The True Story of My Date with a Beautiful Genius Recovering Drug Addict Ex-Lawyer Turned Vegan Chef - Part 3
We ended part 2 with me heading out the door to pickup Anna for our date.
We walked along the boardwalk in Hollywood Beach, FL. Yes, somehow she got me to drive even further south. The majority of conversation consisted of me telling stories of my experiences. I haven’t lived a crazy life, but certainly have enough unique experiences that only a minority can claim.
“So you mentioned you came back to Florida for Culinary school. When were you first down here?” I asked in an effort to learn more about her.
“Oh, I came here for college initially.”
“That’s cool, where did you go, did you graduate from there?”
“University of Miami, they gave me an academic scholarship. I didn’t finish my degree there though.”
“Did you transfer? I asked. "I actually transferred a couple times myself.”
“Really, why so much bouncing around” she asked.
Well, I wasn’t planning to go to college. Right out of high school I was able to get a full-time job at a food distributor warehouse. I was doing that and delivering pizzas a couple nights. Blue collar jobs had been the norm for me since I was 14 years old so figured I’d just work my way up.
Then one day a couple months later I had hopped over my neighbor’s fence into their backyard and made my way for the sliding glass door around back. Mr. Willis was sitting in his recliner watching TV.
I knocked on the glass.
While making his way to the door I saw one finger extended, as if to tell me one minute. However, once he arrived at the door he held it there while looking at me through the glass.
So I asked “what’s that mean?”
Mr. Willis opened the door and said “just one class, take just one class”
Apparently his son Richie (who I have known since three years old) had let slip I didn’t plan on enrolling in college.
“Just take one class and see how it goes, if it’s not for you then fine, but atleast give it an opportunity.” he stressed to me.
So I enrolled in one night class at a local college. For some reason that I cannot recall I decided to take a history class. The professor was quite eclectic and probably what most would call a “left winger.” To this day he is still one of my favorite teachers. Oh, and I swear he was a dead head stoner!
When that class ended in the fall semester I knew I wanted to take more. Had no idea what to study, just that I wanted to study. The college classroom was so much different than high school, it felt opportunistic, a sense of equality amongst the whole room. It motivated me.
High school was quite the opposite for me, it seemed unless you were in the honors classes, they really didn’t care if you progressed or excelled. Just sheep passing through non-regents classes (which was the old NY state testing standard) with a new herd grazing through each year.
After one year I transferred to a school in Northern Massachusetts, where I ended up playing basketball. I thought that chapter of my life was done in High School. I lasted one year in Massachusetts as it just made no sense to pay out of state tuition for a state school.
The coming fall I enrolled back at local college again where I received my associates degree in Business Administration. I then went onto SUNY Oneonta and received my Bachelors in Business Economics.”
“Wow, you really did bounce around!” Anna exclaimed.
I smirked. “Yeah, I managed to get it done in five years.”
“You know, you still need to answer my question on why you left Miami.”
“I know, I know” Anna sheepishly responded.
“Well, I got caught up in some stuff and needed to leave.”
“What do you mean, did you have to flee the state or something; are you in witness protection? I joked.
“No, no...I was asked to leave.
“Wait, you got kicked out of school?”
“Yeah” she sighed.
“Oh man, come on you gotta tell me this!”
Stayed tuned for part 4!
Regards,
From the Life and Times of Mitchell J (and the mind behind @scaredycatguide)
Thanks for the pic pixabay