Mr. Ed
Be what you is not what you what you ain’t
- Location
- Central NY
Attended 1st, 2nd, & 3rd grades at a Catholic school in New Orleans, Louisiana while my dad was at seminary school. My family lived in a brick 2 story apartment located on campus. I learned a life lesson; the benefits of truthfulness. Back then, the roads were covered by crustacean shells instead of gravel because the is predominantly below sea-level and swampy.
One day, at a nearby playground, I spied a perfectly curved shell that if hurled it high into the air, at a perfect angle, would act as a boomerang and return from whist it was thrown. Eager to test the laws of physics, I slung that shell high into the air. Unfortunately, on the way down, the shell landed on the rear window of a car, shattering the glass into a million pieces.
I could have walked away and no one would ever know or go home and tell my parents. Doing the latter, I was not reprimanded for my actions, instead for being truthful I was rewarded with praise.
Started 4th grade in a town much smaller than New Orleans until moving again 5 years later. My adolescent years were in this small town where I played Midget Football and went to Boy Scout Camp. I got a merit badge for swimming a mile. Poor eyesight hindered accuracy on the firing range and becoming a successful ball player. My best friend's mom let me drive her station wagon on the dirt roads of Twin Lakes where our families each had a cabin on the lake. One year, the lakes were drained creating a huge vortex of slippery mud perfect for catching fish and belly sliding.
I didn't like the next place I lived, I had to stay with my grandparents while my dad finished up business in the small town I lived before. I was freshman entering high school and a very insignificant new kid with no understanding of the world I was now part of. I got my first job at a grocery store chain working part time. I learned some bad habits from established employees that got me fired. My dad found my first car for my 16th birthday and then besides my losing face and total humiliation, he threatened me by not letting me have the car. Thus having power over me. It was the worse place I ever lived.
In 1972, my dad became pastor of a church 30 miles outside of Atlanta Ga. The house we moved into had an in-ground swimming pool and a finished basement where my brother and I stayed. I thought it would be cool to fix up my first choice for a bedroom near the furnace, but there were no windows so I moved my bedroom to a den like area outside of my brother's choice of bedrooms
The high school I attended was outside of the district where we lived, but I got permission to attend based on my ability to supply my own transportation. I chose Pebblebrook HS because the young people from the church attended school there. This was my time to be popular so I worked hard and turned the charm so I would know everyone and everyone would know me.
First day classes, I was approached by a male student, asking for my vote to elect him for the coveted Ugliest Man on Campus Title to raise money for the school newspaper. The student who raises the most votes (money) is crowned the Ugliest Man on Campus for that year. It was the perfect way to gain notoriety and put myself into the spotlight.
I will never know if I won the contest on my own merit because on the day to turn in money that was collected for the school newspaper I threw in a $20 bill to ensure my popularity. I cheated myself from knowing the truth.
I was in a work study program that allowed me to attend school part time and get school credits for working part time. I worked at United Parcel Service loading trucks. The pay was good, 4hr shift, weekends off and I made some good friends working there.
In my Junior year of high school, Distributed Education Clubs of America had a state leadership conference in Atlanta Ga. that our club was to attend. The purpose of this conference was to elect state officers from representatives fro various student organizations like Future Farmers of America, Distributed Education. Better Business, 4-H, etc. My teacher suggested I run for Vice President so I prepared a speech and was elected Parliamentarian. The State Officers toured local businesses throughout Georgia and flew to Los Angeles California for the National Convention. Ultimately all of the State Officers except for one were removed from their duties for drinking and being in the wrong place.
My Junior and Senior years of high school were great. I was able to experience things that otherwise may not have happened. My parents were proud when news came out I was nominated as Most Courteous for class Superlative of 1973.
My younger brother introduced me to cigarettes and shortly thereafter I learned about marijuana, hasheesh, PCP, and various hallucinogenics. Marijuana and other forms of drugs containing THC caused extreme mood swings and long-term depression. I could not understand why people smoked marijuana because for me smoking marijuana was psychological nightmare. I kept using marijuana until psychosis got the best of me, spending the next months inside a psychiatric unit of a distant hospital.
When I was discharged I worked at several menial jobs because it was expected of me to be normal by working. Regardless of my effort to maintain employment my symptoms would flare causing uncontrollable mood swings and paranoia. Finally I gave up working all together by that time I was more of a mess than when I discharged from the hospital. I needed a safe place to regroup. The problem was I made an effort of normalcy working part time at number of different jobs for no longer than a couple of weeks if that. SSDA determined me employable and capable of earning a living. SSDA stopped disability checks and Medicare Insurance. Because I had SSDA benefits I came off of my parents insurance, but then I had no health insurance which meant to receive psychiatric treatment I had to be admitted into a State run mental health hospital. It wasn't that bad but my mental state was the worst it would be in my lifetime.
There is a large gap between schools, graduated from a small Georgia high school in 1973 till starting Community College in New York State in 2007. I was awarded one of the first Pathways Scholarships that paid full tuition and learning materials. I was the Founder/President of the first mental health education and awareness chapter Active Minds @TC3. i was on the Dean's list every semester, Graduated with Honors, Listed Who's Who in Colleges and Universities, inducted into Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society. I've never considered myself smart or intelligent; graduated 2012.
Perhaps I was seeking favor from my dad and I thought if I could be like him as a minister he would accept me as his equal. I enrolled in Bible College thinking all of this time I needed to serve in God's ministry. I was wrong, but until 2 years of Bible study and preaching. I preached at several churches but was not very good at it. So I transferred my credits to a State University and graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Human Services.
Framing my education between 1960-2017
One day, at a nearby playground, I spied a perfectly curved shell that if hurled it high into the air, at a perfect angle, would act as a boomerang and return from whist it was thrown. Eager to test the laws of physics, I slung that shell high into the air. Unfortunately, on the way down, the shell landed on the rear window of a car, shattering the glass into a million pieces.
I could have walked away and no one would ever know or go home and tell my parents. Doing the latter, I was not reprimanded for my actions, instead for being truthful I was rewarded with praise.
Started 4th grade in a town much smaller than New Orleans until moving again 5 years later. My adolescent years were in this small town where I played Midget Football and went to Boy Scout Camp. I got a merit badge for swimming a mile. Poor eyesight hindered accuracy on the firing range and becoming a successful ball player. My best friend's mom let me drive her station wagon on the dirt roads of Twin Lakes where our families each had a cabin on the lake. One year, the lakes were drained creating a huge vortex of slippery mud perfect for catching fish and belly sliding.
I didn't like the next place I lived, I had to stay with my grandparents while my dad finished up business in the small town I lived before. I was freshman entering high school and a very insignificant new kid with no understanding of the world I was now part of. I got my first job at a grocery store chain working part time. I learned some bad habits from established employees that got me fired. My dad found my first car for my 16th birthday and then besides my losing face and total humiliation, he threatened me by not letting me have the car. Thus having power over me. It was the worse place I ever lived.
In 1972, my dad became pastor of a church 30 miles outside of Atlanta Ga. The house we moved into had an in-ground swimming pool and a finished basement where my brother and I stayed. I thought it would be cool to fix up my first choice for a bedroom near the furnace, but there were no windows so I moved my bedroom to a den like area outside of my brother's choice of bedrooms
The high school I attended was outside of the district where we lived, but I got permission to attend based on my ability to supply my own transportation. I chose Pebblebrook HS because the young people from the church attended school there. This was my time to be popular so I worked hard and turned the charm so I would know everyone and everyone would know me.
First day classes, I was approached by a male student, asking for my vote to elect him for the coveted Ugliest Man on Campus Title to raise money for the school newspaper. The student who raises the most votes (money) is crowned the Ugliest Man on Campus for that year. It was the perfect way to gain notoriety and put myself into the spotlight.
I will never know if I won the contest on my own merit because on the day to turn in money that was collected for the school newspaper I threw in a $20 bill to ensure my popularity. I cheated myself from knowing the truth.
I was in a work study program that allowed me to attend school part time and get school credits for working part time. I worked at United Parcel Service loading trucks. The pay was good, 4hr shift, weekends off and I made some good friends working there.
In my Junior year of high school, Distributed Education Clubs of America had a state leadership conference in Atlanta Ga. that our club was to attend. The purpose of this conference was to elect state officers from representatives fro various student organizations like Future Farmers of America, Distributed Education. Better Business, 4-H, etc. My teacher suggested I run for Vice President so I prepared a speech and was elected Parliamentarian. The State Officers toured local businesses throughout Georgia and flew to Los Angeles California for the National Convention. Ultimately all of the State Officers except for one were removed from their duties for drinking and being in the wrong place.
My Junior and Senior years of high school were great. I was able to experience things that otherwise may not have happened. My parents were proud when news came out I was nominated as Most Courteous for class Superlative of 1973.
My younger brother introduced me to cigarettes and shortly thereafter I learned about marijuana, hasheesh, PCP, and various hallucinogenics. Marijuana and other forms of drugs containing THC caused extreme mood swings and long-term depression. I could not understand why people smoked marijuana because for me smoking marijuana was psychological nightmare. I kept using marijuana until psychosis got the best of me, spending the next months inside a psychiatric unit of a distant hospital.
When I was discharged I worked at several menial jobs because it was expected of me to be normal by working. Regardless of my effort to maintain employment my symptoms would flare causing uncontrollable mood swings and paranoia. Finally I gave up working all together by that time I was more of a mess than when I discharged from the hospital. I needed a safe place to regroup. The problem was I made an effort of normalcy working part time at number of different jobs for no longer than a couple of weeks if that. SSDA determined me employable and capable of earning a living. SSDA stopped disability checks and Medicare Insurance. Because I had SSDA benefits I came off of my parents insurance, but then I had no health insurance which meant to receive psychiatric treatment I had to be admitted into a State run mental health hospital. It wasn't that bad but my mental state was the worst it would be in my lifetime.
There is a large gap between schools, graduated from a small Georgia high school in 1973 till starting Community College in New York State in 2007. I was awarded one of the first Pathways Scholarships that paid full tuition and learning materials. I was the Founder/President of the first mental health education and awareness chapter Active Minds @TC3. i was on the Dean's list every semester, Graduated with Honors, Listed Who's Who in Colleges and Universities, inducted into Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society. I've never considered myself smart or intelligent; graduated 2012.
Perhaps I was seeking favor from my dad and I thought if I could be like him as a minister he would accept me as his equal. I enrolled in Bible College thinking all of this time I needed to serve in God's ministry. I was wrong, but until 2 years of Bible study and preaching. I preached at several churches but was not very good at it. So I transferred my credits to a State University and graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Human Services.
Framing my education between 1960-2017
