Returning fire - rough draft

(Pounded out in a coffee-fueled haze at the Hilltop Grille Broad Street, Athens, on 29 January.)

There are several very compelling circumstances supporting my decision to attend the University of Georgia, which is a choice I have given very serious consideration.

I am from Dalton, and my Georgia roots go back five generations. There’s no question that I will have ties in this state for the rest of my life, and I’m very proud of that fact. Amazingly, despite the size of my extended family, none of my relatives have ever attended the University of Georgia. That fact alone stands out in my mind as both a challenge and a forceful source of motivation to successfully continue my academic career in Athens.

My mother was seventeen when her father died of a heart attack in 1972. Harley Chance was a well-respected businessman and father, and worked his entire life to build a future for his entire family. Shortly after his funeral, his doctor, a lifelong friend, spoke to my mother – one of nine surviving children – in private. Out of respect for my grandfather, he offered to pay all expenses for her to attend the University of Georgia, including medical school. She declined his offer, and although she has since accomplished much in her lifetime to be proud of - including multiple degrees - I know she has wondered how different her life could have been if she’d attended the University of Georgia.

Yet again, I have been provided another very powerful inspiration to succeed specifically at the University of Georgia.

As a career Marine, I have put in countless hours bettering myself as an individual and a leader. My years in the Marine Corps have been colorful, enlightening, and at times exceptionally challenging. I have always recognized the need to continue pursuit of higher education, yet I put it off time and again for one reason or another. Most recently, I’ve been somewhat preoccupied assisting in the execution of the Global War on Terror.

I now have the opportunity of a lifetime: through the benefit of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, I will be able to attend the University of Georgia full-time to complete my undergraduate studies while continuing my military career in the Marine Corps Reserve. When I graduate, it will vastly expand my career opportunities – and that’s if I choose to continue my military service. The opportunities I will have outside the military are boundless.

The fact that I have both the time and means available to me right now to attend UGA and keep my military career moving forward is like a dream come true for me. I have no illusions about the amount of effort required for me to succeed as a student here. It will be tiring, thankless, and at times very painful. Success under those conditions is nothing new to me, and I look forward to the challenge.
In my mind and in my heart, there is no other choice for me than the University of Georgia.

Quotation of the moment: "Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb." - Sir Winston Churchill

Song of the moment: "Bros Hymn", Pennywise