Graduation

I graduated!!!!  It took me 9 semesters/5 years to graduate from Carnegie Mellon University with a BS in Economics and a Minor in Business Administration.  It was a very proud day for a couple of different reasons.  

The first is the fact that I went through a ton of adversity during college but was able to persevere through all of it and become a better person because of it.  For instance, my first 2 years of college I was chronically ill due to a deviated septum that was caused from a broken nose I suffered in High School when a baseball hit me square in the nose.  Now that might not sound like a big deal, but think about being unable to breathe through your nose at night and waking up 3-4 times every night due to your mouth being so dry that you can no longer breathe.  Not the best for trying to be productive day in and day out.  

I also changed majors during my college tenure.  I know that a high % of college students change majors at least once during their college career, but it is usually close to their current major or they are changing from being undecided which is foreseeable change.  My transfer out of engineering was as bumpy as you can possibly have.  I had to beg my dean to let me transfer 1.5 weeks into my 4th semester as an engineer.  I didn't know what I wanted to transfer to, so I took GenEd courses that I needed instead of any core classes so these classes didn't help me figure that out at all.  

Even though warned against this, I took a semester off because I did not want to waste time wandering not knowing what I wanted to study during college.  That is a waste of money and is something that I could do at home.  So, I went back to California the fall of my Junior year to find a direction.  I vowed that I would return the following semester and unlike the majority of people that say this, I actually did it.  I returned with a different view on life and was able to do much better (grade wise) in my new major.

Another reason that it was a proud day for me was that there were a lot of people in my life that helped me get to this point and I was able to reward their kindness and encouragement.  My Mom is at the front of this list of people and she was there in person to enjoy it with me, but she was not without a lot of help, especially when I was little.  Just a quick shout out to the most influential people in my life: My Grandparents, Chris Van Tassel, The whole Brennan Family, John Andikian, Mike Dodd, George Pascoe, Bob Jeski, Devric Lampley, Paul Renfro, Coach Yosh, and anyone else that I forgot.  I would not of accomplished anything in my life without these people helping guide me in the right direction.

The last reason that it was a proud day was because I know that my Dad was watching down upon me from heaven and he was proud of me and my accomplishments.  Even though I did not have a lot of time with him, he will have an everlasting effect on my life because he was just that kind of person.  I love you Dad.

If you have read so far, here is something inspirational.  One of my favorite commercials of all time.