Transformational First Few Years in College

By, John M. Goralka
Sacramento, CA

I took a hands-on, unconventional path to college shaped by hard work, gravel roads, and graveyard shifts.

Starting out in Livermore, CA

As most of you know, I have 5 brothers and 3 sisters. I was the only member of my family to go to a junior (2 year) college when I graduated high school. All of my siblings went directly to 4 year colleges or universities. I simply was unsure of what I wanted to do for a career. Also, for the last 2 years of high school and throughout my time in junior college until the summer before I left for college, I worked in a small, family-run convenience store a little larger than a 711 store. This was a job that I loved with many repeat customers who became friends. I loved living on the ranch with my parents and siblings.

I grew up in Livermore which, at the time, was a “dust spot on the map.” Now, Livermore is a very gentrified, perhaps, sophisticated area. When I lived in Livermore, this was a unique, somewhat rural area. The Livermore, Pleasanton and Dublin area all had very small town feels. Now, that is not the case, especially with the intersection of 580 and 680 freeways and the Stoneridge Mall area.

The Livermore Valley is now a very gentrified area. When I lived there, there was virtually no crime, everyone knew everyone, and we did not even lock our cars or even the front doors of our home. We grew up on a ranch. Not only did we not lock our cars, we would leave the keys in the ashtray of each vehicle. That way if the car was blocking someone from leaving (on the ranch we had many vehicles), anyone could move the vehicle to exit.

Our home was on the top of a hill overseeing the entire valley. We put the road to our home ourselves. My father was an amazing creative man., We had a backhoe and dug the gravel for the road out ourselves. My dad would rent a dump truck to distribute the gravel on the road. Once, when we were doing so, the brakes went out, the truck rolled backwards downhill on the road and tipped over on its right passenger side.

My dad helped me climb out of the cab where the door of the driver’s side was now like the roof. We got out, got the tractor, attached a chain and pulled it upright. My dad bent the passenger side door mirror back out and returned the dump truck to the rental agency. My dad made a written complaint about the brakes as a warning for future users.

Gravel roads, especially new gravel roads need additional gravel each year for a number of years to establish a strong base. After the problem with the rental truck, dad bought a used, home-made dump truck to continue to put gravel on the road each spring and summer. The rains in the winter would wash out the gravel and create large culverts or gullies in the road which if not filled or corrected would make it difficult to drive even with a 4-wheeled drive vehicle. We would try each spring and summer (many times) to dig gulleys for rain water to run down the hill without damaging or destroying the road in the winter.

As a younger child, I was so impressed with myself driving the tractor. That was even more true operating a backhoe to dig out the gravel from a small hill for the road. Most adults would not enjoy this because our bulldozer was loud, and would often blow diesel smoke into your face with a terrible taste making breathing very uncomfortable.

Dumping the gravel into the homemade dump truck cracked the welds for the bed. As a result, the truck fenders and tailgate surrounding the actual bed of the truck would flop up and down as I drove. On my way to my last final exam for the summer, I was driving to school for that exam. I was pulled over by the police because the bed of the truck was wobbling up and down as I drove. I quickly made the mistake of telling the highway patrol officer that I was going to be late for my final exam. He looked into my eyes, said nothing, and instantly slowed his behavior and checked everything from the windshield wipers, to all the lights, blinkers, and anything else you could think of. I received a “fix it ticket” for the truck bed welds (all else was ok) and got to my exam about 30 minutes late. I still finished the exam early with an A minus grade but that was an exceedingly challenging experience.

Better Paying Jobs and Bots Dots Saved My Life

After completing my exam for my second year of junior college, I looked for a higher paying job to earn extra money to attend Sacramento State. My first job was digging with a shovel for eight hours a day for a construction project which paid little. I then obtained a job working graveyard doing “clean-up” with high pressure, high temperature hose in Heinz Pickle Factory that was located in Tracy, California. This job paid substantially more. The overtime for Saturdays and Sundays was more than the regular pay for the week. The factory cooked and processed whole and sliced pickles in the area that I worked. This was a seasonal job requiring a 7 day work week. If you ever missed a shift you were immediately terminated. I paid my own way through college. This allowed me to save enough money to not work for almost a year for my Junior year at Sacramento State University. I have been employed full time ever since.

This job paid much more, but it was on the graveyard shift beginning at 10pm until 7am when I got off work the sun was shining and a beautiful day began but I was exhausted from work and lack of sleep. I never adjusted to this schedule and never learned to sleep during the day. Going to work in the middle of the night and driving home after the sunrise in the early morning was just too strange to adapt to. My life was saved by “Bots Dots,” the raised bumps that divided road lanes. As I was driving back to Livermore from Tracy after work, those bumps saved me from weaving out of my lane many times waking me up.

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California Estate Planning, Tax Planning and Business Attorney.

I’m John Goralka, a Sacramento Estate Planning, Tax Planning and Business Attorney at the Goralka Law Firm, P.C. If you have an estate, tax or business situation needing legal help, contact our team for experienced and friendly advice. You can contact us at 916-440-8036. Alternatively, you can use our convenient online contact form here on our website. We listen, and you can have your questions answered, your case evaluated, and explore your options for getting the legal help you need.

There are almost 200,000 attorneys in the state of California, and fewer than 100 of those attorneys are State Bar Specialists in Estate Planning, Trusts and Probate and State Bar Specialists in Taxation. I am one of the few attorneys with both critical specializations. I passed the California CPA examination and am a former income tax auditor and hearing officer. I am also recognized as a top attorney in the United States by US News and World Reports and by Best Lawyers and hold an AV rating from Martindale which is the premiere rating organization for attorneys. The AV rating is the highest possible rating for legal experience and for legal ethics.