What Will You Be Doing 7 Years From Now?
I graduated from Brazosport High School in Freeport, Texas in May 1972.
Not dressed in white (honors), but I graduated.
That summer like the previous summer, I worked as a longshoreman loading
corn, flour and corn sacks weighing 50 to 140 lbs. and 900 lbs. caustic
soda drums on freight ships bound to other countries at nearby Brazos
Harbor and Dow Chemical A2 Dock.
This was one of the better paying jobs in the area. It was grueling, hard,
heavy work, but I loved it at the time. My father had been doing this job
most of his life since it paid well.
Fall came around and I had already decided that I did not want to make my
living as a longshoreman. Work was inconsistent and when it was there it
only went to the ones with the most seniority, unless there was too
much. There was very little opportunity for a better job when you got
older.
I had always heard that a college education would get you a better job and
decided to find out. So I went to nearby Brazosport College and set up an
appointment with a counselor.
I got to his office at the appointed time and he asked me what work or
profession interested me the most. I had taken Auto Mechanics I & II
during my junior and senior years in high school and asked him if
Brazosport College had an auto mechanics program.
He said "no." I asked him if they had anything similar to it. He said that
the Machine Tools Technology program was very similar and described the
program to me.
I was very interested and asked him how long it would take if I went full
time. He said "4 years." I said I couldn't go full time since I am working
(whenever work was available).
I asked how long would it take if I go part time? He said "7 years." I was
shocked. I said, "Man, I'll be old then, I'll be 25 years old. I don't
thing so."
He asked me, "what did you say you did for a living right now?"
I told him again that I worked as a longshoreman throwing bags and
manhandling drums. Then he bent over his desk and looked me square in the
eye and asked me the most significant words I will never forget in my
life:
"IF YOU DON'T TAKE ANY CLASSES. WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING 7 YEARS FROM NOW?"
These words hit me like a ton of bricks! I sheepishly told him that I
would be doing the same thing. I signed up for the classes right then and
there.
These prophetic words have inspired many of my relatives and friends. The
sun will rise and fall 365 days a year. What you choose to do in between
will determine many things in your life.
This story alone has inspired relatives and friends to realize an age-old
truth: Time will go on regardless and it waits on nobody.
Years later, I told a co-worker this story. He got inspired enough that he
went on and got 3 different degrees in computers in less than 7 years! He
said afterwards, "7 years ago I would've been saying to myself, 'If only I
had the opportunity.'"
TIME WILL PASS REGARDLESS!