What a long road. (Or, “It’s about darned time.”)

I’m really not much of one to toot my own horn, but this one has been far too long in the works: I picked up my cap and gown this week!

If everything went according to my initial plan, my degree would have been in either Biology (or English, considering how poorly I was doing in Bio 101). It would have been granted by Wabash College, and the year would have been 1997.

But, this plan was not the path laid out for me. My freshman year at Wabash wasn’t at all like high school; I reveled too much in my freedom, entertained too frequently my depression, and put far too much stock in my ability to get good grades without much effort. My time at Wabash ended after that year. My grades were horrendous and I had absolutely no direction; I took a semester off to “find myself.” This was after the spring semester in 1994.

That was one long semester! In the fall of 2006, I took some classes at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, NC. I was working at UPS Freight, and they had a wonderful tuition reimbursement program. I got straight A’s, and in the fall of 2007 I transferred to UNC-Wilmington. I had a love of poetry, and studied Creative Writing and, well, Mathematics. I briefly considered double-majoring, but, as one might imagine, there wasn’t any overlap of courses. So, I was going for a BFA in Creative Writing (concentration of poetry) and a minor in Mathematics.

During the fall semester of 2008, I was in the midst of completing my final math course, Axiomatic Systems, when my professor talked to me about switching majors to math. After much prayer and discussion with my lovely new bride, I decided to make the switch: I was now pursuing a BS in Math, with a minor in CRW. As it turned out, that semester was not the end of my math courses, but the end of my creative writing ones! I had exactly what I needed for a minor, and to graduate with my new plan of 2010, I needed to focus everything I had on my math requirements.

Unfortunately, that planned date wouldn’t stand for long. UPS Freight stopped being amenable to bending my work schedule to better fit my academic one, so I couldn’t take traditional, in-person classes in 2009. The fall semester, I took Intro to Statistics, Java Programming, and Multivariate Calculus online through various institutions. Spring of 2010, I was able to take some traditional courses again, but due to certain degree requirements, I wouldn’t be able to finish my degree until, you guessed it, May 2011.

But wait! The story doesn’t end there! UPS Freight went from being very willing to work with my schedule to being absolutely rigid, so much so that had I stayed there, my degree would have been put off at least one more year, possibly two. Amy and I prayed, and talked, and prayed some more and talked some more. Ultimately, we thought it was in God’s will for us to pursue my degree in lieu of furthering my career with UPS, so we trusted in that this past August. I thrust myself into my studies, worked as a barely-paid math tutor at UNCW, and applied to the math department’s 5-year plan, which would allow me to get a Masters in one more year. In December, I started a paid internship with Kendle, doing Statistical Programming. I’ve been told that it’s just a matter of time before that internship yields a full-time, salaried position (which will almost certainly pay more than I made at UPS). And, by the by, I really enjoy the work I do there, and I’m happy when I get home!

So, the long and short of it is this: In another, say, 6 weeks, I’ll graduate magna cum laude with my BS in Mathematics, minor in Creative Writing. In another year, I should have my Master of Science in Mathematics. Almost all of my academic work has been while taking between 12-17 hours of coursework a semester while working 40-50 hours each week. I would never have been able to do this without the unwavering support of my wife, and easily the most satisfying thing of this endeavor is that each step, God has been with us. His fingerprints are everywhere, especially over the past 9 months.

Speaking of which, also in the next 6 weeks we’ll be welcoming into this world the beautiful Sarah Mae Knebel, which is really the impetus of this post. See, as excited as I am about this degree, it pales into comparison to becoming a father. I won’t be speaking much more of this degree stuff, but wanted to take a moment to properly document this ride.

If you’ve read this far, you have my eternal gratitude for your indulging me. J