one another. Our unit takes care of us in all aspects of our lives and we all come together if someone is in need of help,” she explains.
Even with all the joys of loving what she does, Vasquez simply explains that,
“Being a soldier is hard enough but being a female soldier is even harder. We are always in need to prove ourselves and show that we too deserve the right to wear the uniform.”
Thank you, Gricelda, for allowing us to live in a country free of worry and most importantly, reminding us why women rule! Keep up all the hard work.
