However, I have found very little pleasure writing any of those aforementioned pieces. They all lacked one central idea, or element if you will.
Passion.
No matter what you do in life, be passionate. It makes the world go round. Without it, life becomes a series of motions, with no luster or feeling to it. With 22 plus years under my belt I still have a lot to learn, but one of the small lessons I have discovered thus far is that if anything is worth doing, it is worth doing with passion.
Some of the most influential people in my life are ones who have had all lived with an incredible amount of passion. Jimmy Valvano immediately comes to my mind. Now, while I have never met Jimmy V, I have taken a lot away from what he has taught. Jimmy V was a college basketball coach who won a national championship with North Carolina State in 1983. He was diagnosed with cancer nine years later.
In 1993 Jimmy V gave the greatest speech I have ever had the honor to hear. If you have never gotten the opportunity to listen, please do yourself the favor.
He died seven weeks later.
We all have a legacy. Jimmy V’s was to live life with passion and to never give up.
Giving up was a common and prevalent thought that came across my mind just one year ago.
I was finished with my first semester at Heidelberg College, far away from Ohio University. I was miserable, and worst of all, I felt as if there was no way out. Majoring in education was not working out. I did not know what, or even where, I wanted to go with my life. I started to shut out a lot of people in my life. Good people. People that would have helped me get out of the messy situation I had put myself in. I had lost a passion for life.
Charles Barkley is the only one who could summed up what was going on with me, “That is turrible.”
I thought maybe I would completely drop out of school, become a barber or something. Seriously, I looked into barber school. Or, maybe, I try the online college thing. Seriously, I almost applied to Phoenix University. They still try calling me to this very day. Lastly, in what was probably the dumbest thing I could have done, I stayed at Heidelberg and switched to Communications.
That lasted approximately two weeks. However, as dumb as that move was, it was a gigantic blessing in disguise. During those short 14 days, I rediscovered my passion.
Prior to the start of that semester, I had asked Devin if he wanted to co-host a radio show with me. He accepted and we went through the necessary loopholes to set everything up. After I dropped out of the Berg, Devin and I decided to still go on with the show, and I am very grateful we did.
“Old College Roommates,” or better known as “OCR” hit the airwaves Tuesday nights for two hours over a two month period starting last October. It was there that I discovered how much I really enjoyed radio. It was just a whole lot of fun. Now, radio is not my passion, but for the first time in what seemed like forever, I had found something (besides being on the Berg’s tennis team, obviously) that I looked forward to. It turned a rotten situation into something much more manageable. I was very lucky in that sense.
That same October, myself, along with my parents, decided that going back to Ohio University would be my next move. My third major of my collegiate career would be the one it should have been all along.
Writing.
It is my passion. It is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
While I was doing broadcast journalism, my writing took a back seat. It was not as much about writing as it was about all the other stuff that goes into television. Desired broadcast talents included presentation, ability to react, and composure. Writing was way down on the list.
Now that I am in news writing I can incorporate those talents I used in broadcast to make myself an even better writer.
It’s funny. Everything I have gone through has made me a better writer, and more importantly a better person.
Now what? Well, it is spring quarter, and there are 30 days left in the quarter. After those 30 days have passed me by, I will need to pass just six more classes to graduate from Ohio University. I am taking half of those over the summer, and the other three fall quarter next year. The end, which seemed an unreachable destination six months ago, is now right in front of me.
I will be interning this summer with the Southern Ohio Copperheads. Their website is http://www.copperheadbaseball.com/. Go ahead right now and bookmark that site as one of your favorites. I will be writing for them all summer, and I will be doing play-by-play as well. You can listen to the games through the website, so check it often.
I need to thank a couple people for putting me in this current position. First, and foremost, are my parents. They are the best parents anyone could ask for. I basically took a year off of school, and instead of yelling at me, they were encouraging. Instead of placing blame, they looked for a resolution. I love them very much. Secondly are my friends. Kevin, Bart, Barnes, Bursa, Devin, the Franks, and all the others. They have been there for me in my darkest days, and did not pass any judgment. Instead, they became the foundation for the person I am to this very day. Lastly, my brother Josh. I give him a hard time because he and I are very different individuals, but he, like my friends, was always there for me.
As with my “Life Is …” post, this one was not about sports at all. It didn’t discuss my love for Brady Quinn, or why the Penguins are going to win the Stanley Cup. Rather, it talked about passion, and why we all need to find something we are passionate about.On this day one year ago I was very much hopeless, today I am hopeful, and who knows what is in store for me tomorrow, much less in one year.
I do know that it will involve passion.
At the very least, a passion for life.
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