Week 22

Week in Review

Monday September 4, 2017 

Today is Labor Day. Due to this we did not have class, however life “between the wings” (living life on the straight and narrow) continues within our own housing areas. Right now, we are two weeks from the Business Plan Competition followed by graduation, so we are attending pitch panels daily to fine tune our business pitches. That is exactly what we all did today. By now we pretty much know each other’s pitches and business ideas, so when a PEP brother finishes giving his pitch, we are able to ask questions that an executive could possibly ask, critique the pitch, and also sign off on the pitch panel handout. It is amazing how far we have come. To realize that we graduate in eleven days is just crazy. We truly have been through the fire. We talked together in our Phase Two pitch panel group after our pitches about how we plan on giving back to our future PEP brothers after we graduate. We can all really see the way we have grown and changed as individuals since the beginning of Phase One for our Pristine ’17 class.

Even though we did not have class today, that doesn’t mean we did not represent PEP. We still held each other accountable and lifted each other up throughout our day. PEP is our new lifestyle.

Randy N. (a.k.a. Paragraph)

Tuesday September 5, 2017

Today we entered the PEP room and, as always, prayed in and read the Word of the day, led by Rolondo V. – I think we all enjoyed it. We proceeded to talk about graduation, only a few days away. We are all excited and ready to be done. We then began to line up for our graduation and go through the motions of what is going to be expected of us. We lined up as always in alphabetical order and we lined up on the right side of the room with letter A at the back trickling down to the last man, Matthew Z. Once we all lined up accordingly we walked down the aisle going to our assigned chairs hoping not to mess up because if we mess up then it is the “wheel of doom” (a wheel done by PowerPoint where the participant who messed up must do on whatever the “wheel of doom” lands on, such as teapots, big mouth bass, etc.) Trey L. and Tyler W. had a couple of turns with the wheel, but it is all fun and games because we are in this together. We all laughed and giggled like a bunch of school girls. Oh, what great fun it was. We went to our chairs and watched for Jesse B. to give us the proper commands so we can really hone in our graduation skills. We messed up a couple more times and watched some guys do the “wheel of doom” consisting of wormy dogs, “I’m a little tea cup” and push-ups. Once we were all through with our graduation walk, we all sat back down and watched an art history video. Man was it entertaining and very informative. All in all we had a good day in PEP.

Robert N. (a.k.a. Nemo)

Wednesday September 6, 2017

Today our class got to experience an important milestone, giving us just a taste of what is expected of us when we graduate: today was our first servant-leader meeting and job fair. The meeting started with some very encouraging and beneficial advice to practice and live by as a servant-leader. Following that was a brief introduction of some of our department heads, to talk about any issues of future endeavors. This being our class’s first time, the graduates had to make sure “Pristine” was paying attention. So, one of our brothers was asked to elaborate on the subject of today, which, as always, was and is flawless (“Pristine”). After all the dancing and introductions, we shared coffee and each other’s company while waiting for our job interviews. The interviews were held while we watched some PEP T.V. The Media Team has a proud new member now, ready to share with the world life at PEP in pictures. All in all, the members of “Pristine ‘17” have gone so far and exceeded where others have failed. We pray for those before us and those after us. Our class has taken a huge step and we all did it together. We are more than ready and honored to serve a program that is still giving.

Tye P. (a.k.a. Hula Hoop)

Thursday September 7, 2017

I started the day in conversation with graphics team lead, David D. Our “Pristine” class had their interviews for various positions such as Media Team, Toastmasters, Graphics, Journalist and Janitors. I am happy to receive the job I wanted, even though I will officially begin after graduation next week. But I am sure some of my brothers are excited about giving back to the program that has given us so much. We have a chance to become familiar with our roles over the next few days and what is expected of us in our new positions. Learning new work-related skills will help us with employment and expand our horizons once we are back in society with our families. There is no place like home, but there is also no place like PEP. The tools we have learned and the support of all the volunteer executives is amazing. I am thankful for the opportunity to be working with the graphics team, my brothers and the PEP volunteers.

Back on the dorm we had pitch panels, where some of my brothers and I recited our pitches in front of our peers and graduates to help us when we have to give our pitches next week at the Business Plan Competition. Our class is coming to an end, but it is just the beginning of a journey as we put everything we have learned into a 7 to 12 minute pitch. For some of us it was difficult, but we have made it through this together.

Adrian P. (a.k.a. Now & Later)

Expressions

One of my favorite quotes comes from the book of Psalms. In the second verse of the 91^st Psalm, King David wrote, “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”

As far back as I can remember, I have lived life with me at the center. I have been selfish, self-centered and arrogant, and I never thought of all the people I have hurt. I have always believed in God, and in the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but this is where my folly was. You see, believing is only the beginning, and as a person grows so does the perception of our Lord. We slowly start to realize that there is more to life than simply existing for our own selfish desires.

When you truly believe in someone or something, you give it your all, but I was only giving 50% to 75% and not wanting to give any more.

I am 48 years old now, and know without a doubt that God has always been with me, even in my darkest hours and to this day. I have come to understand that I cannot make it in life without Him – I am not strong enough to be the person that God, my family and I need me to be.

I cannot do it on my own anymore, and that is why I lean on Him for support. After all, He has carried me since the beginning. So many years lost because I did not want to let God take control, and the choice was so easy to make; I just had to let go and let God take the lead.

Refugio Q. (a.k.a. Dairy Queen)