Warm and Cold
Actually, we'll start with cold. -11 degrees Fahrenheit to be exact. That's how cold the wind made it feel (according to my AccuWeather.com iPhone app - no, I didn't get paid for that) when I was walking to the bus stop at 4:37 this morning. The wind was blowing 16 mph, and gusting at least 20, I would guess. The three most hated words of winter for me, by the way: Wind. Chill. Factor. I had to walk directly into it for about 15 minutes, then stand around for another five until the bus got there. Standing was the worst part. I don't remember ever feeling so cold.
Contrast that with the warmth I felt when I got home last Wednesday night after finishing my final class at the University of Phoenix. I walked into my bedroom to find this waiting for me:
Lousy image quality and not-as-bad-as-it-looks messy bedroom notwithstanding, that's real warmth. It only got better yesterday afternoon when I learned that despite being administered by the single most demanding professor I've ever had, my final class didn't rob me of my hard earned academic perfection (so to speak).
I think I said last time I posted on this topic that I would be okay with it if I did get a worse grade this time around, and I meant it. I prepared myself to be satisfied with my best effort, even if it didn't get me the best possible marks. But it turns out I got both. I'm not trying to be boastful, it's just extremely satisfying. I worked my tail off for it even when I knew I didn't have to. At times I even got frustrated because certain professors gave me good grades without requiring that I even turn in the work I lost so much sleep over. My wife can confirm that. Plus I got to finish up with two of the best guys I know. The three of us have been on an academic team for nearly a year, and we all finished our programs at the same time. The friendship we cultivated was even more rewarding than the excellence we achieved in everything. One of them is a sales manager for Living Scriptures, and I'll be posting an interview with him on Toward an LDS Cinema before too long. The other is a manager at Discover Card, and a great person. He doesn't get into the blogging thing, but I've included some of his comments from school discussions in previous posts.
So even though you'll probably never read it, congratulations Kevin and Ryan. And thanks Sara, Millie, and Jeannie, for giving me a warmth that can keep me going even on the coldest of days.
Contrast that with the warmth I felt when I got home last Wednesday night after finishing my final class at the University of Phoenix. I walked into my bedroom to find this waiting for me:
Lousy image quality and not-as-bad-as-it-looks messy bedroom notwithstanding, that's real warmth. It only got better yesterday afternoon when I learned that despite being administered by the single most demanding professor I've ever had, my final class didn't rob me of my hard earned academic perfection (so to speak).
I think I said last time I posted on this topic that I would be okay with it if I did get a worse grade this time around, and I meant it. I prepared myself to be satisfied with my best effort, even if it didn't get me the best possible marks. But it turns out I got both. I'm not trying to be boastful, it's just extremely satisfying. I worked my tail off for it even when I knew I didn't have to. At times I even got frustrated because certain professors gave me good grades without requiring that I even turn in the work I lost so much sleep over. My wife can confirm that. Plus I got to finish up with two of the best guys I know. The three of us have been on an academic team for nearly a year, and we all finished our programs at the same time. The friendship we cultivated was even more rewarding than the excellence we achieved in everything. One of them is a sales manager for Living Scriptures, and I'll be posting an interview with him on Toward an LDS Cinema before too long. The other is a manager at Discover Card, and a great person. He doesn't get into the blogging thing, but I've included some of his comments from school discussions in previous posts.
So even though you'll probably never read it, congratulations Kevin and Ryan. And thanks Sara, Millie, and Jeannie, for giving me a warmth that can keep me going even on the coldest of days.
Comments
Hey! Congratulations!
(Now what?)