Davenport Essay

The last 3 years of my life have been the hardest that I have faced to date. My

feet felt as if they were stuck in concrete as the world swirled around me completely out

sorts with anything that made any rational sense to me. In 2010, my wife, after 13 years

of marriage took my world and turned it completely upside down when she decided

being married was not what she wanted anymore in life. Swiftly leaving me alone to

raise my two children, one six years old and the other eight nearly all on my own. I was

a wreck. I was heartbroken, dumbfounded and completely paralyzed. I spent the next

two years of my life re-learning everything I thought I already had well in hand. It was

shocking to me to see how quickly life can turn on a dime.

It was also during this time that my place of work started to undergo some major

changes. The partners had decided that they were ready to sell the company after

building it for nearly 12 years. When I started at the company there were 16 employees.

At the time of sale, there were 50 and now we are pushing 75 with plans to be at over

100 by the end of next year. We are now owned by a Fortune 500 company that knows

little about me other than my employee identification number. It did not take to long for

me to realize the need to start separating myself from the tremendous talent that I have

been lucky enough to work with over the last 10 years. That is when I decided to take

the leap and go back to school.

Davenport University has been a perfect fit for me. Being a single father, the

online classes offered me the flexibility to work all day, be the best dad I know how to be

at night and then when it is my time, work on developing and improving me. At a time

when I desperately needed to regain confidence and focus my energy on positive goals,

Davenport was there. I must admit, I was a bit concerned when I first looked into this

new adventure. Since then though, all doubt has been erased. I am thrilled with the

quality of the instruction I have received. All of the students that I have encountered to

date are of strong character and abilities. One of the most pleasant surprises has been

the instructors. All seem to have a passion for what they are doing and a genuine desire

to help bring out the best that I have to offer. No small feat considering I have never

personally met any of them.

Somehow saying thank you just does not seem to cover my appreciation. The

opportunity to further my career while not missing out on the precious moments of my

kids youth have been invaluable. It has allowed me to be a coach, “that parent”

screaming and cheering at dance recitals, to enjoy dinner at the dinner table with the

family, to read bedtime stories and say prayers, to hold a full time job and probably most

important, to help me get back the confidence and self-worth that I loss during the

biggest challenge of my life. Never will you know how much the opportunity means to

me. I know it is not much, but thank you.