In Lieu Of Common Ground
Ryan W. McClellan, MS
Senior Marketing Manager | Digital Marketing Specialist | Entrepreneur | Author | Public Speaker | Business Consultant
It came. The degree. The degree I worked so hard for. Now what?
But a degree, when you think about it, is just a piece of paper. In fact, it denotes only a simple fact: one graduated from college, while several others did not.
It was not an easy program.
We began with forty-eight students. That window shrunk to around twenty by the middle of the first semester. I give credit to those who survived the war.
But just like any war, at the end was a scary thought: life.
I have spent eighteen years writing code, barking orders at interns, creating content, and just barely multiplying my daily income.
In all of that time, despite the many accomplishments, the many stories, the many delights, and the many failures, nothing can take this degree from me.
Designed To Break
This program opened with a lecture from someone who would later become a fond friend: a man named Miyazaki. He opened with harrowing words:
"Say goodbye to your friends and family for the next ten months."
I thought he was joking. He most surely was not.
This program was designed to break your soul. It was an ethereal learning experience, crammed between the teeth of jesters.
By the end, there were eleven left standing, and graduation was all the wilder.
Now, whoever thought of cramming a three-year Master's program into 10 months deserves hell. It was quite facetiously the hardest experience of my life.
But as Napoleon Bonaparte once said:
"Victory is all the better when it is hard won."
I am not going to lie: there were many moments where I thought quitting was an option. But where would I have been otherwise?
No Quitting
"No quitting. Just winning" were four words spoken by one of my other favorite professors. I found myself on a first-name basis with the faculty, so I will divulge her name. Let me put it this way: she was right.
When we succumb to failure, we become products of lucidity.
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Just like in everyday life, we have two choices: keep going, or stop moving. Now, when you keep going, you risk your legs buckling beneath you.
When you stop moving, you will never get back up.
The Metaphorical
I have found a metaphorical way to view my life.
I am walking on a dirt road. I have many paths along the way, and each path leads to a different place. It is my choice as to which path I turn down.
When I arrive, I find a city. Said city may or may not be elucidated for my standards. Thus, sometimes I have to return to the dirt road.
This is much like life: we have paths that lead to certain places, cities that may or may not warrant success, and we have a choice as to which path we turn down.
The Path To Success
I recently found myself turning down a path that did not provision success. I found a city. Said city was deserted, and after wandering for years, I found this city was actually not where I wanted to be.
Thus, I returned to the fork in the road.
I then found a second city, which I am presently at.
Metaphors?
Yes, these are, of course, metaphors.
But this is life. It is not specifically metaphorical in its ethereal wake. When you think about it, a metaphor is another way of devising a manner of thought.
So, as I progress through life, I am beginning to find that life is simpler than many may think. We have choices to make, paths to choose, and cities to visit.
But at the end of the day, there is only one way to succeed:
To live the best life you possibly can.
All the best,
-Ryan W. McClellan, MS, BBA