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I had practiced it before, but this time it was for real. Well, as real as a college mock trial tournament can get. I objected,
pointed, and did squat thrusts during 10 minute breaks. During the trial, I paused for a few seconds of silence and methodically tied up the loose ends of my closing monologue. My mock trial team sat quietly for a
couple of minutes until the judges offered some feedback and tabulated the scores. Unfortunately, we lost in a landslide and would not be moving on to the final round of competition. Before our team departed from
Ithaca, however, we still had to sit through closing ceremonies, where team and individual awards would be distributed. We arrived to the function with our head between our tales, but when they read the award for best
mock trial attorney, my name was called. I was shocked and utterly ecstatic. I was even surprised that it wasn't a run of the mill paper award I had won, but actually a wooden plaque with some official looking carvings.
It wasn't an Academy award or Nobel Prize, but for someone who had practiced relentlessly for months, it sure felt like it. Another example of my achievements was authoring the books
The Secrets to College Admissions and The Unauthorized Guide to College Success.
I wanted to raise money to finance my legal education and I believed marketing the books through the internet would do the trick. After a few weeks of research and planning I constructed a web site geared toward selling my products. I included my e-mail address to make potential customers feel more at ease purchasing from a company they were newly acquainted with. Once search engine spiders accessed my web page, the e-mails rolled in. Questions ranged from the generic "can you help me get into the college of my dreams," to the peculiar "will I be able to bring my dog to classes with me- he doesn't bite." I never anticipated the range of questions that could possibly blossom from a student's mind. For every question I received, I answered it to the best of my ability. The second month the company was "live" on the internet, my co-workers spent most of their time processing orders and shipping books. I was spending most of my time answering student inquiries. When the spring rolled around the e-mails kept coming in like usual, but once in a while we would receive one that said, "Mr. Ortiz, I was accepted at my first choice school, thanks for your help." Besides my surprise at being called "Mr. Ortiz," it was equally unexpected that my time and effort actually helped students achieve their goals.
Once my first internet company was basically running itself, I accepted a full time position at what was to be a home-improvement super store, Worlhomecenter.com. My job title was director of
business development and marketing. Being one of only two employees, however, I knew my position would entail more than what my job description had enumerated. The office was actually a barren warehouse chock full of
fruit flies and dust mites. The web site's current status was equally dismal as it looked like a rocket ship was taking off from Cape Canaveral. Starting from ground zero I decided to redo the entire front page to give
it less of a Nasa like feel. I implemented a marketing campaign that saw steady signs of customer growth. I also became head of the newly conceived customer service department, where I was fielding questions about
faucet dynamics, garbage disposal intricacies, and many other plumbing frequently asked questions. Basically, I was dabbling in every aspect of the company. Four months after I had first set foot at Worldhomecenter.com,
the company was chugging along well beyond what everyone, including myself, had expected. |
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