My name is Arlene Alejandro. I just turned 24 years old in January. I was born and raised on the island of Oahu. Ever since I got my hands on a computer, I always found it interesting to see websites on the internet and told myself "I want to learn how to do that". I took digital media classes at Leeward Community College. I was sad to see that the UH system wasn't offering any Bachelors Degree in this field. My parents always stressed "school first" and party later. I always knew they were supportive of education, but I never thought they would let me go to school on the mainland. After I explained to them that web designing is what I really wanted to do and they don't offer a degree on the island, they let me go.
I left the island in July of 2004. After a year and a half I graduated from the Art Institute of California - Los Angeles with a Bachelors Degree in Interactive Media Design while maintaining a 3.9 gpa. Before jumping right into work, I wanted to come and spend time with my family. I was on Oahu for almost 2 months. Then I got a call from Apollo Interactive, Inc. mentioning that they wanted me to come in for an interview so I flew back in February. I got hired on their usual 3-month contract basis to test me out. I guess they really liked me because they hired me full time less than a month later.
In February 2007, I got a call from my family saying that my dad was in the hospital. I didn't think it was in a big deal, but a couple days later they were bugging me to come back home because they placed my dad in the ICU. After getting permission from my company, I flew back home on the next flight out. I'm grateful that everyone was very supportive. I am thankful that I was able to see my dad even if he had a gas mask on and couldn't really talk. Early morning around 1am after afternoon I arrived, the hospital called to let us know that my dad flat lined, but they were able to revive him. We kept my dad on life support for 4 days so that my relatives from the mainland could see him, then we decided that we didn't want him to suffer anymore so we took the tubes out. As stated in his will, we know that it is what he wanted as well.
I would have made 1 year at Apollo Interactive 2 weeks after my dad passed away. It was a moment I was waiting for a long time and sometimes I feel bad about not reaching it. I made the decision to sacrifice my job to be with my family with knowing that finding a job in Hawaii will be hard. I'm still trying to convince myself that I made the right decision and that things will eventually be all right since I have my dad and God by my side.