I am laying in bed at Popo’s house in Pasadena soaking in my last weeks in California. Not what I expected to write since my last newsletter, but that’s okay. We are transitioning into the season of gratefulness.
Content Directory
- Content Directory
- What’s happened since we last spoke?
- Photos
- On September, October, & November
- Faith, Trust, and Sub-Meters
- Forget the 6-3, how about my 3-6?
- Art & Expression
- Concluding remarks
What’s happened since we last spoke?
- I lived right behind Disneyland for 5 months.
- I tried many coffee shops and restaurants in many towns in socal.
- I invested in hiking shoes.
- I adjusted to new faces, places, and tastes.
- Zoe visited me in California.
- I visited New Orleans for 24 hours and saw 2 friends.
- In the same trip, I went to Orlando for a 10k, wedding, and ofc visited Disney.
- I joined a ceramic studio and a car wash.
- I went to 5 concerts at 3 venues.
Photos
Rainbow Connection
photos from me (california), sarah (in the sky), rachel (florida), aunt stacey (alaska), and daphne (brettman rock is in hawaii)
On September, October, & November
I think this weekend finally motivated me to write this newsletter. I usually save it for the beginning of November, but I wasn’t ready to write at that time.
I titled this newsletter “Ego of a Wizard” because of a thought I had last week. I have the ego of a wizard. I feel like wizards are aware of their powers, but their stories are usually about learning how their power serves them or other people.
Merriam Webster defines a Wizard as, ” Noun 1. One skilled in magic (See Sorcerer) 2. A very clever or skillful person – Adjective 1. Worthy of High Praise (A British Term apparently) 2. Having magical influence or power.”
Take that how you will.
Faith, Trust, and Sub-Meters
Disneyland is a 2 minute drive from my house. (45 minutes to the park entrance iykyk.) Great for fuel efficiency, but not enough time to separate from my 6:30 to 3:30. Lesson learned: 15-20 minutes is the golden commute for me.
I had a really interesting, exciting, and sometimes intense internship. My projects were in depth and fast paced. Maybe above my skill level, but I learned a lot about meter design, resilience, and being grateful for help. It’s universal to have a fiasco of a job at some point in your life. I’m sure your thinking of your specific experience right now. But we learn the most during these times about ourselves, the topic at hand, and the people we work with.
And I worked with genuinely kind and caring people. A strength and sometimes drawback of this company is how much the cast members care about their work. Overall though, I will miss a lot of the people I see every day.
Starting with the interns, admittedly this cohort feels like my elementary school gifted program. I am surrounded by such a diverse hardworking group of nerds who could’ve been in middle school drama/chorus/band (in the most loving way possible.) I feel like I can talk for hours with them about unique passions and connect over our shared love for learning.
Natalie the Roommate Intern is such a great roommate to have. She’s thoughtful and silly. Better yet, she entertains my humor and listens to me when I have bad days. We’ve gone on adventures and many walks together. I’m really glad to live with her and be able gang up on the house spiders together.
Nathan the Civil Intern was the most directly connected to my projects. We sat next to each other in these closets fashioned as cubicles called we called our boxes. But we couldn’t see each other so we would message on the computer since we were lazy to rollback and talk. I love our food adventures (@dinebynathan) and I appreciate how thoughtful his questions were about my life.
Lauren the Manufacturing Intern is the other intern in my building. I’ve gone on lots of adventures with her including a Marina concert and Big Bear Lake with another intern, Ashley. It was one of my favorite weekends here. No fiascos that weekend. She’s pretty funny and person that’s up for anything.
Ethan the Architecture Intern and Lexis the Fire Protection Intern are interns in an adjacent team that adopted me. They are both caring and honest friends with good memes. We started becoming closer in the latter half of my time here, but I’m really glad we did!
There’s many other interns/co-workers who positively added to my experience and it’s bittersweet to say so long partner.
Now it’s time for me to continue my career journey in orlando. As Gung Gung says, “You don’t know what you like, you know what you don’t like.” I am having trouble figuring out what I like. What I like is abstract. I like creativity, growth, and community. That does not narrow many options down. And topic wise, I’m not dead set on cars or rockets or manufacturing or HVAC. I just enjoy challenges and making things work.
And despite the challenges, I will miss Disney. At the time of me writing this, I won’t be continuing at the company because of several factors. It all boils down to timing. And that’s okay!!! I’m actually moving back to Florida, again, because of several factors. I have a job lined up for me at an engineering design firm. I love living in California, but right now I want to have some extra cash to travel and be closer to my friends/family.
Forget the 6-3, how about my 3-6?
I maximized my time and resources to ball out in California.
I went to Big Bear Lake for Labor Day Weekend and hiked up to a rock the was supposed to look like a Castle but honestly didn’t? Also learned about the local community at a dive bar from a guy that looked like a washed up Steve from Blues Clues.
I went to Oxnard and Culver City multiple times to visit Syd and Harrison. Fun times on the beach combing for shells and sea glass along with hiking up 1000 ft to the most beautiful view of the sunset. Hanging out with Syd resets my soul and it hasn’t set in that I’ll be very far away from my best friend.
I went to Ojai in Ventura County with my roommate and visited the World’s Largest Outdoor Bookstore along with trying really good roti chicken. As Syd says, it’s artsy crystal girly meets beverly hills equinox mom.
I went to Joshua Tree with my sister’s college friend who is now my friend for a night. We stopped in Palm Springs on the way and I really liked the vibe. We glamped in an A frame cabin under the stars/clouds in the cold and made grilled cheese with soup. The next day we moseyed around the national park and made our way home.
Art & Expression
I joined a pottery studio for October and November. It was super rewarding and a great way to continue doing art. I’ve also been working on animation and drawing! Not many songs this time around but I’ve been sharing my old ones more and more. So here is some old and new.
Growing Pains 2025
Sand, Pearl 2025
Merry Christmas from Me to You 2021
Concluding remarks
Crazy what a few months can turn into! Popo and Jenna are busy in the kitchen making wonderful food for Thanksgiving while I watch the dog show. The air feels nice and I am looking forward to saying what I’m thankful for.
And what I am thankful for is the shared trust in myself, in others, and the universe. I don’t think I would’ve been able to appreciate this california adventure if it had not been for the life I’ve lived before it.
Gratefulness drastically improves your life outlook. Which is really hard to practice especially when you are trying to accept the things you can’t change. But even if you struggle to see the big picture, think of small moments like a good shower or that you didn’t stub your toe today.
Also, I am thankful that you are in my life reading this letter. There’s no greater joy than sharing joy or hardship or laughs. Thank you for enjoying this time with me. Never hesitate to reach out, I’m here. And leave a message of what you are thankful for!
Stay light and lots of luv ❤
Malia
malia vickaryous 
Leave a comment