Out of Normal: Blog finding....

August 18, 2003

Blog finding....

I received an email this morning from a former college classmate, John Wang. John has apparently survived the dot-com blunderings of our generation, and is doing extremely well for himself, as I always imagined that he would.

Our email exchage further cemented my beliefs that if any of us are going to experience a high degree of success and fulfillment, that we have to go out and make it happen for ourselves. John is a first generation American born Korean, and didn't come from a wealthy family by any means. (Don't worry, I have his permission to air his life story, Im not pimping a friend for content.) He also loves the United States and has always reminded me how fortunate we are to be in a free country where we can speak as we please and come and go as we please. I have always taken those things for granted, as I have never known anything else, other than from travel.

While most of us were out getting our drink on during college, John happily stayed behind to work on projects for classes, or worked in the school cafeteria to help offset the cost of his tuition. An eighteen to 20 hour course-load was not uncommon for him and he often took courses outside of his field of study, business administration, if he thought that they were interesting or would better prepare him for the business world. After finishing his BSBA, John has gone on to earn an MBA, a JD (Law degree) and a second bachelor of science in computer information systems.

With the combined knowledge and skillset John has earned through blood, sweat and tears, he is enjoying a wonderful life right now. Some of you might guess that he would be an attorney, a highly paid computer programmer, or maybe even a manager for a fortune 500 company. Before I go into what it is that John has done with his life, let me tell you what he let me in on about what exactly he learned during his time in the classroom. The primary thing that he wanted to get across to me was that knowledge is empowering and that the control and dissemination of that knowledge is where it is all at. Empowering others is where he has chosen to spend his life and I would have guessed no less of him. John teaches kindergarden in an inner city setting. When he told me that, I all of a sudden got it. Not only does he teach kindergarden, on a completely volunteer basis he works with other inner-city schools as a grant proposal writer and helps them to receive computers and software for the lower grade level classrooms, therefore opening up the childrens worlds to see things outside of there current life and existence.

More than ever, it is apparent to me that a label of "Successful" cannot be ascertained by where someone lives, what they drive, or anything material at all. It isn't earned by being part of a hipster crowd, drinking red wine with beautiful people on the veranda of a SOHO loft. The label is earned by those who touch lives and make a difference in their own community. If each graduating class at each college had a John Wang, imagine where this country would be today.

Posted by Broch at August 18, 2003 02:03 PM

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Broch said wang

Posted by: crutch at August 18, 2003 07:14 PM

Teaching can be such a noble and gratifying profession. When I taught piano lessons, my biggest joy was seeing my students progress in their learning. Your students' successes become yours, so I hear you on the post.

Posted by: April at August 18, 2003 10:56 PM

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August 18, 2003

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