First Things First: What I Did (Or Didn't Do) When I Joined HonorSociety.org

Hi all, once again, I'm sorry for my extended absence! School has been extra rewarding this semester, and with it, extra busy! That being said, I have been able to write my usual allotment of HonorSociety.org articles this past month, and to make up for lost time, I will be publishing them back to back. Here's one that I submitted for the Monthly Writing Challenge and won for!

                              First Things First: What I Did (Or Didn't Do) When I Joined HonorSociety.org

When I first joined HonorSociety.org, I honestly didn’t know what to do. I knew I had access to exclusive scholarships, job opportunities, and classes, but being a senior at UCLA well on his way to graduation, I couldn’t help but feel these services weren’t as vital as they would have been in my, say, freshman or sophomore year. At the moment, however, I was preoccupied with graduation and my last few classes, so HonorSociety.org fell to the wayside as I attempted to chart a course for myself outside of college. After I walked, the very last thing I wanted to think about was school, and thus HonorSociety.org remained on the wayside.

I had been out of UCLA and enrolled at a community college for a few months when, seemingly out of nowhere, I was contacted by this little organization that I had joined during my last year at UCLA and had completely forgotten about in the subsequent excitement. Apparently, HonorSociety.org was looking for interns to write for their website’s blog, and encouraged anybody who was interested to apply. Having taken up reading and writing as hobbies since I graduated, I decided to give it a shot and applied. I remember the nervous feeling that crept over me as I filled out the application. “How many other people are applying?” I asked myself. “And how good are they at writing?” I worried. My fears proved to be unfounded however, for I was admitted to the program. My nervousness turned to excitement, partially because I was one of the few selected in what was most likely a highly competitive process, and partially because I had a platform from which I could express myself and have others provide feedback on what I had to say.

Naturally, I had to introduce myself to my readers, so my first post was just that: an introduction to me written by me. As I wrote it, I hoped that readers, aside from the obvious goal of getting to know me, would find me a helpful source of advice and information about college life and work. I will be the first to tell you that my first two years at UCLA were anything but easy: in fact, that might very well have been the most difficult time of my life. So it is with this mindset that I approach much of my writing for HonorSociety.org. I write to inform others with my news pieces and engage them with my book reviews, yes, but with my education pieces, I aim to not only advise college students but to encourage them as well. This sentiment is what gave me the courage to open up about the unconventional nature of my own academic career right from the very beginning of my time writing for HonorSociety.org. After all, how many people go from UCLA to community college? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Perhaps it should for many people, but if you can do it another way, why not?

The Case For Summer School

It's a bit late friends, but here's my latest for HonorSociety.org. This time, I wrote about the advantages of summer school. You can see the article as it was originally published here, or read it in it's entirety below.

                                                                                                        The Case For Summer School

Undoubtedly, there is nothing college students look forward to more (save graduation) than summer, as it means a three-month break from  schoolwork and for many a long-awaited return home. It is time to kick back and relax, regardless of the occasional times you need to check your email or log into your student account to stay abreast of developments that affect your academic career. Of course, advancing your academic career during the summer need not be limited to enrolling in classes online for the fall or answering emails concerning financial aid or housing. No, you also have the often-economic and potentially-rewarding choice of attending summer school.

Yes, I know "summer school" isn't the most inviting pair of words for students to read, many of whom likely have negative associations with it lingering over from high school. After all, you've worked hard to get where you are, so why take it upon yourself to take part in the thing that your algebra teacher used to threaten slackers with if they didn't step up their game? Well, to begin with, summer school need not necessarily be a punitive measure, in spite of popular perceptions of it as such. On the contrary, it can just as easily be a way for motivated students to complete required coursework ahead of the game. This is possible due to the numerous courses offered by colleges during the summer, a significant portion of which satisfy general education and major requirements.

In addition, summer courses can take as little as half the time you would need to complete the same course during the regular school year, meaning you can fulfill a GE or department requirement in, say, 6 weeks. If you take multiple courses, you can maximize the amount of requirements you complete during the summer, which could lead to you finishing your requirements as early as junior year and giving you more leeway in taking fun classes that you might not otherwise have the time to take. Not to mention that summer class workloads are generally lighter than fall, winter and spring ones, although this obviously depends on your professors, which is why it's equally important that you determine if you want to finish some degree work or just trying to pad the amount of units you've taken during the summer and thus how difficult the classes you want to enroll in will be.

You don't even necessarily have to take summer classes at the college you're currently attending: you can enroll in practically any institution, from prestigious universities to the community college down the street, during the summer. If you're planning to complete degree work, however, it is of the utmost importance that your home university will accept any courses you take elsewhere and that the courses you take actually satisfy said requirements. Imagine how depressed you would feel if you spent 6 weeks of summer in a class you couldn't care less about because you thought you would get upper-division credit for it only to discover during the fall that it was in fact a lower-division class and that you're still where you were when summer started. Not a pretty thought, but this scenario can easily be avoided by looking up course information on the summer catalog of whichever institution you are considering attending and speaking with a counselor to make sure that the university and/or your department will accept any course you take. All this may seem like a pain, but if you're diligent, it can be a very wise move on your part.

Flashback Friday: The Time I Interviewed P.J. O'Rourke

It's been a while since I've done a flashback friday, so I decided to revisit one of my finest achievements at UCLARadio: interviewing the legendary P.J. O'Rourke. A writer whose wit is as sharp as his insight, he has earned a place in my heart as one of my top writing inspirations (as I gushed at him towards the end of our talk), in both political and personal spheres. We covered quite a lot of ground in the interview: I opened up by asking about him about The Baby Boom, the subject of the book tour he was on at the time, and we went on to discuss his time at National Lampoon and Rolling Stone, his friendships with John Belushi and Hunter S. Thompson, topical political subjects like environmentalism and foreign policy, and other books of his like Parliament of Whores, All The Trouble In The World, Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism, and Driving Like Crazy. It was an honor to speak with him, one made even greater when he said he really enjoyed speaking with me. Please check it out, and let me know what you think!

My First Published Work!

Pardon my absence, dear reader. I know it is most unbecoming, but some exciting developments have arisen in my life, as you might have guessed by the title of this post. Aside from seeing (and reviewing) Arlo Guthrie, I am now a Featured Writer at HonorSociety.org, a nation-wide support group for college students, and had my first piece published last week. It is a simple "About Me" that covers much of the same ground as my first blog post, but I would be more than honored if you were to take a look at it yourself. I will write three articles for them a month covering books, current events and education, so expect to see them posted on here. Don't fret though, I still plan on writing on here about stuff that falls out of the purvey of those topics, so this blog certainly won't be obsolete. The article can be accessed here, and it is reproduced in full below.

                                                                                                     A Little (Or Lot) About Me

Hello dear reader. I would assume by this point that you have seen the byline and thus my name, but just in case you haven’t, let me restate it. My name is Reginaldo Peralta, although I almost always go by Reggie. Feel free to call me that from here on out.

As you might have guessed, I am a college student, studying Radio and Television/Video Production at Fullerton College. However, Fullerton wasn’t my first college. Prior to this, I attended and graduated from UCLA as a Political Science major. The four years I spent there were formative for me, both academically and socially. I must admit that my first two years were very rough, filled as they were with growing pains both inside and outside the classroom. It was only in my junior and senior years that I came into my own.

It is no coincidence that during these two years, I joined and was involved with UCLARadio, the campus radio station, as a disc jockey. For just under two years, I played music, usually classic rock and novelty songs, and interviewed dozens of guests, including former Massachusetts governor and 1988 presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, The Doors drummer John Densmore, “The X-Files” co-star William B. Davis, Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri, and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. It was a significant achievement for me, particularly considering the fact that I had trouble interacting with others, let alone with an audience.

Indeed, it was my experience with UCLARadio that convinced me that what I wanted to do was work in broadcasting. Uneasy about entering graduate school, I resolved instead to look for programs that would prepare me for a career in radio. I checked the University of California, I checked the Cal State system, I even checked community colleges, but I couldn’t find anything remotely resembling the technical type of program I was looking for. It wasn’t until, on a whim, I looked at the offerings of Fullerton College when, at last, I found such a program.

During this time, I also became seriously interested in writing. I had written material here and there before, but never on a consistent basis. Yet over the course of my time at UCLARadio, I exposed myself to dozens of books in order to prepare myself for interviews with guests. Having been exposed to said material, I suddenly found myself not only interested in what others had to say, but also what I had to say. At moments, I even find myself wishing that I had double majored in English, in the hope that it would refined my writing ability.

The time for regrets is past though, and the best course of action (at least from my perspective) is to keep moving forward. To that end, I make it a point to read at least 50 pages a day, so as to keep my mind active and expand my horizons. Although I will read pretty much anything, historical and political non-fiction are especially interesting subjects to me. Expect much of my writing to take the form of book reviews and analyses of current political events, usually ones dealing with foreign policy (my major had a concentration in International Relations after all) and civil liberties. I will also cover education, whether that means advice pieces that draw from my own experiences and reflections or discussions of contemporary developments that affect college students. Ultimately though, regardless of what I address, I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Flashback Friday: The Time I Interviewed Tim Russ

As I mentioned in my last post, one of the perks of being in college radio is that you have reason to speak with people you normally wouldn't have.

Exhibit A: this written interview I did with actor and musician Tim Russ, who is best known for portraying Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager (I must confess though, that I knew him primarily beforehand as the "We Ain't Found Shit" guy from Spaceballs). I originally submitted this to the station's new media department for publication on UCLA Radio's Tumblr, but for whatever reason, it was never posted there. Fret not, however, for I am publishing the interview in full! Enjoy!

The Cardinal: Prior to starring as Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager, you appeared in small roles on The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and the seventh film, Star Trek: Generations, and before that you were a fan of The Original Series. With this background, what were your expectations going into Voyager? Did your experience on the show meet or exceed them?  

Tim  Russ: I watched The Original Series  along with most of the country because there were only 3 stations and one of them played the same 3 shows over and over for years. Trek was one of them. 

Upon landing my role on Voyager, I mostly expected to be working on a show that ran for at least 7 years. That was a big boost to my career. I did not expect the "extras" I received from being on the show, from the smallest thing like favors from people, to expanding my work in the entertainment business to directing and voice-over work. 

TC: Tuvok was the first Vulcan regular on a Star Trek series since Leonard Nimoy's classic performance as Spock. Was it challenging to differentiate your performance from Nimoy's, and how did you try to accomplish that?

TR: Basically, since my character type had already been established by Nimoy and others in the various incarnations, I just used those characters as a base for how Tuvok carried himself, and behaved in general.

I then relied on the writers to flesh out the character over the length of the series, with suggestions from myself as to what type of situations I'd like to see him in. For example, in the episode "Innocence", we get a glimpse into how Tuvok may have raised his own children, as unlike Spock's character, mine was married with a family.

TC: In addition to Voyager, you've had regular roles on Samantha Who? and The Highwayman, recurring and guest roles on iCarly and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and a brief-but-memorable role in the science fiction comedy Spaceballs, among others. Can you tell us what working on these projects was like for you?

TR: Each character I played outside of Voyager  was unique based on the project and the traits of each character. Basically during that time and for years after I was and still am a working actor going from one role to the next. And each role is a new challenge in it's own way.

TC: As a director, you've worked on such projects as the award-winning Web series Bloomers, the short films Plugged and Cavity, an episode of Voyager, the independent fan production Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, where you reprised the role of Tuvok alongside fellow Trek actors Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, and Garrett Wang, and the upcoming Star Trek: Renegades and 5th Passenger. What is your dream project, and how have these past projects influence your selection?

TR: I would love to work on a period piece of some kind, simply because of the opportunity to bring to life a story that takes place in a different time period. It could be as far back as ancient times, or as recent as the last couple of centuries. And of course, I would love to include pieces that would take place in the future as well.

TC: A triple threat, you have sang and played guitar in your own band for over 30 years, releasing four albums and playing live in Santa Monica as recently as last weekend. On an artistic level, does music differ from acting and directing for you? How so?

TR: Music is a unique performing experience, because you are playing music for a live audience, and there is an energy that goes back and forth between you and the audience - and it's always a little different. Plus when you are performing in a band, it's very exciting when all the players are tightly in sync with each other on a song. It's an incredibly experience, that I hope goes on for a long time.

TC: On a final note, what projects, whether they are in acting, directing, or music, can we expect to see in the near future from you?

TR: Right now, I am slated to direct a feature film in 2015 called Knights of Mary Phagan and episodes of a new sci-fi series called New Dawn. I am also developing two other feature films with independent producers. I am currently in post-production on Star Trek: Renegades.

Musically, I have written a couple of songs for a comedy feature, and may writer another one for a sci-fi feature, and I still am performing regularly in L.A.

I am cast in a sci-fi feature called 5th Passenger that may shoot soon as well as a film called The Entwined. 

And I'll leave you guys with this bit of Tuvok-related silliness!

Possibilities And Necessities

"We admit possibility only when we grant necessity." 

So says Goldberg as he and McCann interrogate Stanley Weber in Harold Pinter's inscrutable-yet-indelible The Birthday Party. Increasingly, I find myself returning to this quote again and again as I go forth in my various activities and ventures. Goldberg says this statement merely to contradict poor Stanley (who, like viewers and readers, struggles to answer the progressively absurd questions Goldberg and McCann bombard him with), but I cannot shake the idea that there is some element of truth to it.

Perhaps the quote's resonance lies in it's applicability to any number of situations in real life. Indeed, the snarker inside me rubbed his devilish little hands with glee the first time I heard it, for I thought it might come in handy when a disagreement arose between me and others and I needed a potent quip to cast doubt on the legitimacy of their position.

"Oh you can't go with me to the 5 hour Philip Glass show because you HAVE to go to the circkle jerk downtown? Well, we admit possibility only when we grant necessity, so I guess if getting beat off by a bunch of strangers is that important to you, go ahead."

See what I mean?

But as I thought about it, I realized, horror of horrors, that it applies just as much to me. I am very much a creature of habit. I always have been, which to be fair, might be because I am autistic. I am not able to exactly quantify how being autistic makes it hard for me to move beyond boundaries I am accustomed to and adopt new hobbies and activities, but I would wager it plays a significant role, sorry as I am to say. I have missed out on countless opportunities because of my significant, in some instances even crippling propensity for the familiar, and every time I did, I justified it on the grounds that it wasn't possible. For a time, I bought such explanations, but eventually they would crumble as I thought them over and realized that if I really wanted, if I really needed to, I could have done whatever I considering doing. Case in point is this blog.

I have flirted with blogging before, but I lacked the discipline (I would have said time but that would irreparably undermine the point and spirit of this post) to carry through with such a project, so I stuck mostly to Tumblr, which is hardly a conducive environment to serious or even just consistent writing. For the majority of my short life, I have focused on school, whether it be in elementary school or UCLA, so everything took a back seat to my education. I am still in college at the moment, but unlike many of my fellow bachelors, I am pursuing a vocational certificate rather than a graduate degree. Thus, I have a lot more time on my hands than I did before, allowing me to spend more time on activities like writing and, hopefully, podcasting. During my undergraduate studies, I was, against all odds, involved with the campus radio station, UCLA Radio, so I found myself not only behind the mic when not playing music that I actually wanted to hear on the airwaves, but also interviewing figures who a couple years ago or even months before I never would have had the opportunity to speak to. It was the apogee of my time at UCLA, and I hope that this blog will not only continue that adventure, but also take it to new heights.

I look forward to writing for you - no, let me be honest, writing for me, because let's face it, deep down, bloggers write for themselves. We do, however, enjoy reader's comments almost as much as we do writing, so I look forward to reading your feedback.

To possibility, dear reader.