Season 6 What's The Dream? Blog 2: Essential Question: What's the dream?

 Essential Question: What's The Dream?

I went to a high school that allowed students to go on internships so that they could have experience in the real world. The senior internship was called Walkabout, and it was essentially a full-time job that started after Christmas break. Before going on Walkabout, you had to write a Walkabout proposal based on an essential question. An essential question was just a question that related to both the student and the site, and the goal was to answer the question by the end of Walkabout. For example, mine was: Can I be a teacher for the rest of my life?

Last September, before my "sister" Arden moved to Cincinnati, I called her to catch up. She was in the car with my other "sister," August, when she answered. Now, at this time, I was still staying with my parents to avoid my drama with Shane. I was frustrated because I had spent so much time trying to move out! "You're working on bettering yourself," Arden said after I explained the situation, "but that's only part of it. You need to imagine what you want your life to look like and take steps to get there!"

As I depicted in my last installment Shane and I have fixed our drama. Still, Arden's advice holds up. I want to figure out what my "dream life" looks like and take steps toward building it, which I've already started to do.

As I depicted in the Christmas special "Night Before Christmas (Greattastic Edition)," there was a big snowstorm last Christmas. My Dad's car that I was driving, a 2005 Scion, lovingly referred to as the toaster, has had transmission problems since I've been driving it, and the snowstorm finished her off. On my first day driving back to work after Christmas break, I couldn't get past 45 on the highway! After doing some research, we found a 2015 Honda Fit. After going to check it out, we decided it would be a good fit (pun intended), and I bought it with money that I had saved up from Kroger!

You may recall that last year I spoke at Ocalicon-line with my public speaking mentor, Dr. Brooks, and Noah's soccer coach, Katie. While I have done some public speaking before, this was my first major step into that world. I want to continue on this path and become a professional public speaker.

Last year around my birthday, my "sisters" convinced me to start doing something we call "The Mitchell Project." It was just a year-long plan to better my mental and physical health. I spent last season working on the mental health half; I will focus on the physical health part now! There are a few more things that I would like to accomplish throughout this year, but this is an excellent start to getting closer to the life I want!

Have a Greattastic Day and be safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri 

Season 6 What's The Dream? Blog 1: Dancing With Our Stars

 Dancing With Our Stars

Boy, it's good to be back! As a minor update, before I get into this installment, it looks like I will hit the goal of publishing my second book "Once In A Lifetime: A Song For Sam," on the week of March 15th, but if anything else comes up, I will let you know.

As I mentioned a lot last season, I was staying at my parent's house because my roommate Shane and I were having a ton of problems! Because it was getting ridiculous, and we had tried (and failed) to make it work without one, a week before Christmas, I went full Sheldon Cooper and created a roommate agreement! After we both had signed, but before we went our separate ways to spend the holiday with our families, Shane said, "Wait, I have something for you."

He went to his room and returned with a postcard advertising an event called "Dancing With Our Stars Gala," benefiting the Down Syndrome Association of Central Ohio (dsaco). Shane then told me that he and his fiancé Jessica (who both have down syndrome) would be dancing at the event.

I'm not going to lie; I was a little conflicted. See, what I haven't told you is that Jessica had gotten pulled into Shane and my roommate drama. While Shane and I could make it work, I thought Jessica didn't like me and was under no obligation to have a good relationship with me, so I wanted to avoid her. However, as a disabilities advocate and Shane's roommate, I decided that the right thing to do was to go!

Last Saturday, February 4th, 2023, I woke up, went downstairs, ate and cleaned, and then went back upstairs to shower and get ready for the day. When I reached the top step, I overheard half a phone conversation Shane was having with Jessica in his room. ".... He's my roommate, and all that's behind us… (Brief pause)... Come on! Can't we all just get along… (Brief pause)... He doesn't hate you…." I continued to the bathroom as I didn't want to eavesdrop anymore. After getting ready, I left for the day and texted Shane that I would see him that night at the Gala.

At 6:00 PM, I arrived at the Hilton at Easton mall and entered the hotel. After seeing Shane and a slightly reluctant Jessica, I went to the ballroom and found my seat. Around 7:00, the emcee, a news anchor by the name of Kurt Ludlow, started the event. After talking about dsaco, all the dancers got on the dance floor and performed!

The event ended with a full-on dance party. A few minutes after everyone started dancing, I walked to the dance floor, and Jessica invited me over! For the entire night, I danced with Shane and Jessica (other than when a slow song played). Since we had broken the ice, I decided to talk to her.

"Hey Jessica," I said to her at the end of the night, "I'm really sorry about how crazy things got. If you're willing, I would love to be friends!"

"I'd like that!" she replied.

As you may recall, my goal for season 4 was to move out, and I achieved that going into season 5. The issue was I romanticized moving out so much that I didn't completely understand what that entailed. I wasn't ready for the potential drama that could come from having a roommate, and I was blindsided by it. But we're all adults, and I'm so proud of us for finally burying the hatchet!

Have a Greattastic day and be Safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Before I go, I want to congratulate my brothers, Luke and Josh, and their bandmates On their new EP, Winter! You can listen to Box Seats wherever you find your music!