the Easy Way or the Hard WayHard Way It is

When it comes to education, I chose the hard way.

As a dad, if one of my kids wasn't sharing a toy I'd say, "Son we can do this one of two ways…the easy way, or the hard way.  The easy way is you share your toy with your brother for 15 minutes, you get it back afterward, and I'll pop some popcorn and put on Iron Man.   The hard way is I light your toy on fire, make you watch it burn, and put you to bed hungry."  Once he had the freedom to evaluate his choices, he went easy way…every time. Hyperbolic?  Yeah.  Effective? Very.

I never took my own education over-seriously.  Ever since I can remember I was always relatively bright and learning came easily so I didn't apply myself.  I ditched class and still showed up to test well and get decent grades.  In my early twenties I squandered my education opportunity.  I skipped class, slept in my car, watched Price is Right in the commons, and generally pretended like I knew what I wanted in life.  The result was wasted time and money.  Not just my own, but that of my new wife that was working hard to put me through school.  It was a bad look for me.  I'm a late bloomer.  It's one of my most painful regrets.  That woman deserved better.

At the first opportunity, I abandoned my education to work for a self-made man in search of glory, laud and honor.  When I told my father, an exceptionally sharp, sophisticated, educated and successful man, he introduced me to the concept of the Venn diagram below:

He told me there are three core components of a successful businessperson: 1) Talent, 2) Charisma, and 3) Education.  All three are crucial to get a job, but only two of the three were necessary to be successful at it.  If you remove talent or charisma from the equation, you will fail.  If you remove education from the equation, keeping talent and charisma, you can still be highly effective and successful in business. Education was a crucial component to your beginning.  It might not be quite as true in 2022, but in 1999 it was stone-etched law. I was choosing the hard way.

When that sales gig ended poorly, I found myself a full-time husband and father with no prospects, no education, and no connections.  I worked at another warehouse for scraps until I chose to swallow some pride and get back to school.  It was hard.  I was at work at 8:00 am, off at 5:00 pm, in class at 6:00 pm, out of class at 10:00 pm, then home and studying until 2:00 am.  Rinse, repeat.  I finished my degree at University of Phoenix just before my 30th birthday, all the while supporting my wife and child making $9.50 per hour as a teller at Wells Fargo. It was certainly the hard way, but I was determined to do it the right way.

I actually loved my experience as a Phoenix, counter to the reputation at the time of being a degree factory.  The instructors were tried, true, and successful experts in their fields. It was the epitome of the concept, "you get out what you put in."  If you want to coast and ride the coattails of others, you can, but you'll be sniffed out quickly and you won't last.  You've got to put in.  I put in hard and in return I received business, personal, and life lessons that I would not have learned otherwise.

In my degree program I met a guy named Jason Woodland.  I was instantly intrigued by this prematurely balding, smart, exceptionally charismatic guy.  He dug hardcore punk and early hip hop.  I still credit Jason for introducing me to Guru and other lesser-known, cerebral hip hop artists.  I needed to know more about him.  We found ourselves on the same team in our very first class together, a public speaking course.  Neither one of us had any issues speaking in front of people, in fact we both welcomed it.  While the whole of the class waxed vulnerable, sad, poetic, and pathetic, Jason and I got weird.  Sob stories are easy.  They seem hard from the onset, but they're similar to jump scares in horror movies.  Easy, cheap thrills.  Instead of talking about my past failures and misery, I presented on how and why music piracy was smart, legal, and profitable. Jason presented on how to jump trains and travel all over the country on the cheap like a hobo.  I loved this guy.  We had several classes together over the next couple of years.  I didn't have many friends in the classical sense and I quickly saw Jason as an honest-to-god, real life friend.

We graduated on the same day.  Based on our surnames, "Pearson and Woodland", we walked right next to each other.  Jason was in full regalia, kilt and all.  He wrote his name in as "Sir Jason Wayne Woodland the First", which I assumed was a hilarious, giant middle finger to the establishment, but now I know it was a true tribute to his heritage.  This dude doesn't screw around.  He's 100% authentic.  Nothing performative and he was calling his shot. He was establishing himself as the first Jason, an OG to remember.

Jason Woodland was, and still is, one of the most genuine humans I've ever met.  He came from some pain.  He found hardcore music and the straight-edge movement in his youth and found salvation in it.  He embraced it and never left.  He espoused the concepts that his movement so readily promoted of abstinence and intelligent dissent.  He bought in, committed, and stayed that way.  I'd known straight-edge kids and every single one of them, down to a person, left their philosophy and changed over time.  Make no mistake, I respect the hell out of that.  Maintaining a restrictive lifestyle based on belief is brutal, even when you are a true believer.  I left the religious philosophy of my youth and I'm better for it. But Jason was in.  He felt it.  He lived it.  It wasn't readily visible because he didn't "dress his scene" but he made me feel the power in it.  This dude was legit, and I had limited-to-no experience with people that were legit.

We graduated from UOP and I never saw Jason again.  Thank Guru for LinkedIn.

I recently reconnected with Jason, who over the years has become a special human in his Utah community.  He is a successful entrepreneur and early adopter/innovator in crypto currency and block chain. He supports local businesses.  He networks with people of myriad backgrounds and beliefs.  He promotes others and their successes.  He maintains a podcast highlighting heroes in the Utah community.  He backs causes that I care about.  He is actively involved in membership with multiple organizations and currently sits as President of the Holladay, Utah Chamber and is heavily invested in Utah's Black Chamber.  He is connected and caring.  I'm proud to know him.

I had no idea that Jason would ever amount to what he's become.  We were both undereducated adults trying to find our way in the world.  I was trying to provide for a family.  He was trying to get off the train and become an influential fixture for good.

In 1175, Alain de Lille, a French theologian coined the rough term "all roads lead to Rome".  Having lived in Italy for some time I can attest that this is actually true.  Technically, all roads built in that time eventually converged at a very specific point in Rome. In point of fact they began there and were measured as they left the city. Some are more direct and well-traveled than others. Some are easy. Many are hard.

The letter of this saying implies that no matter what path you take, you will eventually end up at your destination.  I simultaneously love and hate this concept.  I tried getting to "Rome" the hard way.  It sucked.  I strayed.  It just didn't work for me.  But the philosophical spirit of the concept works.  It took me some time.  I bled and toiled and worked and fought and cried, but I eventually got there.

My time at University of Phoenix solidified something crucial in my DNA.  Education is important to me.  It's my life.  I want to teach.  I wanted to be in a classroom.  I took it for granted and my choices took me in a different direction, yet here I am in Educational Technology, indirectly influencing the futures of hundreds of thousands of K-12 learners.  I see it as redemption.  I may not be holding the chalk, but I feel like I am.  There is no better way to influence the futures of kids than in EdTech.  At Learning Explorer we are desperately searching for the best way to empower teachers to teach.  I'm ostensibly affecting the education of kids all over the country and I'm honored.  I'm humbled.  I'm ecstatic.  And I take it seriously.  I cannot stress this enough…education is important at all stages of life.  Knowledge is addicting.  It's powerful.  It starts early and it never goes away.

I find it ironic that Jason's podcast is called "Always the Journey". True to Woodland form, difficulty isn't in the equation. Easy, hard, it's the journey that we learn from.

Those of you with a stake in education, whether it be as an actual educator, EdTEch professional, or parent of a kiddo trying to learn in this insane time, please check out and follow Learning Explorer and see how we are working to change the world…one learner at a time.  And hit up Jason's podcast and website to see how Woodland Advisors are improving the lives of people and families through their offerings and community outreach.

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Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/easy-way-hard-ty-pearson

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