My Brother the Graduate

Through much blood, sweat, and tears, my little brother is now the proud owner of a Bachelor's of Professional Aviation!!! I can't begin to tell you how insanely proud we are of him and just how far he has come to get to this point in his life.

Growing up, he always had a tough time in school.  He's very intelligent, he just thinks outside of the box.  So, when you have your standard, staunch teachers who don't allow their students to think outside the box to get to a correct answer {ugh, that's a whole other post for another day!}, you get students who get fed up and quit trying.  My brother was that brilliant thinker.  So, after getting beat down time after time, he quit high school in his Junior year.

However, he got himself back on track and earned his GED and entered mechanic's school.  He always wanted {or so he thought} to be a mechanic, so it all seemed to fit.  During this time though, he was living about 7hrs. from home which allowed him to grow up real fast.  It was a good time for him to become self-sufficient.  He went through a lot there: a break-in to his apartment where everything was stolen, a hurricane, and a terrifying car wreck {which not only did he come out alive, but not even a scratch on him!! God was definitely watching over him!!}.  He also became a volunteer firefighter.  He really bonded with a lot of the guys at the fire house, and it helped him grow up and mature.  On the flip side, he gained a ton of weight.  He'd always been pretty husky, but during this time he really packed it on.  You could tell he was miserable.  Bless his heart...

After finishing school, he moved back home and began his life as a mechanic.  Well, this lasted for about 2yrs or so, and he was just not happy.  He always wanted to be a military pilot, but knew he couldn't because of his weight and schooling.  One day though, I guess he woke up and did a total 180.  He got student loans, enrolled in a local community college, and started his weight loss.  After getting his general courses out of the way, he transferred to the local university and enrolled in the professional aviation program.

During the past 4yrs, my brother has lost about 200lbs, gotten his private pilot's license, and graduated college!!!  He is such an inspiration to everyone in our family! He lost weight the Subway way, lol, really, he ate Subway everyday for lunch.  He also built up his running endurance and ran up to 4mi. per day.  He was actually successful in his classes too, earning no lower than a C {mostly As & Bs though!}.  During the program, he also gained his private pilot's licence which was super cool. 


The day he got his license. 2010

In the best shape of his life, he applied to the military only to be turned down by both the Marines and the Air Force due to meds he took in high school for ADD.  Ugh, another step back.....However, we look at it like God obviously doesn't want him in the military because that was 9yrs since he took the meds, they prescribe it in the military, and he tested high on all his tests.  Although God obviously has other plans for him, He used that dream to motivate my brother to get healthy and finish school.
He hasn't given up though! He continues to fly to become commercially certified with the hopes of being a private pilot for a company one day. He's also working for now with my Dad's consulting company for a large telecommunications company. So, we were without a doubt, the proudest family in the world of our graduate when he walked across that stage.  I am continually inspired by him to never give up on dreams and always strive toward those goals.  Whether it's weight loss, school, career, etc.....you {I} can do it!!

My family after the graduation.

I saw this quote and thought it fitting.  The photo is one I took
when my brother took me flying last summer.

I love you Bubby and am so proud of you!! You have a super bright future ahead of you...God's got some awesome things in store for you!!