Latest
Community College: a great start to a Promising Future……..
Once I decided to continue my education , I looked into the community college system because I did not think that I was smart enough or disciplined enough to attend the traditional four-year higher learning institutions. To my surprise I succeeded far beyond my wildest dreams.
My first semester I achieved a 4.0 without any struggle or heartache. The instructors were very helpful in making sure that I learned and understood what potential lay dormant inside of not only me but all those who dare to seek it. Did I mention that I was working two part-time jobs to support myself during this time. I carried a full course load 12 credit hours and didn’t seem to have any problems. The long and short of it, my little experiment worked and I proved to myself once and for all intelligence was not some flash in the pan pipe dream.
I had really overcome the mental abuse inflicted during my childhood. Thank GOD I had gotten accurate information about what college means and what it has to offer. Things got much harder once I got deep into my major Computer Information Systems.
During my last semester I was employed by the Community College that I attended. I was a full-time student and a part-time employee. The line between student and employee blurred so much so that I could not even enjoy my own graduation ceremony. When the rest of my colleagues were off enjoying that fact that they had made it, I worked and sat in meetings that had really nothing to do with me. It was a true yet very strange experience that let me know the corporate world was not for me.
I felt as though the excitement that I had for my graduation was stolen by what some would think was a blessing. I can’t get back that day but the experience that I gained propelled me into a home based business that has made a real difference in my life.
It was more than just a personal accomplishment. It was an education triumph that I can not relive. In the interim I would not change it for anything. I was a necessary to show me how people really are and how life has this way of making you stronger when you think you are at your weakest.
Community Colleges offer a great variety of career choices and have wonderfully dedicated staff and students that make the experience as smooth and easy as possible to achieve whatever dreams, goals and desire that one may choose.
Nothing Ventured …Nothing Gained
The year 1991, I was young and in my prime, working 5 jobs to make a living, etching out a niche in the world for myself with my new found freedom, when I found this school called Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts whose moniker was Full Sail Ahead. Wanting to further my career in music specifically the Recording Arts ie. Music Producer, Mix Engineer, Re-recording Mixer, Sound Designer, Recording Engineer, Dialogue Editor, Studio Manager, Foley Recordists/Editor, Mastering Engineer, Sound Effects Editor etc. I ventured down to Winter Park from Orange Park a suburb of Jacksonville Florida. Once there I was met with a blanket of knowledge unlike any I had known before. Never have I been in a place where knowledge was so freely given by everyone I encountered. From the tour guide to the Instructors and students that were present during my tour, I was overwhelmed almost at the freedom in the sharing of the knowledge they have gain while attending and working for Full Sail. It felt like home, full of love, genuine concern and peace.
I did not want to attend college. I had just gotten by in high school. I can honestly say that I really didn’t apply myself because I really didn’t care nor value the college experience or an education for that matter. No one in my family had pursued or even thought about college for themselves or me. College was not an option for me or so I thought. I did not see myself in that environment nor did I think I deserve a college education. Mentally wrestling with the many tragic and horrific circumstances I endured during my childhood I did not let that deter me from the goal of improving and advancing my study of my craft, recording.
I got my start in the Recording Arts when I got my first cassette recorder at the age of 15. I working on a farm priming tobacco on foot behind a Massey Ferguson tractor driven by the granddaughter of the farmer that employed myself and my 2 sisters. This is how we made money during the summer to buy school clothes and other things that we needed and wanted. It gave us a sense of responsibility and made us better managers of our finances. It also taught us the value of money and hard work. I would not change one thing about it. It has proven to be the cornerstone of the foundation of the man that I have become.
I remember the first song I recorded. It was ‘Shoot Your Best Shot’ by Rita Coolidge. I remixed that 2minutes of audio into a 5 minute remix. I actually cut the tape… something unheard of today. One of my Friends introduced me to Columbia house Records where you could get 11 tapes for a penny. I know some of you may have no idea what I am talking about but for those of you that do, those were the days. This opened me up to Artist like Don Henley, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Doobie Brothers and so many more genres and artist that I cannot even began to count them all. They all influence the music that I make and the way I mix and record my creations.
Today I have upgraded from cassette tape to cd’s. I compose, record, and mix on my computer in a digital realm. It is amazing at how much I have grown and Full Sail University has as grown as well. From Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts , Full Sail Real World Education to the full accredited newly renovated and forever innovating Full Sail University where I have finally been accepted and am looking forward to attending this Fall.
This blog is her to share my life and experiences on my quest before,through, and after my attendance to Full Sail University. I will be sharing how and why I evolved into the dream driving, career seeking, life designing entrepreneur that write these passages. I will not with hold my opinions or frustrations , accomplishments or roadblocks that I face in my quest to greatness. I have everything to live for and a life a total fulfillment to gain….. hence this entry…………Nothing Ventured… Nothing Gained
Full Sail University Ahead or Bust!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Twenty years and counting this quest first began,
It was a hope, a dream, a gesture from beyond,
It sent me to this place
Where I learned immeasurable skill
In a small amount of time taking my music through the ceiling
This thought exited
Through my mind
I could live this dream
If I lived my life
Now my soul
Is livid with me
I am not where I sought
For this life to take me
Values and paying rent
Daily life aint heaven-sent
Truth and knowing cannot prevent
How I have circumvented my own intent.
cgorham 