Rick Fox at UNC
All Star
Taken from one of my weekly Gym updates.
A friend of mine just got a fellowship to pursue his Ph.D studies at Columbia University in New York and I couldn't be happier for him. I gain inspiration and guidance from myriad sources and I'm grateful and happy to have each one of them in my life. Early this week I spoke with him for an hour and a half and here are a few quick gems from the conversation.
1. It is not too late -- My boy did not follow a traditional path; he is 32-years old, has a wife and two kids, and began his undergraduate studies (at a community college) six-years after high-school ended. Dude transferred to a state school and worked full-time in order to complete his bachelors. He faced a number of obstacles; he applied for a Ph.D program at said state school and was turned down due to departmental politics (maybe @Walt knows about this type of stuff), his brother was killed in Iraq, and he was passed over for numerous Government jobs (Defense Department, State Department, etc.). He was basically looking to pick the "low-hanging" fruit because that's all he saw in front of him; which leads to...
2. He couldn't really proceed because he lacked the vision -- He basically never saw himself at a certain level so he never seriously went after it. Once he developed his vision a lot changed. Now he's basically being paid to live in Morningside Heights and study alongside some of the most learned minds in the world.
3. I've been slacking and limiting my vision -- This is personal but he made sure to remind me of how close we were and how much I've been slacking and limiting my vision.Good friends will do that. Chances are, a lot of you can relate to this.
"Penn State guy had beaten Ohio State guy 3 times. At 5:25, Ohio State starts to believe winning is possible. Game changed":
No excuses, get to work this week my guys.
A friend of mine just got a fellowship to pursue his Ph.D studies at Columbia University in New York and I couldn't be happier for him. I gain inspiration and guidance from myriad sources and I'm grateful and happy to have each one of them in my life. Early this week I spoke with him for an hour and a half and here are a few quick gems from the conversation.
1. It is not too late -- My boy did not follow a traditional path; he is 32-years old, has a wife and two kids, and began his undergraduate studies (at a community college) six-years after high-school ended. Dude transferred to a state school and worked full-time in order to complete his bachelors. He faced a number of obstacles; he applied for a Ph.D program at said state school and was turned down due to departmental politics (maybe @Walt knows about this type of stuff), his brother was killed in Iraq, and he was passed over for numerous Government jobs (Defense Department, State Department, etc.). He was basically looking to pick the "low-hanging" fruit because that's all he saw in front of him; which leads to...
2. He couldn't really proceed because he lacked the vision -- He basically never saw himself at a certain level so he never seriously went after it. Once he developed his vision a lot changed. Now he's basically being paid to live in Morningside Heights and study alongside some of the most learned minds in the world.
3. I've been slacking and limiting my vision -- This is personal but he made sure to remind me of how close we were and how much I've been slacking and limiting my vision.Good friends will do that. Chances are, a lot of you can relate to this.
"Penn State guy had beaten Ohio State guy 3 times. At 5:25, Ohio State starts to believe winning is possible. Game changed":
No excuses, get to work this week my guys.