Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc.
It was 1985 and I still didn’t have a good handle on what I wanted to do “for a living?” Out on the farm I had many people asking me that question. “Son, what are you going to do for a living?” So I looked at tv commercials and newspaper articles and it seemed like “computer programming” was the newest “wonder-child!” So I signed up for that at business college! From my first day I remember I had “basic computer programming class” and I remember a couple of things… #1 – bits and bytes ruled the “roost!” #2 The computer part that did the “computing” had “no moving parts!” Zero!
Well I went on to graduate with some honors they called: Summa cum laude which apparently is the highest academic distinction awarded by U.S. universities, translating from Latin to “with highest praise,” recognizing graduates with exceptional academic achievement, typically a near-perfect GPA (often 3.9+) and ranking in the top 1-5% of their class, signifying mastery and intellectual excellence.
Wow! I was just some hick from a Kentucky farm and had never heard those words before? Summa cum laude?? Ok so I guess that’s great but I got tired of looking at computer screens and my mom was in and out of hospitals dying of cancer… so I watched what the nurses did and decided to go back to school to become someone who helps others like my mom! But guess what? I, along with most folks, ended up looking at a lot of computer screens anyway! – “The” Trainer Outdoor Training Specialist /Consultant- @61!
That was then, this is now and I’ve gone onto becoming an “Outdoor Training Specialist” which I love doing!
Sometimes you find out you’re good at something but it’s not what you want to do for the rest of your life!