Graduation Clebration

It has been quite a while since I posted on my blog, and I promise there is good reason for that! Yesterday we had a wonderful get together with friends and family to celebrate my graduation from the University of Phoenix. Towards then end I was asked to say a few words… and well, they certainly ended up being just a few. I squeaked out a couple thank-you’s and that’s about it. I promised the “translation” on line so everyone could at least read it. And now I’m going to sign up for a Toastmasters’ club…

I prepared a few words for the occasion, just in case I was asked to say anything. So, here we go, assuming I can make it through without getting too choked up. (And I certainly did get too choked up…)
First, I would like to thank the hosts of the party: My Mom – Karen Scott, and Christina’s mom – Tara Cromp, and my daughter Morgan.
And I know she doesn’t like to be the recipient of all the attention, but I did want to express my deep gratitude to my mother-in-law, Tara Cromp. She in many ways was the catalyst for all of this. She took the initiative several years ago to get her bachelor’s degree. And she faced all the challenges and more that any working professional, spouse, and parent could face. She’s been a huge inspiration. I would be hard pressed to think of anyone else quite as ambitious and dedicated when it comes to the many responsibilities set before her. So I think she deserves a big round of applause. And she has just begun her Master’s program so think of her in your prayers.
Next I would like to thank my wife and children. Christina was a rock for the family during this time, despite having her hands full with her own new responsibilities. I shared many times with my classmates that my kids were one of the biggest reasons I was working for my degree, and truthfully, their support – especially during the last nine months – is what got all of us through. They put up a countdown on the wall and faithfully checked off every day until the end.
I’d also like to thank each and every one of you coming to help celebrate. We have an assortment of guests: family, old friends, new friends, and even some folks from out of town that it is absolutely great to see. I think My Aunt Jo gets 1st place for distance traveled, coming all the way from Cuchara, CO. Everyone here has in some way touched our lives, whether an inspirational example, a word of encouragement, or walking right beside of us during life’s challenges. The way I see many of you face your own challenges inspires me to face life head on and with joy.
We even have a few representatives from my work here. Concert has been a family to me for the past eleven years, and I have done much of my growing up there. So I’m very thankful for their willingness to put a little faith in me.
For those of you who don’t know the whole story, I’d like to share a little background and then close with a few thoughts. I guess I could go back pretty far, like to when I was nine and carried around my Dad’s old briefcase pretending to be a businessman with a laptop. That was after I concluded that Zorro probably wasn’t going to work for a career. A decade later I found myself at George Mason studying business, as my friend and I dreamed up how we could start our own Empire Records style music store. But, smitten with love, life headed in a different direction. I took a full-time job at Concert, married my beautiful wife, and we had a baby… and another… and another… ahem. Except for a class here and there, it felt like completing college was pretty much out of the picture. A few years into it, we tried our hand at our own business, mainly out of desperation. We racked up a lot of debt, and basically failed miserably. But we did learn a lot through the experience.
Fast-forward, to 2008… another critical piece to the story. By this time we had four children, and God tapped my shoulder to step up and lead our family out of our financial debt. So we began what we thought would be long years of arduous work. However, with some sacrifice, a lot of rice and beans, and a bit of good old fashioned work, we surprised ourselves and paid off 25,000 of debt in 9 months, remaining debt free to this day.
So now we found ourselves committed to being debt free, but what exactly did that mean for our future. It looked like a lot of waiting, patience, and trusting God for every next step. Just as we were tucking away most ambitious goals, my mother-in-law approached me about a chance for a scholarship to get a bachelor’s degree from University of Phoenix. She had recently finished her degree, and the school had a program called Pay It Forward where alumni could write in recommending someone for full scholarship. So we said, “why not?!” with only remote hope I would be chosen. A few months later, and I remember the day well, I was working back in the warehouse at Concert when I got a call. With jaw dropped, I listened as they told me I was awarded the scholarship. Accepting it as an answer to prayer and confirmation of our debt-free commitment, we began the new adventure in March of 2009. We made some adjustments to family life, but there were times when we thought the work would never end. We had our share of challenges and doubts, but kept pressing on by the grace of God, and eventually found ourselves on the precipice of 2011. Just a couple months before, I had received a call from my advisor that I could double up on classes if I wanted. After entertaining the idea for the remainder of the year, we got some additional news… we were expecting our seventh bundle of joy. So as a family, we sat down New Year’s Day and laid out a plan for me to double up and finish by September… what would be 4 days before the baby’s due date. We knew the next few months would be hard, and that we might question our sanity at times… especially with statistics in the first two sets of classes. But everyone pitched in and picked up responsibilities. The end day started to come more quickly and we were all motivated by the progress. Henry, here, threw a slight wrench in our plans by showing up a few days ahead of schedule, so I ended up turning in my last assignment in the hospital. But I graduated from the University of Starbucks…ahem… Phoenix on September 5th with a sigh of relief and some tears of joy.
Through the experience, I learned a lot besides just what the textbooks taught, and I did want to share one major thought or lesson I learned and still am learning. As I interacted with classmates it was very evident that (1) everyone has challenges and (2) that we can face them in various ways. Some students dropped out because they didn’t like the instructor or the work load. But then there were a couple ladies that gave birth 4 weeks into a 5 week class and still completed everything. A few months ago our pastor asked us to rate on a scale of one to ten how we handle change, challenges, or just when things don’t go our way (1 being we have a complete mental and emotional breakdown, and 10 we don’t miss a beat). This was actually right around when I was studying change management. I really wanted to say I was at least a 5, but the more I paid attention to my reactions, I’m probably closer to a 3. And it has much to do with how I like to be in control of my circumstances. Can anyone relate? I can grit my teeth and get through just about anything, but I don’t always do it with joy. Our friends, the Ferrantes came to visit us in the hospital after Henry was born – the evening I graduated. And Rick reminded me that although life like that is possible, it is exhausting and it is not life to the fullest. Peace and joy actually come from handing over control to God rather than holding tighter to it. So as we all go through life with a degree of uncertainty, I would encourage you and myself to view peace, joy, and purpose not as something that you achieve through control or when you accomplish your goals, but rather something you need to embrace and practice on a daily basis as you go through the twists and turns of life.
Thank you again for coming out, and please enjoy the rest of the celebration!

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