Super Exciting!

So I've been reviewing my finances in preparation for pharmacy school. One route I can choose to go is just taking out student loans and focus on school. The road would lead me to about $170,000 in debt. That's not something I'm super excited to start. I have, however, been looking at another option: The military! I was so excited when I finished up my 8 years of service last summer and it pretty much went without saying that I'd never consider going back in. After running the numbers though, I think I'd be foolish to not go back in. So here are the numbers. After my second year of pharmacy school (assuming I get accepted into the military health program) I would receive approximately $84,000 over the last two years of schooling based on my current Time in Service (8 years). This would enable me go to school and live rather comfortably without loans (saving me tons!). Those last two school years count towards my time in service, bringing the running count to 10 years (at 20 years you can retire). For the next three years I would be a practicing pharmacist in the military making $64,000/ year. Doesn't sound too great, except for the fact that I get basic housing allowance on top of that. This ranges depending on zip code, but a conservative estimate is $18,000 a year. This housing allowance is also tax free, bringing the yearly income to $82,000. I would be required to serve for 3 years, bringing my running time in service to 13 years. At this point I could choose to stay in or get out of the military. If I chose to stay I'd be 7 years away from retirement and at this point the government would probably be willing to pay off some, if not all, of my existing loans as an incentive to stay in. At 20 years time in service I would be approximately 41 years old. My retirement would be approximately $52,000/year (having contributed nothing) and I would still be able to work as a civilian pharmacist and easily make over $100,000/yr. So, including retirement that is about $152,000/ yr. Not to mention lifetime military benefits that save you a ton of money! So yeah... I'm pretty excited about the possible prospect of being able to retire in in 14 years!

What Lays Ahead

I've publicly declared this upcoming summer "The Summer of Adam." I've been looking forward to it for some time now, and I've begun to map out what it is I would like to accomplish during this Summer of Adam. My first intention is temple work. My parents recently shipped me a slew of our family names that are in need of temple work. I very much look forward to completing that, and I will. I very recently started taking institute more seriously and have started to attend more regularly. I'm 4 classes away from graduating institute so I will be taking those 4 classes over the summer. I very much intend on cultivating existing friendships and creating new ones. I plan on hitting up the pools of Provo on a very regular basis and I am still very much determined to get my 2 mile time down to 12:00. There are several 5k races over the summer and I plan on participating in as many of them as I can! This will mark the first summer since I've arrived in Utah (some 5 1/2 years) in which I have not attended school, but just because I won't be in school doesn't mean I won't be able to learn. I'm already beginning a compilation of books I would like to read over the summer. I will still be working so I will not have as much free time as I might like, but if I plan and budget appropriately I should be able to take the last 6 to 8 weeks off of summer to fully enjoy my last few bites of Utah. My ward last summer felt as close to family as I think a ward can, and I will try to do all I can to duplicate that this summer. As it stands, I will be leaving Utah in the early morning hours of August 4th or 5th. I would very much like to take a few church history related detours, but that is still up in the air. I should arrive in Tennessee no later than the 12th and will start my first year of pharmacy school about 2 weeks later. It'll be quite the drastic change for me, but I'm very much looking forward to it. This entire process has been made entirely possible by my Savior.


Just prior to the Fall semester of 2006 I was 3 semesters away from graduating. I had just gotten out of the Los Angeles Temple when my friend called me. He had just gotten out of his orientation for dental school. He was kind of complaining about something he was told about during the orientation. He was told that he would be required to go through 4 years of schooling without being able to wear shorts! I proceeded to tell him how miserable that was and that I wouldn't be able to do it (seriously!). Soon thereafter I wished him luck and the call was ended. No sooner did I hang up when I received a feeling that I needed to change my major and go into a medical field. It was a strong feelings. Even so, I tried ignoring it and even tried discounting it altogether. As it persisted I found myself resisting. I argued, "I'm a year and a half away from graduating!" I continued, "It'll take me so long to finish if I change now. I probably couldn't do it even if I decided to!" The feeling, however, persisted through my objections. After fervent prayer I logged onto my school account and, one by one, deleted all the classes I had previously registered for. I didn't so much as know what classes I needed to take. After a few phone calls to friends I had signed up for a full time semester under a completely different major. That was 2 1/2 years ago. Between then and now I have gone through rough patches where I didn't know if I could make it. This past summer I began the application process to pharmacy school. The requirements were high; high enough to not know beforehand whether or not schools would have me interview, much less accept me. I sent out approximately 14 applications. One by one I began receiving invitations to interview at the various schools, very literally across the country. As of today, I have received 9 invitations to interview! My first two interviews were at schools and locations I really wanted to end up in! Yet, both such interviews, the locations and the overall experience were missing something. I then interviewed at a school that I had more or less applied to on a whim. It was East Tennessee State University. I had never been to Tennessee before or anywhere even near it. I wasn't even able to spend a full day in Tennessee, but it was still long enough to offer a peaceful feeling... a feeling that I suppose can be vocalized as, "This is home!" This whole journey is not one I had envisioned for myself, but I know it's what Heavenly Father has envisioned for me. I'm still a ways away from completing the journey, but the light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to come into plain view. I'm very much excited for this journey.

Quick Thought

The past year has seen it's fair share of ups and downs. I've already discussed this a few times, but I'm really going to miss a few friends when I leave at the end of summer. While those friendships have indeed grown over the past year, the friendship that I've been able to develop the strongest over the past year is the one between Heavenly Father and myself. I'm so very grateful for that opportunity to grow and to progress. This has indeed been a good year.

My continued struggle for motivation

Coming into this week I had three tests that I would need to tackle. The first was my Vascular Plant Taxonomy Test. I hadn’t been to that particular class in some two weeks and hadn’t taken a single note in even longer. I wasn’t able to adequately motivate myself to study for it until the morning before. Even so, I think I did pretty well on it. Next was my physiology class. Again, my lack of motivation as of late had me desiring a few more hours of sleep rather than make myself go to class. It had also been about 2 weeks since I had last been, and I had missed all the material that would be covered on the test. This class means absolutely nothing to me. I took it more for fun than for any other reason. It was rather tempting going in there and taking the test without studying at all for it, but I decided I paid for the class so I might as well put a small amount of effort into it. I ended up with an 80%. I continue studying for my calculus test tonight and I will be taking it on Monday. As long as I get an 80% or above on that one I will be quite satisfied… seeing as I’ve missed the past week of those lectures as well. I’m going to make a much more concerted effort to go to all my classes. Yes, this in indeed my last semester here and I want to have fun, but I also want to make sure I learn something in the process. Aside from that, I think I’m too competitive to allow my grades to slip too much.

This week had some random occurrences as well. I hadn’t seen a certain friend of mine in a little over two months. I had just gotten to school and needed to get some studying in. I don’t all together like studying by myself so I called several of my friends to see if they were studying. They weren’t. I then thought it best to play around on the computers for a little bit. All the computers downstairs were full so I headed towards the “secret” computer lab on the second floor. Just as I was about to enter the stairwell I noticed my friend heading in my direction. I found myself heading up the stairwell trying to avoid recognition. I left the stairwell and turned to the lab. After a few feet I could tell those labs were full too. Just as I turned around the stairwell the door flew open. It was my friend. We ended up talking momentarily and then found a room to study together. Although I initially dreaded the contact, I left with a rather big smile on my face.

I finished the book I had been reading this week, Broken Things to Mend, and bought two more. I’m pretty excited to get started on those. Truman G. Madsen is one of my favorite LDS authors.

A couple of my friends and I got together this week and started making plans for Spring Break. I’m leaving for Tennessee in August, Cody is leaving for Oklahoma in June and Houston is leaving for Texas in July so this will be our last little oorah outside of a few rounds of golf we’ll get in after the semester. What we’ve managed to plan so far is reason for excitement: a backpacking trip in Bryce Canyon! I haven’t been on an actual backpacking trip since I was a scout! Easily 10 years ago or more. The trail is called Under the Rim and it’s about 26 miles or so. There’s still a lot of planning to be had, but the few pictures that we found on the internet were amazing. I’ve always been the type to be inspired by majestic scenery, and I think this place will offer the majesty so required for inspiration. If you can’t tell, I’m excited.

What's New?

It has been so easy to put off my studies for... well, just about anything. My motivation is rather limited, rather fragile. I've been accepted to the East Tennessee State University School of Pharmacy. I only have to pass one of the three classes I'm taking. The others are more or less for fun. I decided I need to recommit myself to my studies, if for no other reason than to ensure I don't take any bad habits I might acquire into my doctoral program. In regards to work I feel I've been treated rather unjustly. Making a long story short, a new program came in. With the new program came new staff, most of which were just hired. So I went from a management position to the bottom of the deck within a matter of a few days. I'm still trying to remedy that situation, and am also trying to secure other avenues of income should the remedying not go according to plan. So back to the Tennessee bit. Looking at the calendar, I think I will probably end up leaving Utah on August 4th. A friend of mine got accepted into a grad school at Duke so we will probably end up driving together. We're talking about taking a few detours to visit some church historical sites. I'm very much looking forward to that. I'm getting rather excited about the Tennessee situation in general. I can get my own place for $350/mo. I've never had my own place so that will be great! I also very much look forward to not having to juggle work and school when I'm out there. I will solely be a full time student! I'm excited about the new people I'll meet and the new experiences I'll gain out there. I very much look forward to being "different" when I move out there. What I mean is.... in Utah a dime will fetch you a dozen good LDS lads. I personally think of myself as being worth at least slightly more than a dime so it'll be good to get out. On the other hand, I'll be leaving some majestic scenery! I've certainly taken the mountains for granted but I will very much miss the inspiration they provide, which is to say nothing of how much I'll miss the recreation in which they provide. More so than that, I'll miss the friends I've been able to make through my years of calling Provo home (lets not repeat the fact that I'm referring to Provo as home). Most of my friends, however, have already moved on or will be moving on soon enough. Those that will be moving on will be moving on about the same time frame as me. So, if I were to stay in Utah for any longer, there would be far less for me here than ever before.
I'm already dubbing this summer the official "Summer of Adam." It's going to be awesome! I'm going to get so much golf in, so much motorcycle riding (provided I don't have to sell it), vacations and most importantly my summer will consist of a steady diet of temple work! I have so many names of long lost ancestors to serve. I love the opportunity the church provides in serving our ancestors and provide them with an amazing gift... one in which they can longer provide for themselves. The type of unity that creates with one's ancestors is something of grandeur!
In a time of economic uncertainty, wars and rumors of wars... I'm grateful that I have the means to support myself and that I live in a country where I do not need to fear for my life, my family or my friends. How blessed are we?
Ok, one last thing. The following is an exerpt from the book I am presently reading:
"Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor, theologian and participant in the Nazi resistant movement. Bonhoeeffer wrote, 'I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hiterto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transormed into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner.'" I know there are times when people get under our skin. It seems almost natural to react in some malicious way, but that's not Christ's way so it should not be our way. If we look at those around us as Bonhoeffer did we will be that much closer to having Charity in our lives and ultimately, a little more Christlike. That is my goal.