Good day class. My name is Sandeep Rambaran and I am 20 years old. I’ve lived in Flushing New York for my whole life, and let me tell you, it has changed with time. I’m currently majoring in criminal justice and minoring in business. Driving on nice long road trips and practicing mixed martial arts (MMA) have to be two of my favorite things to do during my spare time. My favorite sport is football, and unfortunately the Baltimore Ravens beat my favorite team to get into the Superbowl this year. My father is a brilliant mechanic and is a builder. So because of him, I have a really good background in working on cars and building. I’m not as good as him of course, but most of what I know is from him. We’ve worked together on many houses including rebuilding our own from scratch. I can’t say that I was really interested in fixing cars and building houses before I started working with dad. My worry was that my hands would get dirty, but now I love it.
My dad and I both have in common that we love driving on long road trips. We’ve driven to Florida and Canada multiple times as a family but all the driving was split between dad and I. We also want to drive from New York to Las Vegas at least once in our lives. To me, driving is a stress reliever and a way to escape and clear my mind. Practicing MMA in my basement is also another distraction that I use to forget about whatever may be bothering me. In spite of doing MMA since high school, I am not a fan of watching UFC. To me, MMA is a skill, not something you use to hurt someone else in front of millions of people who look at that as some sort of pleasure or enjoyment. I do believe in bettering yourself in any way you can, especially health wise. I was a fat kid who ate a lot of fast food, and got bullied a fairly decent amount. Mixed martial arts changed my life both physically and mentally. It helped to build my confidence, discipline me and help me to understand what it is to have self control in all situations. My focus was also improved which has helped me to improve my work in school.
I hope this has helped to give anyone a bit of an understanding of the kind of person I am. I look forward to hearing from everyone. Best of luck to all in everything that they pursue in their lives.
sandeeprambaran11 
How has Flushing changed? You made me curious.
What you say about cars and building reminds me that sometimes it work (that we might not be interested in) that can get us motivated to work more. Reading leads to more reading and writing a little bit can lead to some interest and more writing.
Just a reminder. Because of all the students in my courses and all the commenting that goes on, I can’t check back to see if you reply to a blog post. If you want to respond, write to me at torgersw@st.johns.edu or tweet me at @BillTorg
p.s.
That story about MMA changing your life would make for a great read.
You sound like quite the handy-man! I liked how you used your hobbies to reflect yourself. In your Writing Territory I saw a bit of Toronto and I wondered if there’s any significance to it, or why it’s one of the locations you’d drive to.
I actually have family in Toronto so its a place we drive to fairly often. Flying there is nice because the trip is shorter but I prefer the driving because of the scenery and just being on an open road for hours. Driving long distances is just one of those things that I really enjoy. Its a bit of a stress reliever I find.
It’s nice to see how mixed martial arts has helped you in self control and to focus. It would be lovely to read more about it.
Mixed martial arts really played a big part in my life. Mom was not thrilled with the idea at first but I think it was one of the best things that has happened to me. I will write more about it and explain exactly what it did for me. I do encourage everyone to try it out!