{"id":82318,"date":"2018-04-28T09:25:16","date_gmt":"2018-04-28T13:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=82318"},"modified":"2018-06-07T15:57:30","modified_gmt":"2018-06-07T19:57:30","slug":"ucf-was-the-college-experience-i-was-hoping-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-was-the-college-experience-i-was-hoping-for\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cUCF Was the College Experience I Was Hoping For\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may have seen me around campus. I\u2019m easy to recognize \u2014 my daily uniform is a black t-shirt with an image of a cypress tree, and on the back it says \u201cBrew Crew.\u201d Shorts in the summer, jeans when it\u2019s cold, and Chuck Taylors either way. Some of my classmates call me Brew Crew in a jesting sort of way, and I\u2019ve come to accept the moniker in good humor.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t only wear my \u201cuniform\u201d because it\u2019s convenient and I like the fit. I don\u2019t only wear it because I have dozens of the shirts from the last job I had as a brewer in Gainesville. I wear it to remind myself where I came from. You see, a year ago I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be able to finish my college degree anywhere. My college career had been spotty and directionless \u2014 I studied modern dance, photography and poetry. I got an associate\u2019s degree in emergency medical services while doing paramedic courses. I thought I wanted to be a doctor. When I got frustrated with community college professors who didn\u2019t care enough to take any of us seriously, I\u2019d drop the class out of protest. Sometimes I just stopped going and took the F. I wasn\u2019t sure what I was doing.<\/p>\n

About a year and a half ago, I was working at the brewery as my wife was finishing law school. I realized that I, too, wanted to go to law school and started sending in applications to finish my bachelor\u2019s. That\u2019s when I realized that no one wanted me anymore. Too long out of school, too directionless, wildly inconsistent grades \u2014 I had a lot of marks against me. But for the first time I knew exactly what I wanted to do, only it seemed I was too late.<\/p>\n

Then I got my acceptance letter from UCF. Within a month, my wife and I had packed up our apartment and were moving again \u2014 if I had a chance to finish my education and do what I wanted with my life, we weren\u2019t going to miss it. I started taking classes that summer, as full a schedule as I was allowed. I powered through my English<\/a> classes like a man on a mission. I loved every minute of it.<\/p>\n