I want to tell you a story of the best thing that ever happened to me at Cal Poly.

It's somewhere around the third week of my first quarter. I really haven't made that many friends. I'm still adjusting to the whole college life thing. You know, getting used to all of this newfound freedom that I've never had before.

So I'm coming back to the dorms from a Carl's Jr. food run with one of my roommate's, Chris. We race from the parking lot, up a couple flights of stairs and up to our room. The door is closed and locked, which was typical, but this time there is a suspicious small yellow post-it note on the door written by our third roommate.

"Doing laundry. Do not disturb. -Craig"

Chris and I both look at each other thinking "what the fuck?" We both get a chuckle out of it and then proceed to opening the door.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

The room is dark (thank god!) but the room totally reeks of sex. I can see the shadowy figure of Craig's girlfriend on the top bunk. She's naked and she's mad.

"GET THE FUCK OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT!!"

Okay, under normal circumstances I would just turn around and slam the door...but I need my ketchup. I can't eat my burgers without ketchup.

So, much to their despair, I prolong the awkwardness by fumbling around the dark room with my eyes closed in search of my beloved ketchup bottle.

I finally find it and make my way for the exit. "Sorry dude" I mumble as I walk out.

Just as I close the door I hear Craig sigh disappointment, "oh...it's too late..."

That night was the best thing that ever happened to me at Cal Poly. Yes, you read that right: the night that I walked in on my roommate having sex is hands down the best thing that ever happened to me at Cal Poly. As awkward as that sounds, I promise you it's the truth.

You see, Chris and I were left in the middle of the hallway with our food getting cold and no place to sit. We could've gone to the lobby to eat but honestly, neither of us wanted to be the loser freshmen down there by ourselves. We turned to the room next to us with the door wide open. There were four guys in there chillin'. I looked at Chris and he gave me the "ah fuck it, why not" shrug.

"Hey, our roommate is having sex...can we chill with you guys?"

"Sure."

And just like that, we met Eddie, David Bojo, Pavel and Darwin, our first Cal Poly acquaintances.

As time went by we evolved from casual acquaintances to food buddies. We'd eat at the commons together, cash out, or go on late night food runs. Eventually we grew from food buddies to friends. And a year later, some of us even became roommates. Chris tripled up with Bojo & this new guy named Chin. As for me, I ended up rooming with Darwin for the next 2+ years.

It was a great setup. Darwin and I had compatible lifestyles. We'd watch the same stuff on TV (Friends, Conan O'Brien, Laker games); we'd go on food runs all the time; we'd play basketball at the cage; we'd avoid talking to each other in the mornings because weren't morning people; I'd break my computer and he'd fix it; he'd bring me leftovers and I'd eat it....it was a great arrangement.

One thing that Darwin got me into was pets. Specifically, Siamese fighting fish. But after killing/losing twelve of the little bastards, Darwin convinced me to move up the food chain and get a hamster. So I did, and I named him Pube.

Pube, despite his abnormally large balls, was a total chick magnet. If it wasn't for him escaping out of my room and running out into the hallway, I never would've met April, who has been such a pleasant, supportive and important part of my life. And also if it wasn't for Pube, these two freshmen girls, Angela and Melissa, never would've came into my room. Hadn't I met them, I never would've met Anthong, Elisa, Joyce, Jizzon, Christian and many others that I would share many good times with later on.

Another thing that Darwin got me into was Adobe Photoshop. Yeah yeah, kinda boring and geeky...but seriously, if it wasn't for him, my world would be much, much different.

Photoshop got me started on making lame ass wallpapers for my desktop. And then a lame ass website called hotmel.net. And then hotmel.com. Slowly, my projects became less & less lame and then eventually blossomed into the577.com, which is a big hit among my friends from back home.

Sometime during that learning experience, I started the Kobe Bryant Portal. It was awesome...for about 3 weeks before I killed it. But sometime during those 3 weeks, I met a fellow Laker fan that suggested I start a basketball messageboard. I figured "fuck it, why not?" A day later, I launched JustBBall.com.

Today, JustBBall.com is almost four years old and over 10,000 members strong. If you search up anything related to basketball, there's a really good chance you'll hit my site. But besides all that, JBB has truly been my greatest teacher. I've learned first hand a bit of everything -- business writing, designing, internet law, marketing, management, programming -- all without having to open a textbook.

JBB has given me valuable insight and experience the world of internet business. At Cal Poly, it helped me breeze through all of my business classes. Outside of Cal Poly, it got me hooked up with some really awesome guys in my field.

One of those guys is the Chief Software Architect of Pringo Networks. He's the guy that hooked me up with my first real job -- the job that I'm starting tomorrow.

It's just crazy to look back at the past 6 years of my life and see how everything connects. Some people call it the "Butterfly Effect." It's the idea that even the smallest, most trivial things -- such as getting kicked out of you dorm room one night -- can have such a profound affect on a person's life. All of the friendships I've made, the lessons I've learned and the pain I've endured at Cal Poly can somehow be traced back to that one awkward night.

Realizing that makes me appreciate every bit of my life. It gives me so much confidence that even the most random parts of my life will eventually fall into place. It gives me faith that I'll be presented with all the opportunities I'll ever need to truly be happy. It reminds me to trust my instincts, to follow my heart & to always be passionate about something.  Especially now, as I'm officially ending one chapter of my life and starting anew.

Shit happens. Change is inevitable. But hey, if walking in on my roommate having sex 6 years ago has brought me this much happiness at this point in my life...anything is possible.

The End.

The Beginning.