It was 1984 and I was sitting exactly where you’re sitting today. I was a senior here at the university and I was worrying a lot about where the heck I was going to find my first job and mostly it felt like I was “Dancin’ in the Dark.”
Before I jump in to the meat of the presentation, I’m hoping you all saw the initial slide that was up here. Research shows that the majority of the people spend the bulk of their time either somewhere in the future or somewhere in the past. So I’m going to ask today that we all try to stay present and stay here with each other in this room. Hopefully, with that in mind, we’ll get something pretty fun out of it.
I want to start out by leveling with each of you. You may have read a bio about me which says all kinds of nice things and I know because I wrote it. But I’m going to tell you a little bit about my college days which you may find enlightening. I’ve got a couple of slides here, little known facts about my college days at URI.
Most of my professors would have had a tough time picking me out of a line-up but they all knew my dog Sherman who often came to class with me and I was so fond of that I eventually named my company after him. How about that? These are all true, by the way.
Number two, I was thoroughly convinced by job waiting tables at the 108 House, which was an established restaurant in Wakefield, Rhode Island, constituted a summer internship. I went interviewing and people were, “Well, tell me about your experience, you know, money center banks. What kind of places did you work?” Well, I was five times a week at the 108 House, all right? I did learn some of the most important skills in life in that job, actually.
After receiving a dream job offer from a Money Center Bank my senior year, I had pretty much run out of money at that point..
Probably my favorite one: I had a good friend in high school who was the valedictorian. He was president of the class, voted Most Likely to Succeed, and went on to an Ivy League College. I did not do any of those things. Why do I put that slide up here? I’m not a huge fan of pedigree. Most of the folks that I’ve come across that have led really interesting lives – they have their own stories and they’re not classic stories that you might expect from people that have accomplished so much. So I’m a big believer in making your own story. Go here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/363947213622325292/
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