Joining My Flock

I recently graduated from Linn-Benton Community College with a 3.5 GPA.

That might not sound like much to most people, but to a dude that spent more time in the Jack in the box adjacent to my high school rather than actually in it for four years, that statement is nothing short of astounding.

Throughout my time at LBCC, to complement my GPA, I was also a full-time member of our Student Leadership, serving as both the Financial Director one year and the Legislative Affairs Director the next.

In addition to that, I helped with many events and volunteer opportunities, worked (and continue to do so currently) as a Student Ambassador for the college; answering questions and assisting other students to achieve their educational goals just like I was able to do, as well as relaunch the Oregon Community College Student Association as the Vice President charged with serving the students of all 17 community colleges in Oregon.

I kept myself busy, to say the least.

That was by design though.

I made it a goal to push myself and challenge myself to try new things and experience activities I wouldn’t previously have gone for.

It paid off when after my first year at LBCC I was admitted to Oregon State University.

I was admitted to a bona fide university based on my educational status. That is something the kid who lived in a housing project in Reno, had hand-me-down everything until I was a teenager, never thought would happen.

It truly felt surreal.

I spent a few terms at both LBCC and OSU before COVID hit and sort of changed my life, but maybe for the better?

After spending months doing the online school flow, taking tests and quizzes with little to no interaction from my peers, I realized something about that experience.

It sucked.

But also, I really love doing THIS. I love writing and sharing and telling stories of the world around me. 

Because of my goal to push myself each and every term, I routinely took extra courses. These were courses to explore things I’ve always wanted to learn about such as African History, and things that I didn’t know I wanted to learn more about, like journalism and writing.

In one of those journalism and writing courses, deep in the pandemic, I found a passion in me I had no idea was burning away, yearning to be released.

I ran with it.

After exploring my newfound love, I was approached with the proposal of pursuing this as a profession. To do so would mean going to the school I dreamed of going to 18 years ago and being emersed in a program that is world-renowned.

That would of course be The University of Oregon and their School of Journalism and Communication.

I was approached by some of their faculty, reassured that I wasn’t in fact dreaming, and was accepted and admitted.

If getting into OSU felt surreal, being admitted into the UO felt like an out-of-body experience. It was as if I awoke suddenly on the moon or the surface of Mars.

It was/is unbelievable.

Being a Beaver felt like I had earned something but becoming a Duck feels like spending time with a friend, hugging my daughter, kissing my wife. It feels correct and wonderful all at once.

I set out with a goal of being the best most engaged student I could be when I started at LBCC, in part because of a promise I made to my late brother during our last conversation in the hospital together, but as I reflect now, I did it also for the sad, shy, scared little teenager that spent way too much time in Jack in the box.

He was afraid of trying and it not being enough and failing, so he never tried, to avoid that sensation.

That kid deserved a second shot at this education thing and a chance to find his passions in life.

Thanks to that conversation with my brother, not to mention my phenomenally supportive wife and the beyond belief family I got as a result of our marriage, I can give that kid his second shot.

Though I’m only halfway done.

I’ll be taking the moment I created at LBCC and throwing it full speed ahead at my dream school this fall in Eugene.

I hope you all will check in from time to time and see where my journey and passion take me.

SCO DUCKS!