I had interned at Hewlett-Packard in a variety of marketing roles throughout college, so I had a terrific resume at graduation.  HP had a hiring freeze on, so I went to work for Toshiba America as Sales Administrator working as the liaison between customers and Japan importing ASIC semiconductor chips into the country.  Got hired at HP
full time three years later as Advertising Programs Administrator - making very good money in a very visible position.  

I Started my MBA work in the evenings.... but had always preferred the creative side of things.  I had been
working in an office since I was 14 years old, always made good money, put myself through college for my undergraduate degree, paid for my own vehicles, vacations, etc., but I never quite felt settled in the office atmosphere.  Just felt too cooped up.  So with two weeks' notice, I resigned from HP and moved down to Cambridge to take Art classes.  Not toward a degree, just to wear overalls with paint on them, and live as part
of the art community down there - detached from anything too "serious or tied down".  I took classes for 1.5
years and then backpacked London, Italy and Paris before returning to work full-time, ready to take on the world. It was the best gift I could have ever given myself. Thank God for giving me the courage to do it and the Faith
that everything would be just fine.

Joanne
Hampstead, NH

Many years ago (more than I care to remember) I commuted to College with 3 other guys. It was a College in Queens, NY that had no Dorms, only commuters. We drove together for 4 years every day. Somewhere in the
third year one of the guys started talking about us driving across the country after we graduated. What a great time we would have! Instead of ending up at school at the end of our drive we were going to head out on the highway, free and easy, without a care in the world.

Junior year came and went. Then came Senior year. As time got closer and closer our plans got more and more intense. One day, the inevitable happened, Wayne dropped out and said he wouldn’t be able to go because he was starting a new job and would have to work. Tom was the next one to drop out, same reason, a job of all things! Of course it was only a matter of time before Charlie said he couldn’t go (isn’t there always a guy named Charlie in a story like this?). You see, Charlie had gotten engaged, he had wedding plans to make, and of course,
a new job.

It was a difficult time as all of our road trip fell apart. All of those plans and schemes. All of the hours spent planning the how’s and wherefores of a long road trip. All for nothing. Or was it? I realized I didn’t need 3 other guys to travel with. Sure, there was a lot of good to be said for a road trip with the guys, but there was a lot to
be said for traveling alone, too. I had a car, some cash, and most importantly 3 weeks off before I had to start
my new job (I attribute that to exemplary prior planning!). I’ll never forget the day I left home. By the time I was tired of driving it was late at night. I pulled up to a camp ground that was on the honor system so I just pulled
off in the dark. Instead of pitching my tent I opened the hatchback on my car a little and stretched out in the back and settled in for the night in the complete darkness. I woke up the next morning to crystal clear fresh air, and
the sun rising over the most beautiful lake I had ever seen in my life. I knew then that this would be the trip of
a lifetime, and it was. This country is filled with the friendliest, most honest, and fun filled people in the world.
I found that out on a trip I will never forget. The moral of the story? If you’re going to “Live out loud” you can’t
let people hold you back.

Jerry
Boise, ID