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  • Writer's picturePeter Tanaka

WBETET Dream and Plans

What the heck is WBETET? Am I crazy? Am I on (gasp) drugs? (I am. But healthy non-addictive medication prescribed from my doctor). Well, this post will explain the WBETET plan. Should I start with the end, or start at the beginning? Hmmmmmm. If I share my end game, you might think I'm crazy. If I share the beginning plans, you might be bored. Maybe, I start somewhere in the middle. You see this in movies. The opening scene is full of action. Gun shots and explosions everywhere. Like Saving Private Ryan storming the beach and Normandy. One of the most epic scenes in movie history. My history teacher Mr Tsutsui loved that movie to teach and inspire us about history. My mentor and pastor Andrew Kim, also loved that movie to demonstrate the battles we face in life.




So let me start with a 5 Year Plan. Inspired by Chance the Rapper.


You gon' have several revelations in your first five days

In your first five minutes, have your first five fans

For like forty-five minutes, take your first shift break

There's no time for impatience in your five year plan

You got time for hesitation in your five year plan

-Chance


This song was a big inspiration for WBETET. I had the revelation of starting WBETET in the Druid Park. I saw the future of what WBETET could be. I imagined having a big WBETET celebration at the park, like the Drug Recovery celebration. "In your first five minutes" I had my first fans. My close friends and church family backed me up and supported me. My workplace, and even my CEO, Steve Mensh supported me. I was ecstatic for how much people supported my ideas for educational outreach. I even formed a great leadership team. Joice, Hannah, Shawn, and a bunch of other people willing to help out. Jinchi, Ethan, Shreya, Ben, John F, Kolton, Josiah, Tracy, Nick, Seth, Matt, John B, and Topher. Man, we were ready to take over the world.



"There's no time for impatience in your five year plan

You got time for hesitation in your five year plan"


I was ready to go all in. I planned to commit $10k of my own money, and thought about buying real estate in Baltimore, so that I could make sure my ideas could take off. How many ideas do I have. Well, lets just say, I have so many ideas, that I need to use Jira, a task management software, in order to keep track of how many ideas I have.



I was ready to go. I had $10k from corporate funding + my personal $10k. I had relationships with Greenmount Rec Center. But then it all came crashing down. My supervisor discouraged me from continuing educational outreach. He wanted me to focus on my job. I can't save the world, if I can't save myself. He cared about me, and he had some valid points. He could see the destruction I could cause. I don't like to hear no, and he was telling me no. Problem is that I was hearing conflicting answers. Upper management was saying yes. Middle management was saying no. (This is why Ford v Ferrari was an inspiration for my first post). In the end, I had to do what my boss was telling me, and WBETET died. Not just WBETET, but my dreams were crushed. I was in a psychosomatic vegetative state for almost a year. But the psychosomatic vegetable has slept and absorbed all the nutrients from the soil and sun. I am re-blossoming, and ready to get up.


My five year plan is in Jira. It involves various engineering projects, and community outreach plans. Some examples are: a solar powered bike, a child transportation bike trailer, starting up a blog for PR (Hey, I'm doing that!), apartment laundry system, haircuts in the park, and many more. All of these ideas, align with our mission statement:


"WBETET is a potpourri of people who are invested in revitalizing the community through innovative social engineering with art as the vehicle for STEM outreach"

Now that I have your attention, let's go back to the start. What is my 1 year plan? Simple and clean. Achievable. It's all about building relationships. Engaging with employees at work. Inviting my friends to volunteer in the community. Making sandwiches and feeding the homeless. Tutoring at the Greenmount Rec Center. Outdoor BBQs in Druid Lake. Build a community electric bike. I can do this, and I'm in the process of starting up most of these.


I am a big big dreamer. Dreams give me hope. Sometimes they freak people out. So I try not to open up with my dreams, but I will end with my dreams. In 20 years, I hope to open up a "Follow Your Dreams" Retreat Center. A place of sustainable engineering, where everyone can follow their dreams. It will be my brain on a platter and embedded into the trees like Avatar. (The blue dudes, not the airbender). I even made a promise to a homeless guy (I'll post the video if I find it). The problem with society is that when we are a child, we are told to follow our dreams. I want to be an artist! I want to be an astronaut! I want to be a doctor! I want to be in the NFL! Unfortunately reality hits, and we got bills to pay and mouths to feed. Perhaps we don't even have a chance because we grew up in a rough environment. My retreat center is meant to turn all of that crushed hope upside down. My 30 year plan. President. Tanaka 2050. (Or whenever the election year is). Jkjk.



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