SELF
A famous financier by the name of J.P. Morgan once said that you must, " Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you will be able to see farther". From the time I was able to operate a bicycle until now I have exhibited similar qualities with the message expressed in the quote. Maybe it's the competitive nature that fuels my curiosity or perhaps the desire to always challenge myself. Whatever it may be that has caused this insatiable appetite for growth and exploration has shaped my life into what it is now.
On March 22nd, 1983 Michael Ade Craig was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the time of my birth my mother and father were together, however a legal bonding was not created until about 3 years later. Strangely, to this day I remember the ceremony that took place at my aunts home. It wasn't a very large gathering; the only people in attendance were my sisters. It's amazing what having children will do to your life and the decisions they inevitably force you to make. My parents were never in love, life took its course and they had "us", which meant that they had responsibilities to meet, thus was the reason behind their choice to get married. "True" Love was never a factor.
Being the brother of 4 sisters, one being my twin has never been an easy task. By association, the qualities that females exhibited rubbed off onto me complicating my life before I could fully understand what I was supposed to do with it. All through kindergarten, elementary school and part of my middle school career, I had problems fitting in because I wasn't the prototypical aggressive adolescent male who wreaked havoc. Don't get me wrong I had plenty of friends and I hated doing my homework, but I was different. For some hidden reason trouble never found me and I certainly did not go looking for it.
In 1998, High school brought my family and I to Phoenix, Arizona. This was a difficult time for me, as it should have been for any developing teenager. My twin sister took the relocation to Arizona particularly difficult. I think her entire high school experience can be summed up into how much regurgitating she did. The move affected me as well, however, the soft, feminine qualities that seemed to overpower my innate masculinity were disappearing and just in time. High school is where I first began to understand what I was capable of doing. I graduated with pretty good grades and received a full scholarship to attend an instate university.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away. Many influential people have coined this quote, so where the origin lies is uncertain to me. However, the aforementioned quote epitomizes how my college career can be unraveled. During my freshman year, seniors that I became friendly with never hesitated to remind me to enjoy every moment of college because it goes fast and you will wish it were day one all over again. I wish I took their words more seriously because college did go by at an alarming rate and it wasn't much long after, that I found myself behind a computer desk earning a paycheck.
Art was the driving force that led me to my semi-professional career in architecture. The way buildings were constructed never fascinated me in the slightest, but given the sort of lives freelance artist live, deciding to transition to a more lucrative path was a no brainer. Initially, receiving a decent paycheck and taking lunches without feeling pressured to keep track of time was rather exciting to me. Fortunately, I was able to obtain a position that paid me an honest portion straight out of college so most of the time I ate fairly well. About my 3rd month with the company I leased my first luxury car and moved into a studio apartment in the city. The feeling of success began to work its way into my thought process. During those days I felt like I could continue this lifestyle for as long as my heart desired…but my heart desired more.
I like to refer to this phase as my "contractual breakage" period. Due to my desire to learn and broaden my horizon, I applied for and received an English teaching position in South Korea. The position demanded that I relocate to Asia as soon as possible to be ready in time for the upcoming semester. The reason I refer to this time as the contractual period is because I seemingly broke every contract with every organization and institution that I was affiliated with.
Teaching was a great opportunity in my life. It forced me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to earn a paycheck while exploring the world. I taught English in Korea for over three years and while many other foreigners have made careers of teaching in Korea I decided to use my current situation to my advantage. Last year I went through the application process for graduate school and was successfully accepted into the Graduate School of International and Area Studies here in Seoul.
My mother used to always tell me to keep going no matter what you are faced with. Yes proverbs or idioms like this can be cliché at times, but they are right on target. We never know the path that we should take and the corners that we must cut. All we have to rely on is intuition and belief. Korea has opened my mind up to the world and how we are so connected. Who knows maybe if I relocated to another foreign country the same lessons would have been learned. Its not always where we go that defines your experience. It's the willingness to expand our somewhat narrow minds and take a chance and see what happens.
Foreshadowing to an earlier point of my existence, during my freshman year in college I was having trouble creating a belief mechanism in my mind on whether school was for me or not. My grades suffered and I lost my precious scholarship. It was definitely a maturation period for not only me but for my mother as well. That summer was the first time that she had to let her only son go out to the world and do some soul searching. School was disappointing and the Arizona summer heat was merciless, so my only option was to go somewhere cold.
An advert site by the name "Alaska Fishermen's Clearinghouse" provided me with an avenue to embark on something that only God knew that I could do. That summer culminating my nightmarish freshman year was the summer when I discovered the importance of challenges in ones life. I worked in Alaska as a fisherman for 4 years and earned enough money to financially support the latter part of my college career. It if hadn't been for Alaska, I'm not sure if I would have been able to sculpt my life in the same fashion as I have thus far.
Upon graduating from graduate school I hope to find employment with some entity in the UN. My goal is to be appointed as an ambassador devoted exclusively to the Human Rights Council.
