Lorena is finishing up here degree at Clackamas Community College and her diploma is in process. We have already framed the kids’ diplomas and put them up on the wall, but we have not yet done our own. We are going to put what we have in good frames and mount them on the same wall with those of the kids. Lorena dug around and found all my old diplomas except my Bachelor’s degree from Oregon State. I am kind of surprised that the one from OSU is the one for which I am least proud and rightly so–I was not really paying attention when I got it. When I was living through it, I thought this was the very best time of my life. Looking back, though, I realize that I was definitely not living my best life and built up a lot of bad habits and a track record that had to be overcome rather than built on.

The one “diploma” of sorts, for which I have a sense of satisfaction is the Kodokan Judo Black Belt (Shodan) I earned. It was a result of hard work and great joy. I still very much love the sport and believe it was a positive good in my life, along with track and field. It was very much unlike football and basketball which do not seem like much of an indicator of athletic ability nor a place where much character is built, especially in how it is currently practiced in middle and high schools, at the university level and especially as professional sports.

The other degrees were the result of efforts for which I can took increasing satisfaction. I had a sense of purpose and increasing knowledge in school, not only about the subject matter, but also the also with respect to the discipline to do something which would provide me with a sense of self worth (unlike sports in general) and an ability to pay the rent. My goal is to extend that through my PhD. So far so good.