My Story
With a deep desire to succeed, here is where it all started.
My name is Curtis Le and this is my story.
2010-2014:
Let me just start by saying, I hated my high school years.
During my high school years at Fountain Valley High School (FVHS), I struggled to fit in with the cool kids and couldn’t focus on school work, which lead me to barely passing grades and constant thoughts about whether or not my crush liked me back.
I eagerly waited for graduation day, imagining a college experience filled with parties, meeting new people, and fun social activities.
2014-2016:
College was, in my mind, going to be the best time of my life.
There was going to be partying and girls and meeting new people. The day I graduated high school was the day I was going to start my new life!
Or so I thought, because my expectations were absolutely destroyed when I enrolled at a community college, Irvine Valley College (IVC).
Since it was a community college, I lacked social interactions, interesting clubs, and the bustling atmosphere I had hoped for when I was in high school.
2016-2019:
Determined to upgrade my college experience, I auditioned for a dance team called “Kaba Modern”.
Kaba Modern was well-known from appearances on MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew” (ABDC). During this premier first season, they won 2nd place against the world renowned “Jabawokeez”.
I had a passion for dance as a young child and I always found myself moving and grooving to music, no matter how ugly and uncoordinated I looked.
The audition process went as follows:
We learned two dance choreographies, also known as “pieces” and were given 5 days to practice at home before the actual audition day.
Around 120 people auditioned the same year as me, including some existing team members who had to audition again to remain on the team.
A panel of 10 judges and choreographers evaluated each dancer in groups of five to select the new team members.
My favorite part of the audition process was when we had the opportunity to showcase our creativity by forming our own groups and creating unique interpretations of the choreography.
19 new members were selected out of the 120 auditionees.
That’s right, I had made the auditions with 18 other new members. My class was the biggest class accepted in Kaba Modern history.
For the next three years, all of us “newbies” would have to fight for the spots in the front row of dances and try our absolute hardest to place first at competitions with our team.
On my very first year, we won 3rd place at NorCal Prelude Dance Competition and that was one of the best feelings ever as a newbie. My second year on the team wasn’t so hot as I was wavering on the decision to continue with dance for another year.
For some reason, I decided to stay on the team for the third year in a row and I have to admit, it was the best and most fun year on the team. As a third year member, you’re considered an “oldie”, which meant first to get meals at practices, front row for team pictures, and more say in contributing to the overall sets at dance competitions.
On my third and final year, we finally placed again since my first year on the team. We got 3rd place at Bridge Dance Competition (dance competitions can be viewed on Youtube.com).
At our end of the year banquet, during one of our final activities of the night, we all gathered into a huge circle, held hands, and gave a speech with whatever we wanted to say. I loved this moment, because we would bring up fond memories of the year and we’d give a shout out to whoever we wanted to.
It was a great feeling to end my dance career with a placement and with such a fun and caring group of individuals.
2017-2019:
While on Kaba Modern, I was also attending trade school in Long Beach, CA for Surgical Technology.
As a young dancer, I knew that professional dancing wasn’t my calling despite my dedication and consistent practice. While dancing on Modern, I had a part-time job at “The Boiling Crab,” a seafood broil restaurant.
I mainly worked at Boiling Crab to support dance and social activities with my friends. I didn’t have a goal in mind nor what career I actually wanted to pursue.
I hated everything that was taught in general education schooling; Math, history, science, writing, nothing pertaining to any of those were interesting enough for me to want to work in those fields for life.
However, a significant turning point came when my uncle introduced me to the medical field’s “Surgical Technology.”
This profession intrigued me as it didn’t involve any of the subjects I disliked. Instead, it revolved around aiding surgeons in the operating room (OR), setting up surgical tables, preparing necessary tools and equipment, and assisting surgeons during procedures.
The concept of Surgical Technology really resonated with me, because of its focus on anatomy, a subject I actually found interesting. My interest for understanding people, both socially and physically, drew me towards the field, sparking a newfound passion.
To tell you about my school, it was a year and a couple months long of in person learning at North West College in Long Beach.
What I loved most about trade school, was that we were taught only the necessary education that was going to be used in our actual career. Since I knew that we were going to be using what we learned in school at our actual job, it really pushed me to focus up and excel in learning the new material.
With only 12 students in my classroom, including me, it really didn’t give us any room to slack off, which I liked.
The fun part was when it came time for clinicals.
Clinicals is at the end of the program where we were assigned a specific hospital to shadow a tech in the field. This lasted about 3 months and we were able to see most of the various surgeries.
WARNING: GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF SURGERY INCOMING!
During my clinicals at UCI Hospital, I saw robotics doing laparoscopic surgery, a baby with full body burns, brain matter being taken out from the head (because of a brain tumor), and everything else in between.
Luckily I was able to handle the sight of medical gore, because it would suck to go through all that schooling just to find out I couldn’t take it.
After the three months of clinical, it was time to study for the certification exam and boy was that nerve wrecking!
Knowing that your future career depends on your test scores really makes you focus up.
I studied daily for an entire month before I was ready to take my board exam, because I knew that my fate was decided by those results.
2019-2023
Passing my exam lead me to work in a field that I am absurdly passionate about.
I currently work in an outpatient surgery center in Irvine, CA. Here, I assist in ophthalmic cases, septorhinoplasties, breast reduction and augmentation, and Gynecology.
I feel extremely fulfilled in what I do, as I help patients regain their vision back and aid in their journey to personal beauty and wellness.
I’ve climbed up the professional ladder over the past few years and have become the Lead Surgical Technician at my center; By the way, I’m still ecstatic that that is my official title.
Reaching a higher position has got me to thinking of better ways to improve peoples’ daily lives.
During my clinical rotation, I worked with surgeons to implant hearing aids into elderly patients. It was so satisfying to me whenever I would hear the patients explain that they could hear again.
They would often say how they lost their hearing through loud music or constantly working construction sites or, just simply, old age.
This is the reason why I started this blog, to help normal people like you and I find ways to replace all the noise with quieter alternatives. Follow me as I research the best replacements for a quieter and more peaceful lifestyle…
