Becoming An Adult

I am 18 years old and I am not an adult yet. My world is smaller, my life has been shorter, and frankly, I don't know as much. But today I realized something that demonstrates that I am nearing adulthood. I recently tried out a service (a background checking web-service) that had a free trial period but required that you provided a payment method in case you liked the service. What they didn't tell me, or what I failed to acknowledge, was that at the end of the trial period if I failed to cancel the service I would be billed automatically. I didn't enjoy the service and I didn't really have a need for it so I didn't sign up for an account but I did fail to cancel my account so I was billed. As soon as I received an email confirming that I had sent payment I had a moment of panic. I didn't want to pay for this service. Rather than running to anyone else or accepting that I had to pay for this service I called customer service. After explaining my situation the man at the other end of the line told me that he was authorized to give me a 50% refund and that I would be allowed to continue using this service for the rest of the month. Although this was a better alternative than just paying for the service and canceling payment before getting charged again, I was still not satisfied. So I asked to talk to the man's manager saying that I thought I could give a convincing case as to why I deserved a full refund. He then asked me to tell him my case saying that he would talk to his manager for me because it was against protocol for the managers to get on the line. I told him that since I hadn't used the service and that I was just billed today it didn't seem like it was ridiculous to ask for a full refund. After being put on hold for about five minutes he told me that his manager had authorized a full refund and an account cancellation and that I would have my money back in a few business days. I smiled and thanked the man to which he said the heroic words, "I am just doing my job sir, I am glad I could help," and then I went on my merry way to write this post. I think that this experience is good evidence of my maturation.

My New Job

"Reach for the stars because they don't have arms to reach for you." This quote I heard during a Young Life sketch two summers ago comes to mind as I think about how to tell you about my new job. I was struggling to find a substantial job since I had very little prior experience that could be evaluated by a possible boss. Finally, after much advice and little action I decided to evaluate my skills. As a member of the current generation I am inclined to be proficient at social media and I consider myself to be even more gifted than many of my peers. So I discovered a job with the title "Social Media Consultant" and I contacted someone I knew had just manufactured a need for someone with that title. After a week of showing him what I had to offer, I was hired. And that's how I got my job as a Social Media Consultant at The Green Lawn Group, check them out here.

Why Do Anything?

Why do we do anything? What is there to gain? Why do we want that?

Life consists of a million different potential experiences put together by the person living it. Their choices will either increase, decrease, or interchange their future potential experiences. The choices that they make are based on the things that they think matter. Potential gains are compared to potential losses and then the probability of success is evaluated and the decision is made. We do things because they matter to us.
Say I believe in a god who values family. That automatically means that I value family. Many situations in my life will conclude a certain way because of my belief and the transitive value that that implies. Now say I believe in the philosophy of "Money over everything." That would be a drastic change in how I went about living my life especially compared to a life based in religion.
The real reason why we do anything is because we want to matter. We assign value to practically everything except ourselves. The value that we find for ourselves is based on the value of the things that are in our lives. No matter what I believe I cannot matter unless things in my life matter to me.

Duke TIP Writing Contest

"What kinds of things do 6th graders generally not talk about?"
"Politics."
"What politics do 6th graders generally not know about?"
"Most politics."
When I was in 6th grade I took part in a Duke TIP writing contest in which we were challenged to write a letter to the president about an issue of our choice. I decided that I wanted to write President Obama about stem cell research.  I had to research everything and include a mix of lots of perspectives from all walks of life.
Because of that letter I started being interested in politics. That is despite the fact that when I wrote the letter my dad had to help me edit it because I was accidentally filibustering. Had that trend continued I might have become a Republican; instead I try to look at each issue holistically and am a conservative libertarian.
I won the contest. I got 250$ for myself and 250$ for my school, which was my household at the time, which was a pretty big deal back in 6th grade. I am pretty sure I used to the money to buy a Play Station 2 and some games.

"I was in the tree"

In March of 2015 I was on a mission trip to Jamaica. I was staying in the basement of a historical church in St. Anne's Bay with the other men on the trip while the women on the trip stayed on the second floor and the dining room/common area was in-between us. We had already bonded a good bit and I decided that I wanted to play hide and go seek. So I got a group together and we started playing cards with the bet that whoever won the card game got to choose the next game we played. I won so we played best two out of three because one of the girls didn't want to play hide and go seek. I ended up winning again so we played a few rounds and then played a few rounds of sardines. Sardines is like hide and go seek except only one person hides and then everyone tries to find them and as they find the person hiding they hide with that person in their spot. I hid in a tree and because of the way I hid myself no one could find me even if they were standing right underneath me and so that ended the night of gameplay. It was hard for some people to believe that I was in the tree.

A Challenge: Memory

I have noticed lately that I have experienced a lot of things and I am still a kid which means that I will probably forget about a lot of it by the time I become a parent. It will probably be at least a decade before I have any kids and I want to be able to tell my kids about the things that I have done in my life. Because of this I am issuing myself a challenge. I challenge myself to write down a different memory each day this week for a whole week. My first memory will be posted before I fall asleep tonight.

Risk Isn't Just A Board Game

     “We’re going for a walk,” I said to the doormen as I lead Patrick out of the crusty, grungy, bug-infested, compound into the crusty, grungy, bug-infested, street. Left, left, over a highway via a graffiti covered bridge, and then we got to the Burger King. As hungry as we were walking into this third world purveyor of fake beef, there was no chance that we were going to sate our appetites in this attempt of an establishment. Ladies of the night populated the booths, tables, and most importantly, the bathrooms as we ordered our imitation food and waited for half an hour for the meal that we inevitably threw away. We walked back to the compound through the Puerto Rican night with high spirits; giddy with awkwardness.
     There is an art to risk-taking, one that some people are naturally gifted at and others never quite master. Like art on a canvas, risk-taking is displayed differently by different “artists” based on their personal stories, goals, and boundaries. People can be categorized as no-risk, low-risk, moderate-risk, or high-risk. No-risk people tend to be the ones who aren’t even in situations to have to try to self-preserve because they are too busy being comfortable in their daily routines and never even put their toes near the line. This is different than low-risk individuals because they at least attempt spontaneity but the urge to “survive” is so high that they very rarely find themselves in dire-straits. Most people worth talking too are moderate risk-takers. They push the boundaries, force discussion and thought, all while “staying alive.” They see the value in a good story and have no problem getting a little dirty. The same people who say “YOLO” non-sarcastically tend to be high risk-takers. Self-preservation is a joke not an instinct as they jump off of buildings, have torrid love affairs, and die before ever truly growing up.
     I consider myself to be a moderate risk-taker. I love to do things for the joke, the vine, or the story; as long as I am reasonably sure that I will survive the punchline. I am one of the first people to blast loud funny music as I wobble back and forth well within the fog line and median but one of the last people to race in a residential area. Some of my friends on the other hand could be considered both low and high risk-takers. Johnnie Stupek is a low risk-taker; making calculated decisions that not only look responsible but actually are responsible. He pursues debate, his girlfriend Miriam, and very little else. At the other end of the spectrum I would place Patrick Helmke; my partner in crime from above. It doesn’t matter if there is any physical gain coming from a situation, if he thinks it will be funny he will do it. These opposing lifestyles occasionally cross but it is far more likely that they don’t.
     Risk isn’t just a board game, it’s a key part of life. Not everyone can be a Navy SEAL, a promiscuous partier, or a police officer just like not everyone can be an accountant, an author, or an ordinary person. Life is for everyone but truly living isn’t for the faint of heart, even a low risk-taker takes risks each and every day. They are unavoidable. If you aren’t a risk-taker you aren’t a person.  Waking up in the morning, falling asleep at night, breathing, all of those things are inherent risks associated with living because the very action of being alive risks dying. Just like how driving, eating, flying, and even the act of standing have potential risks. These risks are generally ignored by the benefits of being able to do any of those things. Now, armed thus with the knowledge that risk is a part of life, go and live.