No Regrets

“Two roads diverged in a wood, And I—

I took the road less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

-Robert Frost

About seven years ago, give or take a few months, I made a decision about the future of my education. I was at Pierce College, and it was time to transfer out to university. At the time, I wanted to transfer in USC’s Annenberg School of Communications.

But, upon meeting them and realizing that they weren’t interested in someone like me (read: educated at a community college where I learned more than half their seniors), I decided to go south. I transferred to Cal State Fullerton, where they were at the peak of their journalism school. It was an unusual move for me: most people from the Valley stayed there or somewhat close by, attending CSUN, UCLA or USC.

I got the chance to look back on these past seven years at Jewlicious this past weekend. While I was monitoring the archway between the festival and the concert Saturday night, I was tapped on the shoulder.

“I know you,” he said to me. His face was different now, but I recognized his voice – a Brooklyn accent, which I knew was hiding his Russian roots. I squealed his name (which will not be named here to protect him) and hugged him. I doubt he remembered my name, even though we were friends when I was at Pierce.

I saw what he had become, and it wasn’t the same guy I knew – he had turned from one of the sweetest guys to some person who wanted to take advantage of the fact that he knew me way back when. He lost his friendliness and his genuine nature.

It made me wonder what would have happened if I stayed in the Valley. Sure, I had friends there, but what would I have become if I had stuck around?

But then I looked around Jewlicious at all my friends that were around me, dancing and singing and laughing, hugging me and smiling. That’s when I realize the greatest decision in my life that I ever made was leaving Thousand Oaks. It was leaving it all behind and taking the risk, starting a new life far away from a lot of the people that I had known. I gave myself a new life, a new start – and it was something I desperately needed If I hadn’t left, I wouldn’t become the person that I am today, and I happen to like that person right now.

I think that, if fate had intervened and I had gone to USC, I would have been miserable. I’m not sure I would have fit in a school where I was looked down upon for having community college education – which Michael Parks, dean of the journalism school at the time, called, “too much experience.”

Then I think back to the wonderful years at Fullerton, where I hung out in the basement of the Comm building, had junk food parties on the beach in Huntington Beach with my best girlfriends, absorbed knowledge and enjoyed the memories with all my friends. All the wonderful journeys I had as a result of that move– going to Washington, D.C. as an intern, meeting my husband, being involved in all the amazing things I’ve done -- all stemmed from my experience of moving away. I couldn’t have done everything I have done had I stayed at home, including moving to Long Beach, which is everything I could ever want in a city that I live in.

I remember, recently, that my friend Ann’s husband, Frank, gave me a piece of advice regarding a job that I ended up not taking. He said, “Reina, no matter what decision you make, a couple of years down the line you’re going to say, ‘Wow, that was a great decision.’” And although some people don’t think that is the case, looking back on my life I know it is the truth.

Although I wasn’t sure about the decision to go to CSUF, it was the best decision. It was the road less travelled, but you have to make the most of whatever road you choose. I guess I learned that on my journey to Orange County, followed by settling in Long Beach. And it has, indeed, made all the difference.

So in honor of different paths, I am putting in a recipe courtesy of my brother-in-law’s wife, Renee. It’s inspired by a cake recipe that she gave to me for a vanilla cake with amaretto. Mine has chocolate cake with peppermint schnapps. Ari’s cousin Sabrina is a big fan of this cake, too.

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT CAKE

1 package devil’s food cake mix

1 package chocolate instant pudding

4 eggs

¾ cup peppermint schnapps

½ cup sugar

¾ cup oil

1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the cake and pudding mixes, eggs, sugar, oil and ½ cup of peppermint schnapps in a bowl. Pour into a greased bundt cake pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Take out and let the cake cool.

Mix the remaining schnapps and the powdered sugar in a small bowl, making sure all the sugar is dissolved and there are no lumps. While the cake is still hot, poke numerous holes all over the cake with a fork. Pour the schnapps mixture over the cake. Let the cake finish cooling.

Quick Tip: You can use other spirits for this cake, except substituting the chocolate pudding and cake mix with yellow cake and vanilla pudding, depending on what liquor you’re using. Renee loves the peach schnapps with the vanilla cake.

KOSHER ALERT! You need to be careful about particular liquors, especially if they’re flavored. Certain ones are only in dairy form and others aren’t even kosher. There are plenty of websites that can help you out which alcohols are okay to use and which are not.