Today is street vibe, pulse of the street I did a podcast interview episode Street Vibe where I Interviewed a young man in Philadelphia I called J for anonymity On the Difficulties of Realizing Life’s Goals and I Share Tips on How To Ace An Exam. This is where we engaged the streets and strike up conversations with people in communities about their life, stories challenges or successes. It’s anthropological at best, deep and very revealing. We bring the local to the global.
This Street Vibe interview comes on the heels of an upcoming interview The Neoliberal Corporation will be having on The Neoliberal Round Podcast with Mr. John Anthony Castro, US 2024, Presidential Candidate, hosted by Renaldo McKenzie, Author of Neoliberalism, Globalization, Income Inequality Poverty And Resistance.
Who is John Anthony Castro. John Anthony was born into a working class military family stationed at the U.S. military base in Germany and eventually graduated from Georgetown University Law Center with over $250,000 in student loan debt. Against all odds, he persevered (https://johncastro.com).
This is important because one of the question I wanna put to John is, what were your goals, did you always have dreams or desires of becoming a US President or an Attorney or an entrepreneur?
And secondly, what were your challenges in coming to achieving or coming to this point and how were you able to navigate them?
Because it’s important to ask this question as we get into this episode of Street Vibe on The Neoliberal Round Podcast or interview below in the Post, where I interviewed a young man from a vulnerable community in Philadelphia, from a working class family, a family that is marginalized, and someone whose had to navigate life having a kind of experience who’ve had visions and dreams like Barack Obama, visions and dreams like John Castro. And I’ve spoken with several people who’ve said that they’ve had dreams and visions and this particular young have had to put them in the back burner in order to ensure he has a roof over his head or to make ends meet. It was revealed that he went to school, Temple but dropped out due to financing and he didn’t want to have a huge debt, so dropped out and joined the Military…. Listen to this interview it provides a good contrast between lives and the decision making as we get ready to interview Mr. Anthony next week Monday May, 2, 2022.
Moreover, Mr. Anthony stated that, As a fiscal conservative, all of my legislative proposals cut spending and reduce the federal budget while improving services. If it sounds too good to be true, it’s because government bureaucrats have been doing it wrong for years. They think they can solve issues by throwing billions at the problem. Entrepreneurs instead focus on how to run things more efficiently and effectively,” (John Anthony Castro).
How is this possible? What workable solutions does he propose or have in mind? Stay tune next week, add us an put a notification on your phone for this show. And listen to the show and or read the inter with J below:
Renaldo: This is important; I asked you “what are your goals?” Your goals are to what…?
J: To be a Realtor, to sell houses… you’ll see.
Renaldo: Ok
J: … sell houses, have a business…
Renaldo: What are you doing to realize it?
J: I said nothing… fasure, I put them to the side so I can have an income over my head.
Renaldo: So you spend your life making sure you have a roof over your head. How long have you been… when did you first discover that you wanted to realize that dream…?
J: Um I’ve had that my whole life. I always thought I’d be a Lawyer and build houses on the side. I’ve always been infatuated with houses, remodelling houses, probably my favourite thing to do. And then you know… that stuff stop. I went to School, I was doing other stuff, you know, high school changes, Middle School changes, you started hanging around the wrong crowds, some people, not everybody, take their eye off the ball. But, um you know, no matter what age you are, you can achieve but you gotta, you know stay focussed. Which I’m not focussed right now so I gotta get myself together so I can stay focussed.
Renaldo: So is it, ok you’re saying that one of the reasons why you haven’t realized your goals of not becoming a realtor is 1. You’re not focussed and also because busy trying to keep a roof over your head. So wait! Are you not focussed or are you focussed because for seems as if you are focussed … tryna keep a roof over your head?
J: When you need to make sure, when you need to make sure your bills are paid and stuff like that, that stuff gets pushed to the back burner, sometimes, you know and when you can get to it, you get to it, when you can’t, you can’t.
Renaldo: So, you are focussed?
J: … Focussed, but I’m not like… I go in and out, I’m not a hundred percent committed to it, put it like that.
Renaldo: But, how can you be committed to it when you spend most of your time trying busy trying to make ends meet (in a slightly pressing tone)?
J: You can’t, so you push to the back burner, when you have time, you work on it.
Renaldo: How long have you been busy tryna make ends meet?
J: Um, prolly like 6 months, prolly, around 6 months, 6-7 months. I’m not sure.
Renaldo: How old are you, like 29?
J: yeah
Renaldo: … you have had a dream since you left high school, even before you left high school, to be a lawyer, [realtor]… and how long have you left school.
J: I went to school and everything, started college and everything, I went to Temple, dropped out cause I couldn’t afford it. You know try the military did four years you know,
Renaldo: … Wait, you went to Temple and dropped out of Temple?
J: Yeah!
Renaldo: …wait, hold on, you say you went to Temple and dropped out because you couldn’t afford it! But What about Financial Aid?
J: Financial Aide, I didn’t want to be in debt.
Renaldo: Oh, you did not want to take financial aid.
J: No! I was already owing about $10,000.00, imagine if I did four years! That would be about $40,000.00. What make you say that?
Renaldo: Oh. Ok, so…
J: When you get to the military they pay for that sh*t for free!
Renaldo: So, ok, fine, you dropped out of the military, when you join and left the military did you go back to school?
J: No, I just, you know when you’re in the military it’s, um…I don’t know what other people say about the military, but when you join the military, they pay really good in there. Um, you get a lot of money in there. You don’t gotta pay rent nowhere so you keep that dam money to ya self. Some people don’t know about it.
Renaldo: But when you finished the military, don’t they have a program where they’ll pay for your schooling or college education?
J: Yea, you can. I didn’t take heed to that stuff. I was more so running, ripping and running with my friends… in strips clubs and having fun. Like you know, then you find out that you gotta do school on your own. And then I was like dam, I gotta do this schooling and get out. Then, then, I don’t wanna do more more schooling after this. Cause you know in the military you gotta do school in there. So it’s not like a hundred percent, you going in there, you train, you gotta learn your job. Some people like got school work….
Renaldo: I’m saying, I’m saying, ok, after you finished the military, did you still have dreams of becoming a Realtor, did you?
J: Yea, I did… I started enjoying my other gig, in IT, I started doing that next. I got a job in the private sector and I was doing really well.
Renaldo: Oh, OK, so you were doing other things… and you were doing well and um…?
J: Yea, you know, where I think I fell off is I got locked up before, and then um, once you get a record sh*t went down the drain and that’s the honest truth.
Renaldo: so you..
J: but I’ve been good all my life, I’ve been honest until I went to jail.
Renaldo: For what, why did you go to jail?
J: That’s something I do not want to disclose.
Renaldo: That’s fine; was it something that you did that was really bad that affected your whole life…?
J: That’s something I do not want to disclose with you. You know, I did something wrong, I made a mistake to society, I fixed it, I worked on it and you know I’m a better person today.
Renaldo: Ok cool. And ah, so now as you think about what you want to do for the future and how you gonna realize your dreams and your goals what are you gonna do, how are you gonna reconcile you tryna keep a roof over your head while realizing your goal of becoming a …?
J: Well, honestly, I just got a, honestly, I just probably gotta pass the realtor test. I took the classes already. I just gotta pass the rest and that test is hard, that’s test is hard, I’m tryna …
Renaldo: So, ok , um so you have started the process?
J: I been started, yea.
Renaldo: OK, that’s good. That’s good. And um, so, what’s next, you’ve completed the classes and am about to sit the exam?
J: Yea, I’m about to sit the exam for the third time, second time actually.
Renaldo: Ok, so you failed the exam, what happened?
J: I got fifty. (Chuckled). You know
Renaldo: What are you not doing?
J: I wasn’t paying attention to that sh*t really; I was kinda in my own world.
Renaldo: I can help you to or provide you a way as to how you can pass, how you can ACE the exam!
J: How can you do that?
Renaldo: Well, first of all, after yo my have, when you have an exam like this. A multiple choice exam, it’s important for you to do the exam as quickly as possible, soon after you have completed the course. DO NOT WAIT THREE MONTHS, two months and you should do it within that same months. Because a lot of these questions, they get updated a lot. And sometimes exams are based on certain information that you were exposed to so that you do the exam… and not only that for how the brain works, the brain works a particular way. You know, once you train the brain a particular way, ok, when you shock the brain in a particular way it’s easy for the brain to relax and go back to what it was because it’s like when you study for a multiple choice exam like this you are shocking the brain, in a sense, with information and then after two, three weeks you stop and then you wait another three, four weeks to sit the exam. The brains is not, and just so you know, you’re exercising the brain, you’re sharpening the brain when you’re doing this, the brain though is now relaxed and no longer at that place [due to the long break], but now you wanna sit an exam.
And the next thing you do now, after you’ve, when you have completed reading the book, you should not read the book anymore. You should do practice exams, real exams, where you get the results, and you get to look at where you are, what areas you did not score well on and then review that topic or areas by going back to the book to read those areas and topics only that you did not score well on and reviewing the answer notes on the results paper of the exam platform you’re using to do the practice papers. Then after you’re finished, do another practice paper and repeat the same thing. And another, and then another repeating the same process, you just do question or exam papers, that’s it! I’m telling you. Because what it does is that, it’s not just knowing the information,
J: yea it’s obtaining it…like,
Renaldo: …They set up the questions so that you fail, to keep people out. So, you have to find out, sometimes three ANSWERS are RIGHT, and one is WRONG, and it’s the WRONG ANSWER that’s the RIGHT OR BEST OPTION! The important thing is getting the RIGHT ANSWER OR OPTION, not the CORRECT ANSWER. And the right option or answer could be the incorrect answer.
Renaldo: There’s a difference between what is right and what is correct, in multiple choice. That’s what people don’t realize. One must understand how these questions are asked, that’s the important thing. When we read the book, read the book… NO, when you’re done reading the book, please STOP! Just do practice papers and develop your understanding of how the questions are asked and sometimes the answers to questions are arrived at through the process of elimination. The process of elimination is important, you know. Sometimes the most obvious answer is the wrong answer. Ok. So it’s not looking for what is obvious, sometimes you have to look at what is out—of—place, or sometimes you have to look at the wrong answer because at times the right answer is incorrect. So it’s important, that’s why you do a lot of practice papers and then you only read after each practice papers. And you look at the areas that you didn’t well on, that’s the areas I need to read up on, then you read that quickly, that’s when you read. And then you go back to another practice paper. That’s it! That’s all you do. I’m telling you. You know I’m going to write a book on….
J: How to pass a test?
Renaldo: You will pass! If you follow my instructions. You will not fail again. I’m telling you that! If you have to be very focused. You know I did the series 6 exam and passed the very first sitting on my own. TD Ameritrade approached as I was about to graduate from Penn. I said give me the books and I’ll know exactly what to do, I’m not taking another class after just graduating from Penn after being in class for 3-4 years.
J: Why you never help me to study since you know?
Renaldo: People don’t um, people don’t get to know people in a real deep level sometimes. People only know people at the surface level.
J: You know me for over five years, you talk to me about your deep stuff.
Renaldo: No, not that, I’m talking about my skills and how those skills can be utilized each other’s life and to navigate challenges. Not just to provide money or some material benefit, but beyond that….
The audio was becoming difficult to hear and we ended the conversation there! We will definitely have a follow up. Lots to distill.
Thank you for this