the previous chapters

Back in May I graduated from college with a degree in engineering and a great internship at Nike to look forward to. Having lived in Vermont for 9 years (including college), I was ready to spread my wings and fly a bit, so I was excited to be offered a summer internship as a manufacturing design engineer with Nike out in Portland Oregon. I accepted the internship having not been to Portland since I was about 6. About 3 weeks after graduating I set off on a road trip across the country with my dad. We took 5 days to drive 3,100 miles with all of my worldly possessions stuffed into a Ford Focus.

All packed up and ready to go.

State lines.

Nike was great and being part of the intern crew was awesome. Kevin Carroll, an inspirational speaker, came to Nike one day and did a program called "What's your red rubber ball?" and it really got me thinking. The whole program focused on following your passion and doing what you love. This workshop made me realize I need to follow my passion before I set into a full-time career as an engineer. I decided to ask for a leave of absence and travel to Wyoming to spend a winter living out my dreams. In the end, I decided not to accept the full time offer from Nike and instead spend a winter skiing and living the dream. Basically, I was loving my job at Nike, but that was really the only part of my life that I loved. I wasn't fond of the city, I hated the traffic, and I missed my family and friends (as evidenced by the 1,600 minute a month phone bills). After Wyoming, I plan to head back to Vermont so I can be closer to my family and friends that I have missed dearly since I have left.