James Sofranko (It's like James Franco but with a "So" and "k" instead of a "c")

My name is James Sofranko and I am a second year Business Administration major. Leading into college, I lived the entirety of my life in the same house in remote Pine Valley California, which is about an hour east of San Diego.  I have an older brother and an older sister as well two awesome parents, all of which I am very close with.  Being in a town of less than 2000 people, growing up in Pine Valley gave me a small town perspective.  When I was younger we rarely locked our doors, we stayed out late into the night, and much of the youth based mainstream culture never reached us--despite being only a few miles to the west.  Some might say I was "sheltered", but I prefer guarded.

Starting in 7th grade, I went to a school outside of Pine Valley for the first time.  I attended Christian Junior/Senior High--a small private school--for the next six years.  Complete with kaki shorts for guys and plaid skirts for the girls, CHS's uniform was the topic our conversations more often then it really should have been.  Christian High was a place of mixed emotions for me, but I suppose ambivalence is how most people feel about their high school.  At it's worst, CHS's strong Baptist ties pushed me away from such a constricted branch of Christianity and those similar to it.  At it's best, it provided a place for me to establish strong friendships as well as a very real sense of community amongst people who hold similar spiritual beliefs.

Throughout my years there I tried my hand at both athletics and academics, but found myself only exceeding in the latter.  In fact, after trying soccer, cross country, track, and golf I concluded that, while I enjoy watching most sports and even playing some of them, competitive athletics just aren't for me.  Instead, by my junior year I focused almost exclusively on doing well in my classes as well as being a part of the school's newspaper staff.  Being on the newspaper team was by far the most enjoyable and most fulfilling activity I did in high school, even if most of the student body didn't bother to read the thing.  My fellow staffers and I put copious amounts of hours into each issue, often not leaving school until nine or ten at night the day before printing.  Through all of that hard work, I grew very close with everyone on staff, and earned their respect in return.  By the time my senior year rolled around I was named Editor in Chief, one of my proudest achievements.

My crowning moment, however, was being named valedictorian of my high school class.  Even to this day (this very moment in fact), every time I think back to my high school commencement a smile crosses my face out of pure contentment.  I feel this way not because I have a sense of superiority over my classmates (there were at least a dozen students who I know for a fact are far more intelligent than me), but because I was so blessed to be honored as the representative of my class in academics, the area of school I dedicated so much of my time to.  I look back on that night and know that nothing I did got me there.  It was only the grace of God.

I began college at Cal Poly not wanting to leave home.  Life had been pretty good that summer, and I didn't want things to change.  However I was reminded that life isn't a destination--it's a journey--and sticking in one place when you need to move on is foolish.  My first year at Cal Poly began poorly.  While I did fine academically, I didn't really connect with very many people.  Unable to find a real solid group of friends, I began the preliminary process of transferring out of Cal Poly.  But in my last week I met some people from an apartment nearby that I really hit it off with.  Going home that break I had hope for my experience at Cal Poly for the very first time.  Ever since then, it's been an upward trend.  I've made more and more friends (too many, really :P ), become involved in programs like WOW, and mix sound on the weekends for my local church-- all while doing well enough in my classes to receive recognition from the university (a full 360 180 if you ask me!).

So through all of this I hope you've been able to gain a little more of an understanding of who I am.  I love people and really do enjoy making others around me happy.  You'll find I laugh at almost everything, especially people's little quirks.  Most importantly, I hope that you find I am a reasonable person that, while holding onto my convictions, is open to hearing out other's opinions that are very different from my own.

Thanks for reading this :)
James

*My dad and I hiking in the Sierra Nevada this summer