Higher, Further, Faster

May 23rd, 2025

My spring semester (and first official full school year) ended on Monday.

I did it. I took six classes this semester (the most I will ever have to take) and still somehow managed to maintain a 4.0 GPA.

That's pretty cool. But that's not even what I'm most proud of.

I wrote a song back in 2007 called Honesty & Happiness that starts: "Well, I was looking at the long term / three quarters and I quit school / now I break hearts as a learning tool." This is a true story.

When I went to college for the first time, I was 19 years old, still trying to figure out how to live on my own, and just getting acquainted with a drinking problem that would take me years to recognize and do something about. I never finished the first year. I started strong in the fall; my grades slipped a little but I still completed the winter quarter; and then sometime after spring sprung I never went back to class.

For twenty years.

But then I did again. And I've officially gone further this time. I completed a whole year. And, you know, did it while doing everything else in my life (and it's kind of a lot, you guys).

I'll say it again: I love school. I love learning. It's nice to have goals but it's better to be there when my main motivation is the education itself. We're in an information crisis and it isn't impossible or even difficult to protect ourselves and help others; it just takes time and personal investment.

I said last semester that I would probably never get a 4.0 again and I meant it, but I was wrong, and I have been wrong about far worse.

So: no more predictions. Just more work. After I enjoy this summer, that is. Someone get me a Capri Sun.