Life SPINOFF: Personal destiny stories - Page 3

**cdcox** · 05-05-2009, 09:50 PM

Spinoff of FAX's fascinating thread. Let's take it from the abstract to the concrete.What are the seemingly small subtle events that have directed your "destiny"?

1. Learning the back stroke. I used to get sick to my stomach thinking about swimming lessons. I feared them all day. My folks arranged some private lessons and I have been at home in the water ever since. I not only overcame my discomfort in the water, but overcame the fear of my swimming teacher. Very big confidence builder.

2. My dad encouraging me to stand up to another kid that was picking on me. We were on a hike during our conversation. This kid was an issue in my life at the time. Standing up to him was a real confidence builder.

3. My 7th grade math teacher uttering the words "Between you, me and the gate post, I know you can do better than this." I was in the bottom 4 students in my math class at the time. For some reason, those words got under my skin. I raised my grade from an F to a C in two weeks, was best in my 8th grade math class, and was in accelerated math classes by 9th grade.

4. My dad encouraging me to confront a Jr High teacher about an unfair punishment. I was supposed to write sentences for an infraction that I did not commit. I confronted the teacher and he relented on the punishment. I am master of my own universe.

5. Al Gore invents the internet, leading to me wasting untold hours on Chiefsplanet.

6. I lock eyes with a girl at a party/dance club as a freshman in college. Favorite song gets played. I ask her to dance. Leads to my first date, and future wife.

7. Recession of '82-83 coinciding with my graduation from college. No jobs to be had, but I need an income so I can get married. I read a description of a research position that I think I can do, even though it would require a slight change of discipline. I decide to go to grad school.

8. On the day I defend my MS thesis, my advisor tells me I should really consider going for a PhD. I go to work in the real world, but these words gnaw at me. I relent and go for my PhD 2-1/2 years later under the same adivisor. He later moves and recruits me as a faculty member at my current university.

9. I am introduced to a new colleague. Our skills are complimentary, and we get along. By working with him, I revitalize my research career. Good things happen in my career, including meeting my best graduate student ever who is now a very good friend as well.

ziggysocki · 05-06-2009, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MOhillbilly

Mnt. Vernon?

Yup

**Baby Lee** · 05-06-2009, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Two big ones come to mind.

1. freshman year of college, I'm enrolled as a computer science major. First day of school I go to class X (whatever it was), Class Y (whatever that was) and then Calculus I. I sit there for an hour or so. Class ends. I walk directly to the registrar's office to change my major and decide I'm going to law school because I didn't understand a single word out of the Professor's mouth. (it was only later that I learned that many CS majors squeak by with Cs and Ds in calculus because calculus isn't all that critical to a CS degree. I'm thinking I'm going to fail, but apparnetly nobody fails calculus...)

Maybe not all out failing, but they don't let you move to the next level of calculus with a D or lower. You'd be surprised at how many people at UMSL, by the time they get through Calc III have taken each class twice. One kid in my class, he passed Calc II, and then got a D in Calc III, at which point they noticed that his instructor actually gave him a high D instead of a low C in Calc I, so he had to start all over. Though they did reimburse him for superflous coursework.
And Calc I ain't got shit on the middle of Calc II, integration by parts and substitution.

eazyb81 · 05-06-2009, 04:42 PM

I've enjoyed the entries on here so much I decided to do my own.

I always joke that I am a "one chance" type of guy, and these are the reasons why:

1. Senior year of college, this one girl was obsessed with my best friend, who I happened to live with. She would always stop by to hang out, but he didn't like her at all. I guess to make it not so weird, she brought her friend with her one time and the four of us went out for happy hour to meet friends. I thought said friend was cute, so I made sure to sit next to her at our big table. Someone pulled out a deck of cards to play a drinking game called "suck and blow" (basically a spin the bottle-type game with cards). I tried to pass the card to her, it dropped, we locked lips, I saw fireworks, and that was it. We've been dating for 5 years now and will get married this September. Also, found out later a friend that was there liked her and was trying to sit next to her. I messed around with girls all the time in HS and college but never seriously dated one until her.

2. A couple years after I graduated college, I realized I was bored at my job and wanted more of a challenge. I had initially planned to attend law school after college but didn't end up going through on it. My first job out of school was in finance and it was my first exposure to investments. I really felt I wanted to take a big step in my career to land my dream job, so I decided to apply for business school to get my MBA. I knew only a top school would give me the chance to land my dream job, so I had to nail the GMAT. I took it the first time without studying and did well, but didn't score high enough. I studied my ass off for the next few months and took the test a second time, but my score didn't budge. I was crushed and wanted to just give up. But after a couple days, I knew I could do better and I couldn't live with myself if I gave up, so I studied for another few months before taking the test a third time and getting the magic 7 handle on my score I needed to get looked at by the top schools. I applied to five, interviewed with three, and was accepted by one.

3. Started my two year business school program in fall of 2007 at the height of the economy. Companies were handing out top jobs left and right, but slowly the economy began to tank. I missed out on a summer internship with the top finance companies, but I kept networking and interviewing. I wasn't going to give up. However, by this past fall it looked like it was just going to be bad timing on my part, as the job market in finance was essentially frozen. I had taken a few networking trips to NYC, but I decided to take one more this past February. On a whim, I decided to extend my trip by an extra day and visit some people in Boston. This required a bus trip in the middle of the night and I didn't get to my Boston hotel until 4 AM. On my last meeting of the Boston trip, I met an alum who told me to contact her friend at XYZ elite bank. I called the woman, hit it off with her, and a week later she emailed me about a position that the company was trying to fill that was exactly what I wanted to do. After two months and 11 interviews, I received my one and only job offer last Friday, and it truly is my dream job. This was probably the biggest moment of my life so far and I feel it will have a monumental impact on my future.

stevieray · 05-06-2009, 08:11 PM

Losing my Dad at 23. It just isn't replaceable. i knew then i was truly on my own, and had to find my own way, knowing he'd never be there from advice or an encouraging word to seeing his grandaughters shine while playing violin or singing in Master Choir. I'm now the age he was when he died and have been without him for half my life. Life goes on...lesson learned the hard way.

I had aquired some management experience, but was tired of making my boss rich..I started my own business doing commercial art..I made up signs and called any and every art related number in the phone book..to no avail..I FINALLY landed a job painting a Dodge Viper on the side of a Car Stereo shop and three people hired me during the process...work died and there was another worling artist in town painting a 50' by 30' mural...drove by several days, finally caught him on the lift, he was waiting for another artist to show up that day and he thoight I was him..the guy never showed and he hired me..we worked for chilis and on the border and it took me form shore to shore doing on site BIG Mouth Burger and Flying Buffalo Wings murals..

to be continued..duty calls.

05-05-2009, 09:50 PM
cdcox www.nfl-forecast.com Join Date: Sep 2000 Casino cash: $-558231	SPINOFF: Personal destiny stories Spinoff of FAX's fascinating thread. Let's take it from the abstract to the concrete.What are the seemingly small subtle events that have directed your "destiny"? 1. Learning the back stroke. I used to get sick to my stomach thinking about swimming lessons. I feared them all day. My folks arranged some private lessons and I have been at home in the water ever since. I not only overcame my discomfort in the water, but overcame the fear of my swimming teacher. Very big confidence builder. 2. My dad encouraging me to stand up to another kid that was picking on me. We were on a hike during our conversation. This kid was an issue in my life at the time. Standing up to him was a real confidence builder. 3. My 7th grade math teacher uttering the words "Between you, me and the gate post, I know you can do better than this." I was in the bottom 4 students in my math class at the time. For some reason, those words got under my skin. I raised my grade from an F to a C in two weeks, was best in my 8th grade math class, and was in accelerated math classes by 9th grade. 4. My dad encouraging me to confront a Jr High teacher about an unfair punishment. I was supposed to write sentences for an infraction that I did not commit. I confronted the teacher and he relented on the punishment. I am master of my own universe. 5. Al Gore invents the internet, leading to me wasting untold hours on Chiefsplanet. 6. I lock eyes with a girl at a party/dance club as a freshman in college. Favorite song gets played. I ask her to dance. Leads to my first date, and future wife. 7. Recession of '82-83 coinciding with my graduation from college. No jobs to be had, but I need an income so I can get married. I read a description of a research position that I think I can do, even though it would require a slight change of discipline. I decide to go to grad school. 8. On the day I defend my MS thesis, my advisor tells me I should really consider going for a PhD. I go to work in the real world, but these words gnaw at me. I relent and go for my PhD 2-1/2 years later under the same adivisor. He later moves and recruits me as a faculty member at my current university. 9. I am introduced to a new colleague. Our skills are complimentary, and we get along. By working with him, I revitalize my research career. Good things happen in my career, including meeting my best graduate student ever who is now a very good friend as well.
Posts: 46,032

05-06-2009, 04:42 PM	#33
eazyb81 The Illuminati Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: the road less traveled Casino cash: $9984900	I've enjoyed the entries on here so much I decided to do my own. I always joke that I am a "one chance" type of guy, and these are the reasons why: 1. Senior year of college, this one girl was obsessed with my best friend, who I happened to live with. She would always stop by to hang out, but he didn't like her at all. I guess to make it not so weird, she brought her friend with her one time and the four of us went out for happy hour to meet friends. I thought said friend was cute, so I made sure to sit next to her at our big table. Someone pulled out a deck of cards to play a drinking game called "suck and blow" (basically a spin the bottle-type game with cards). I tried to pass the card to her, it dropped, we locked lips, I saw fireworks, and that was it. We've been dating for 5 years now and will get married this September. Also, found out later a friend that was there liked her and was trying to sit next to her. I messed around with girls all the time in HS and college but never seriously dated one until her. 2. A couple years after I graduated college, I realized I was bored at my job and wanted more of a challenge. I had initially planned to attend law school after college but didn't end up going through on it. My first job out of school was in finance and it was my first exposure to investments. I really felt I wanted to take a big step in my career to land my dream job, so I decided to apply for business school to get my MBA. I knew only a top school would give me the chance to land my dream job, so I had to nail the GMAT. I took it the first time without studying and did well, but didn't score high enough. I studied my ass off for the next few months and took the test a second time, but my score didn't budge. I was crushed and wanted to just give up. But after a couple days, I knew I could do better and I couldn't live with myself if I gave up, so I studied for another few months before taking the test a third time and getting the magic 7 handle on my score I needed to get looked at by the top schools. I applied to five, interviewed with three, and was accepted by one. 3. Started my two year business school program in fall of 2007 at the height of the economy. Companies were handing out top jobs left and right, but slowly the economy began to tank. I missed out on a summer internship with the top finance companies, but I kept networking and interviewing. I wasn't going to give up. However, by this past fall it looked like it was just going to be bad timing on my part, as the job market in finance was essentially frozen. I had taken a few networking trips to NYC, but I decided to take one more this past February. On a whim, I decided to extend my trip by an extra day and visit some people in Boston. This required a bus trip in the middle of the night and I didn't get to my Boston hotel until 4 AM. On my last meeting of the Boston trip, I met an alum who told me to contact her friend at XYZ elite bank. I called the woman, hit it off with her, and a week later she emailed me about a position that the company was trying to fill that was exactly what I wanted to do. After two months and 11 interviews, I received my one and only job offer last Friday, and it truly is my dream job. This was probably the biggest moment of my life so far and I feel it will have a monumental impact on my future.
Posts: 12,033

05-06-2009, 08:11 PM	#34
stevieray Most things I worry about… Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Under Pressure Casino cash: $-1274727	Losing my Dad at 23. It just isn't replaceable. i knew then i was truly on my own, and had to find my own way, knowing he'd never be there from advice or an encouraging word to seeing his grandaughters shine while playing violin or singing in Master Choir. I'm now the age he was when he died and have been without him for half my life. Life goes on...lesson learned the hard way. I had aquired some management experience, but was tired of making my boss rich..I started my own business doing commercial art..I made up signs and called any and every art related number in the phone book..to no avail..I FINALLY landed a job painting a Dodge Viper on the side of a Car Stereo shop and three people hired me during the process...work died and there was another worling artist in town painting a 50' by 30' mural...drove by several days, finally caught him on the lift, he was waiting for another artist to show up that day and he thoight I was him..the guy never showed and he hired me..we worked for chilis and on the border and it took me form shore to shore doing on site BIG Mouth Burger and Flying Buffalo Wings murals.. to be continued..duty calls.
Posts: 74,096