Just weeks till I pee myself from the anticipation

Click-click. Click-click.

That was always my favorite part of roller coaster rides. That first climb. That anticipation. It pounds one’s chest, sweat beads one’s brow and a rock of a lump forms in one’s throat, all in anticipation of the dips, loops and corkscrews to come.

It seems like after five years, two degrees, a minor and a lifetime of experiences that occurred in my time at the University of Kansas, I’m still on the climb. I’m on my way to portfolio school.

It wasn’t an easy decision. I was close to sticking with a “real,” corporate job at a highly respected greeting card company in Kansas City. But for me, that was the chicken exit. I was hours and inches from making mid-40k a year, rollin’ a brand new, non-college clunker car and sportin’ a sweet new pad. That was safe. I always made fun of the folks who couldn’t handle the burn of anticipation of those roller coaster rides. Chickens…

No chicken exit for me. In fact, I like to put my hands up and feel gravity try to rip my insides out. That’s fun. That’s happy. That’s scary, but still, happy. So, when I found out I was blessed with the opportunity to go to the Adcenter (http://www.adcenter.vcu.edu/), which is the best ad school around, I had to put my hands up and wait for gravity take control.

Well, my friends, that’s exactly what I’m doing. Sure, I thought twice about it. Damn, I thought seven or eight times about it. The whole idea scares me. I’m leaving a lot more behind then I thought. A great job, a great, huge group of friends/support base, an amazing and loving girlfriend (who I can’t thank enough for being so supportive of my two-year trek. Thanks, darling.), the reigns to my budding indie record label, my two brothers, my rockin’-azz music group (the Crux—www.cruxcrew.com) and did I mention my awesome girlfriend?

To me, that means there’s nothing to lose. To me, that means freakin’ go for broke. To me, that means I have no choice but to, with the help of my fellow future classmates, kick some serious ass, or die trying.

There’s always the chicken exit. But, I’m less afraid of the Adcenter than I am of looking myself in the mirror if I had played it safe. So, I say bring on life. Bring on the roller coaster. Bring on that first dip. Because, like I said. I always loved that first climb.