My Experience in Monterey

My move to Monterey has been a wonderful experience for me. I’ve really enjoyed working on gaining independence by learning to take the bus.  I moved here because of educational dysfunctions at my school.

Before I came to Monterey, my mom announced that a place opened up in Carmel. The placement was a group home downtown. When Dawn, housemother of the group home and Jessica, house staff assistant visited me to tell me about the placement, I was really excited. I was ready to move in when they announced that my room in the house was ready. A few days later, they helped me move in.

When I moved in, Dawn and Jessica welcomed me. Each of the other staff and the rest of the girls also welcomed me. I’ve enjoyed spending time with the staff and the girls. I’m glad I have my own room and a place to stay. I feel like I’m living in paradise.

One week later, I was enrolled in an Adult Transition Program called “Steps.” I made a LOT of friends there and have been blessed beyond belief.  At Steps, the staff teaches us how to be independent while living on our own. A good example of this would be learning to take the Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) bus to and from places such as Del Monte Mall, Monterey Peninsula College and Century Theaters. I’m glad I’m learning to become more independent.

As soon as I was enrolled at Steps, I also enrolled and applied for Monterey Peninsula College one week later. I have really enjoyed all my classes at MPC. So far, I am taking classes such as Writing Lab with Mrs. Rozman and PFit9 for fitness. My favorite classes out of those two would be writing lab. Writing lab is my favorite class because I love to write and have wanted to take a class on writing since I was a child. Pfit9 is also my favorite class because I love to get a good workout and get in shape. I enjoy working out because even though it takes a LOT of effort, at the end of the day, it’s worth the weight. 

In writing lab, I work on learning to write essays and learn how to revise and edit my own work. So far, I’ve learned how to write different types of essays such as how-to essays, example essays and much more. When I started the class, Mrs. Rozman gave me a binder marked “Reading and Writing the Essay” to work on each day. She gave me the binder because when I started, she needed to see a sample of my writing. When she examined it, she noticed a lot of errors such as grammar, spelling and punctuation. Then she handed me a sheet marked with pretests. The pretests were to see where I was at regarding writing.  So far, I’m doing awesome in the class.

 In fitness, I work out two days a week. Two things I work on regarding the class are walking/running on the treadmill and lifting weights. On the treadmill, I speed walk at 3.0 miles per step, and continue walking at the speed of 6.0 on the incline. I do this for about 2 laps.  When I lift the weights, I start with about five pounds. Then if it feels like I’m too strong for that weight, I upgrade to eight pounds and so on.  When I started in the class, they gave me a sheet to mark which weight machines I would work out on. So far, I can lift about 174 pounds on those machines altogether. I love working out, being fit and staying in shape.

 Now that I’m living in Carmel, I’m going to a Church called Shoreline Community Church in Monterey. A friend from MPC recommended shoreline.  I tried finding a good church service to go to either during the night or on Sunday. I chose Monday night because it works with my busy schedule. My first Monday night service was awesome. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot! I’m glad my friend recommended this church.

 In conclusion, I am very glad I get to have this positive experience. I’ve enjoyed every moment of becoming more independent. I’m glad I was sent here and am really thankful I got this opportunity.