Eventhough it was a fairly high paying job for a nineteen year old, I knew that there was more in my future than staying in my small hometown. So with the prodding and assistance of my business law teacher, Ms. Bishop, I got the courage to enroll in college at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY

Because I had always enjoyed lifting weights for wrestling in high school, I thought that owning a gym would be the best possible career for me. That is why I enrolled in business administration classes during my first semester at college.

Moving away to college was an adjustment for sure. My best friends, Pete and Clinton were already attending and wrestling for the university. Moving into a dorm and finding too much freedom was soon to be my undoing. My grades were satisfactory but my motorcycle would soon change my future in a way that I would have never dreamed.

Shortly before the end of my first semester, a bunch of guys all got together with our motorcycles and decided to attend a daylong celebration at the Kentucky Derby Festival. This would include live bands, girls, and unfortunately, alcohol.

After spending all day in the sun we all decided to go to a nearby party to finish off the evening. Uncharacteristically for me, I was riding my motorcycle while under the influence. With clouded thinking, I decided to give someone a ride. Trying to impress upon her my wheelie prowess, lead to my spending five days in the University of Kentucky Hospital.

After spending the summer recuperating from my injury, I enrolled for my second semester. To help with expenses, I took a part time job working for Cosmopolitan Health Spa. Deciding that now having my foot in the door of my chosen profession, school was abandoned and full time work was pursued. After a hostile takeover by Twenty First Century Health Spa, I soon discovered the intricacy of high pressure sales. After several months of trying to deal with my moral conscious, I resigned. With an uncertain future and a worsening economy, my future was soon to become even bleaker.

It was during my second semester that one of my room mates decided to return home to Florida. Unable to afford the house payments meant that I would be forced to find an apartment and assume independence once and for all. It was during this period that I met my future wife and also became unemployed for the first time in my life.

For anyone who has not drawn unemployement checks, I can vouch that it is not an enjoyable experience. Waiting for a check in the mail on Fridays so that I could buy groceries, only to discover that the check would not arrive until Monday or Tuesday, is not my idea of getting a free ride. I had enough time to do as I chose but no money to do anything with.

Even though times were tough I was fortunate enough to have been turned on to Norman Vincent Peale and the power of positive thinking. I later found out that this was a important attraction that Robin saw in me. It was through the instructions of Dr. Peale and the likes of Zig Ziglar that I discovered the importance of goal setting and writing them down on paper. By using these techniques, Robin and I found out that our short and long term goals were very compatible. This led us to believe that we may be destined soul mates with a probable future.