Evidence

Dear Blog Buddies,

I have officially applied for school! I am going to SLCC for a bit until I can lift my grades. In 2004, I graduated high school and jumped right into my dream university, Westminster College. I was excited, scared, hesitant, and so proud of myself that I got in to the one that had been my dream school since I was seven. So I attended until January of 2006 – one and a half years. What happened?

I got there, and I met some very fake people, and some people who were only there for personal gain, and those were the ones who were being rewarded, and were being elevated and praised. Now, I know that college is for oneself, however I think it is important to have a respectful element of community there, and I did not find that.

After the first semester, I was disgusted at how easy the curriculum was. I’m a highly intelligent man, and I have a low amount of patience for stupidity, and I felt the campus was just filled with stupidity. Most of the students were just rich-bitches. I don’t say that condescendingly; that’s what everyone on the campus called them to classify those who were there via talent and those who were there via money. It was like a really bad version of high school, but MUCH pricier, rather than a higher learning institution.

And once again, my judgments created my demise. Because of all those beliefs, I started subconsciously sabotaging myself and by January of 2006 my grades were like hell. My GPA had sunk to, like, 2.95, I think? So I was put on academic probation, which simply meant that if I didn’t bring my GPA back up to 3.0+ the next semester, then I would lose my scholarship. However, I misinterpreted the meaning (probably not on accident), and thought it meant that I would have to pay for next semester’s tuition – $20,000 – by myself. I immediately jumped at the fear and high-tailed it out of there! I’ve spent the last three and a half years now, fearing going back. Numerous people have pushed me, and asked me “Why the hell aren’t you in school??” or “So when the hell are you going back to college???” (Notice: my friends apparently love the word “hell”…)

I’ve recently woken up fully. I’ve realized I had been wasting so much time in my life, and I have consequently been doing what I can to make up for lost time and get my life in full gear. My passion and zeal have awakened and it’s time for me to get shit done! ☺ So I think it was great timing when I was Skyping with my dearest friend, Sara Faulkner, and she simply said “Hey! I’m going to SLCC this fall, sign up and go to school with me!!” Normally, I would be like “Well, how much is it?” (Money is always my biggest backdoor) and “Well, I don’t know if I’ll have enough time to create the money” and “Oh, shit, well the application deadline is at the end of this week, and I have too much other stuff to do, there’s no way I have the time to get everything I need together…” (Time is also a “fun” backdoor for me to entertain) and “Oh, it will all just be so overwhelming!” But this time I just chose to operate from a different vein.

Before any responses came out of my…well, fingers (remember we were Skyping)…my hands led me to the web site for Salt Lake Community College and while we were chatting, I submitted my application. I proved my beliefs wrong right then. I had the time, because I acted on it right then. I hit the deadline (ahead of time), because I acted on it right then. And feeling that about myself feels SO good. I feel like a true man, ‘cause I’m out creating all the time! ☺

So tonight I VERY briefly looked through their online course catalog to figure out the range of classes I can take (wow, quite a lot more than I thought!) and about how many credit hours I’ll be aiming for, and consequently, how much money I get to save up ☺

But there’s quite a bit of work behind the scenes to make all the magic work. I get to obtain a copy of my transcripts from Westminster and fax them over to SLCC; I get to take placement tests; I get to meet with an Academic Advisor; I get to carefully choose all my classes; I get to attend a 90-minute orientation, which I am TOTALLY not looking forward to, haha; and a few other steps that aren’t coming to mind right now. Oh yeah, AND, by September 9, I get to create the money to actually attend, which looks like it will be about $1500 plus cost of books. So, probably about two grand all said and done. Oh! That just reminded me…Classes begin Aug. 26 (the day before my birthday) and I will be in Iceland from September 8-22, so before I head out of the country, I get to get all of my assignments done from my classes…’cause Lord knows I won’t be doin’ homework while I’m having a great time serving nature in another country! Haha. Wow...I’ve got a lot of considerations to handle…

Anyhow, I decided I would go to SLCC to get my grades up higher. My collegiate plan is to complete my Bachelor’s in Foreign Policy/Affairs at Georgetown and then go to Oxford for my Master’s. And I don’t yet know how to achieve that, but I know I will, because I have the determination to do so.

So what is it that you want to do? And what is standing in your way? Is it money, time, beliefs, self-worth? What EXACTLY is in your way? Only by ascertaining the minutiae can one know the key to their results. Comment here on this topic and take this forward to achieve that which you TRULY want in life.

Full of Love and Charity,

Ryan!