reading this i was revisiting my ‘renaissance years’ as i call them.

i was, and probably still am not, much of an academic. i had two very unfruitful college credit years in my first stop at university of alabama.. though i do have some decent stories to tell. i needed some perspective so i pulled out of the campus grind and began a two year journey i called my "renaissance years/period."

let me set the stage. i suck at college. i return home to new jersey after two years of college and mission service as summer staff. my fathers only request, "don’t stop school," his fear being that i would not go back.. probably true too. soo…

• i enrolled at the high institute of learning that is burlington county college. i took mostly evening classes. so i could work a normal job.
• the normal job i attained was as a security guard with a top secret clearance. i worked at lockheed martin & this odd navy base. the strange thing though was i had this curly long hair and baby face patrolling the hallways in an outfit that likens back to a certain sheriff’s outfit
  . no gun, mace or stick.. just a whistle to thwart back evil goers. this was my day job.
• i joined the fire department. mostly because i was 21 years of age and the other firefighters were amused that i could drink with them. my brother was already a member of the fire department, joining as a junior firefighter. i went to fire school, got my certificate and started… well.. mostly we hung out and drank.. stuff rarely burned around us. but i’ve got some good stories when things did burn. that was my free time & sometimes days when they would pay me.
• over the weekends i became the junior high youth minister at our church in new jersey. volunteer position of course. no funding, some 45 junior high youth, a ton of energy and no real experience. my only real strategy then was wrestle and beat the strongest kid in youth group, you gain instant respect then… i don’t try that now.. not sure i’d win these days. those were my weekends.
• being in the fire department the trend those days was to get in with the ambulance squad. so i did too. joined in the 809 and went to emt school. my brother and i worked the night shift like 3 or 4 nights a week. they gave us this police car looking response vehicle so that we could go straight to the scene and someone (who lived closer to the squad house) would bring the truck. nothing was cooler than being 21 & 22 driving something that looked like a police car with siren & lights in the middle of the night at high speeds. those are some great stories, probably the ones i tell the most. what i liked about ems and the fire work was having tools and presence to help people in their greatest need. that was pretty cool. that was my night job.

i don’t know where the idea of going straight from one milestone to another has become such a given that taking time to develop life experiences is odd and newsworthy. i am grateful for my two years as a renaissance man. it was the best learning i had while i was supposed to be in some education process.