Who I am (Vendetta Style)

Vendetta said:

I probably should have introduced myself before I started writing so people could understand my thought process. Basically I came from an interesting background. Starting from age 12 living in Compton California I grew up in a gang territory. With no father figure I ran with the Bloods and started to commit crimes of all sorts. I've been to jail more times than I been to school. Although I was raised in a Baptist Christian home, I was doing the exact opposite in my life. Basically I was a walking contradiction. After being in and out of juvenile Hall and Jail, it took one of my running buddies from the same neighborhood I was in to be killed right in front of me. So then I began turning my life around. If anyone seen XXX state of the union the back story behind Darius Stone (played by Ice Cube) that was basically me. Upon going in the Navy I decided to do Basic Underwater Demolition school which is SEAL training.....there I learned to run and swim (imagine not knowing how to swim but having to learn how to tie several different knots underwater and being terrified at the same time). Long story short made it all the way to hellweek which is basically the end of SEAL training and on a daily run committed a mistep and injured myself. The injury was so bad I was re rolled to another class but became very ill which put me further back on recovery. I opted to finish my tour and actually ended doing an extra tour back in '04. After being on leave and gaining the rank of E-3, I ended up going to college receiving my B.S. in physics (even though I don't apply myself to learn more) my B.A. in Psychology and B.A. in philosophy.

Decided to go to graduate school to study clinical behavior and have been.there since. I almost didn't get into graduate school because of.my gang affiliated tattoos. Some say I should get them removed but I am keeping them to remind myself of my past. If you guys knew me when I was younger you would be dumbfounded on how much of a change I made. Not only have I had to work hard as a former criminal but worked harder because of my heritage. I ran out of hands to count how many times I have been turned down by graduate schools despite having one of the top grades in my class. Although I love doing what I do now I will for the moment discontinue academic work to get back in SEAL training which is coming up in two months. Talk about changing my life. It is possible for anyone.

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ninerbuff said:

I too was headed down the wrong path. Nothing compared to you, but in the 80's when breakdancing became mainstream and "battles" happened at every club, there were many times I got into altercations. And some where guns were involved. I've never shot anyone, but have shot at someone. After getting busted, I was jailed, however since it was my first offense ever, I got a chance to have charges dropped to a misdemeanor IF I completed probation (3 years) and stayed out of trouble. That was enough to turn myself around and I gave up on hanging with my "crew". I ended up being a door to door salesman for 10 plus years then later because of sales experience, a manager for Toys R Us and Circuit City. Now I'm a stay at home dad and work part time as a Personal Trainer.
Oh and if you haven't seen it you have to watch CB4. One of the best parodies on gangster life.

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Vendetta said:

I probably should have introduced myself before I started writing so people could understand my thought process. Basically I came from an interesting background. Starting from age 12 living in Compton California I grew up in a gang territory. With no father figure I ran with the Bloods and started to commit crimes of all sorts. I've been to jail more times than I been to school. Although I was raised in a Baptist Christian home, I was doing the exact opposite in my life. Basically I was a walking contradiction. After being in and out of juvenile Hall and Jail, it took one of my running buddies from the same neighborhood I was in to be killed right in front of me. So then I began turning my life around. If anyone seen XXX state of the union the back story behind Darius Stone (played by Ice Cube) that was basically me. Upon going in the Navy I decided to do Basic Underwater Demolition school which is SEAL training.....there I learned to run and swim (imagine not knowing how to swim but having to learn how to tie several different knots underwater and being terrified at the same time). Long story short made it all the way to hellweek which is basically the end of SEAL training and on a daily run committed a mistep and injured myself. The injury was so bad I was re rolled to another class but became very ill which put me further back on recovery. I opted to finish my tour and actually ended doing an extra tour back in '04. After being on leave and gaining the rank of E-3, I ended up going to college receiving my B.S. in physics (even though I don't apply myself to learn more) my B.A. in Psychology and B.A. in philosophy.

Decided to go to graduate school to study clinical behavior and have been.there since. I almost didn't get into graduate school because of.my gang affiliated tattoos. Some say I should get them removed but I am keeping them to remind myself of my past. If you guys knew me when I was younger you would be dumbfounded on how much of a change I made. Not only have I had to work hard as a former criminal but worked harder because of my heritage. I ran out of hands to count how many times I have been turned down by graduate schools despite having one of the top grades in my class. Although I love doing what I do now I will for the moment discontinue academic work to get back in SEAL training which is coming up in two months. Talk about changing my life. It is possible for anyone.

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Vendetta said:

Niner you were from the old school lol man yeah you're like the predecessor for gangs. Yeah I was doing stuff in the 80's and 90's after the rodney king riots. But its nice to see someone having similar troubles and getting out of it.

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Vendetta said:

I probably should have introduced myself before I started writing so people could understand my thought process. Basically I came from an interesting background. Starting from age 12 living in Compton California I grew up in a gang territory. With no father figure I ran with the Bloods and started to commit crimes of all sorts. I've been to jail more times than I been to school. Although I was raised in a Baptist Christian home, I was doing the exact opposite in my life. Basically I was a walking contradiction. After being in and out of juvenile Hall and Jail, it took one of my running buddies from the same neighborhood I was in to be killed right in front of me. So then I began turning my life around. If anyone seen XXX state of the union the back story behind Darius Stone (played by Ice Cube) that was basically me. Upon going in the Navy I decided to do Basic Underwater Demolition school which is SEAL training.....there I learned to run and swim (imagine not knowing how to swim but having to learn how to tie several different knots underwater and being terrified at the same time). Long story short made it all the way to hellweek which is basically the end of SEAL training and on a daily run committed a mistep and injured myself. The injury was so bad I was re rolled to another class but became very ill which put me further back on recovery. I opted to finish my tour and actually ended doing an extra tour back in '04. After being on leave and gaining the rank of E-3, I ended up going to college receiving my B.S. in physics (even though I don't apply myself to learn more) my B.A. in Psychology and B.A. in philosophy.

Decided to go to graduate school to study clinical behavior and have been.there since. I almost didn't get into graduate school because of.my gang affiliated tattoos. Some say I should get them removed but I am keeping them to remind myself of my past. If you guys knew me when I was younger you would be dumbfounded on how much of a change I made. Not only have I had to work hard as a former criminal but worked harder because of my heritage. I ran out of hands to count how many times I have been turned down by graduate schools despite having one of the top grades in my class. Although I love doing what I do now I will for the moment discontinue academic work to get back in SEAL training which is coming up in two months. Talk about changing my life. It is possible for anyone.

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Twig pentagram said:

Do you still claim Bloods?

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Vendetta said:

If I did I sure as heck wouldn't be on RF talking about it. But to answer your question, no. I have friends that are my age that are done with it. At our age we are too old to act foolish and we learn that the gang life is BS. The navy taught me that fighting for a greater good is much more fulfilling. Growing up I used to claim streets that didn't belong to me or neighborhoods where I never owned a house or paid any mortage. Being in a gang was the worse decision I made.

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