and I did excel in stats in college, but when I was younger I could not decide what I wanted to do. I started out as a high school kid with dreams of playing professional baseball (I even had pro and college scouts from all over the U.S. watching me…..I had multiple full ride scholarship offers from schools including the University of Miami and every school in the state of Michigan…but injury ended my aspirations as I dislocated the elbow on my throwing arm and fractured the same wrist while playing football….my arm was never the same after that. I can still hit to this day, and even throw the ball pretty hard for a 33 year old guy playing softball, but I went from throwing in the high 80’s and low 90’s as a 10th grader to throwing 67 mph at best after the injury). After high school, I had an offer to try out for the West Michigan Whitecaps….but my confidence was shattered and I did not even try. Once my dream of playing professional baseball was over, I turned to my second love…..flying airplanes.

Because I was not physically capable of flying a fighter jet in the Air Force (apparently you have to have 20-20 vision and no fillings in your teeth) I decided to go to Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, MI for Aviation. I obtained a private pilots license and was on my way to getting a Commercial license when I ran out of funds. I needed a bank loan for my flight account (of $10,000), and I could not get it based on my credit and the fact that I had no co-signer. That dream ending abruptly, I transferred to Alma College to be with my younger brother. I took up studying Computer Science during my first year there, but after the first year I started to struggle with the programming classes I was taking. I realized that I was going to fail in that program, so I switched majors….first to Economics (Zzzzzzz…..I was an Econ major for 2 weeks, but since I kept falling asleep in Econ 101 I decided to again switch majors to Sports Medicine). I studied Sports Medicine successfully for 2 years at Alma (I was on the Dean’s list every term). I was getting close to the time that I was told I would graduate, with the classes getting far more advanced and difficult (Anatomy and the gross Anatomy lab with real human cadavers, Physiology, Bio-mechanics, Biology, Therapeutic Modalities etc…..fun fun), when I was told that I would not graduate with the class I was supposed to graduate with, and that I would need to take another 2 terms before I could graduate.

This was a minor setback in my mind, but other obstacles started showing their ugly faces. I broke my foot while playing basketball, which put me out of work for 6 weeks (I was taking 18 and a half credits and working full time at Meijer at the time), my immune system was weakened from that injury and so I started getting sick easily (which put a major strain on my studying and ability to attend classes), and to top it off the college closed the dorms for Christmas break right at the time that I was supposed to return to work! I asked my bosses if I could just wait a couple more weeks before coming back to work, explaining the circumstances, and they gave me two choices…..quit or transfer. I was forced to transfer back to my home store in Traverse City, upon which time my pay was cut by $2 an hour and I was placed in a different department. I finished out the holiday season at home, but when I asked to be transferred back to the Mt. Pleasant store, they said there was no room for me in my old department, and I would have to continue working at a lower pay rate in a general merchandise role. I refused, and was forced to quit.

Back at Alma, jobless, I had time to focus on my studying. I was working my butt off, doing the best work I had ever done at Alma…..but there was this woman, who happened to be the head of the Sports Medicine department at Alma, and who was also the head Athletic Trainer for the college, who was a feminist (if not an outright lesbian) man hater. I was one of only 3 men that had even been accepted to the program (one was studying overseas and the other was, shall we say, a bit silly and always up He-bitch’s ass). I was producing work that was every bit as good as the work the girls were producing, as compared and confirmed by those very girls themselves, yet I was getting C’s and D’s while they were all getting A’s. I took the matter to my advisor, who shrugged it off, then to the Dean, who shrugged it off, then to the Provost, who seemed concerned but did nothing, and finally all the way to the top with the President of the college. I was told at every avenue that I needed to find a way to deal with it, that this woman had never had any problem like this in the past, and that there was nothing they could or would do about it. I told the President of the college that if nothing was done I would drop all of my classes and take my $21,000 a year elsewhere. He said he was sorry I felt that way, but he did nothing. I kept to my word…..thus not getting a degree from Alma College.

That was in 2000. Times got hard for me after that, and I went down a dark path until 2003 when my wife to be came back into my life. We moved in together and we were married in April of 2005. Later that year my daughter was born. From May of 2003 until April of 2007, I worked anywhere I could….mostly at temp agencies and for 6 months at Subway. When the work started to get thin, I decided to go back to school (with a renewed determination and motivation provided by my desire to support my family). In April of 2007 I enrolled at Colorado Technical University, in an accelerated Accounting program. I quickly finished the required classes to be awarded an Associate’s degree in Accounting in December of 2007. At the end of March of 2009, I obtained my goal of a Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting with a 4.0 GPA. I graduated Summa Cum Laude at the top of my class from Colorado Tech, and I have been looking for a job in my career field ever since.

And that is the partial history of the last 17 years of my life, in a nutshell. I am open to working in any position that I can get with my degree, and I am not closed minded to solely an Accounting role. I just want to be paid well enough that I can live comfortably and support my family. I am a person who learns quickly and easily, and I am very manageable and trainable. If I could find someone who was willing to train me, I am confident that there is no job that I can not do. So, if any of you managers out there are looking for a smart guy who will give you everything he has……I am your man.