I began to feel like I was always going to be “almost” something important. My school experience was a mystery to many, as I usually scored in the top percentile on standardized tests, but in the bottom quartile of my class in GPA. I had the highest overall score on my high school admissions test, but ended up graduating 67th in a class of around 90 people. I went to college for a semester, but I struggled through it and realized that it just was not the thing for me.
After high school, I learned it was one of those intangible skills that was neither taught nor measured in my 12 years of schooling. I worked for my parents’ electronics company for several years until I got married. Shortly thereafter, my wife told me that my family business salary would never be enough to raise a family, and that I needed to pursue another career.
More on that in my future posts, maybe, but it was an important moment in my life, because I would eventually begin believing it.
Soon after this “epiphany”, I applied for a job with Star Enterprise, a Texaco joint venture, and was hired to work at the Convent Refinery in Process Operations. I enjoyed my stint in operations, as I met many talented folks and mentors. It was then that I learned that I was basically a “learning junkie”, as I spent most of my time asking questions to understand more.
It was the 1990’s, and this thing called “the internet” was really gaining popularity. Soon it attracted my attention, and I began reading books and taking any free online instruction that I could. As a first project, I built a web site for our site’s employee’s club, which became an instant hit. Soon more requests were coming at me, and within a couple of years, I was building cross functional database driven web sites to support some of the critical systems in the refinery without ever having taken a formal computer class.
It was at this point that I began working for a manager who became the first career mentor in my life. He suggested that I go back to school to obtain a degree. I returned to school from 2000 to 2010, starting in the BSIT program for three years until I realized that computers were a hobby, but not a passion. I swapped my major to BA in Psychology and Industrial Psychology in 2005, and persevered until I finally graduated in December of 2010. During my first stint in school, I struggled to keep my GPA north of the 2.0 line, yet in 10 years of school from age 33 to 43, I was able to graduate with Honors, posting a final GPA of 3.98!
After living so many years in this race feeling like I was always losing ground, I ‘m beginning to feel that I have finally caught up. If I could have one wish, it
I would tell him to take time to enjoy the journey, as arriving at the destination is not nearly as valuable as enjoying the moments that take you there.
I would tell him to be very slow in raising his voice to his kids.
I would tell him that the possessions his kids break will be of very little value to him 10 years from now, but the way he reacts will stay with them—and him—for a very long time.
Of course, I’m also wise enough now to know that the struggle through that journey was the only way for me to personally see it. Even if I had told the 33-year-old version of me, he probably would not have believed me anyway.
Well… That’s all I want to share for now, as I plan to share many of my experiences through future blogs, and I don’t want to give away everything all at once.
I am grateful to Katie for inviting me into this space, and I am both honored and humbled to be part of this community. We are all on a learning journey. If you are reading this, I’d like to thank you for letting me be part of your journey. If there are any specific questions or topics that you would like for me to address, please drop me a line, and would be more than happy hear from you.
