After returning to the United States briefly from Europe, I went back to California to complete another round of college coursework. A few advisers had been urging me to add technical certifications to my degrees and other experience. Things started coming together toward that end, so it felt like the right time.
Moving my base of operations to the west coast, I enjoyed the proximity of the ocean I’d seen for the first time all those years ago during that one beautiful platoon hike up over the coastal hills of Camp Pendleton. I’ll never forget the sight of all that water gleaming in the early-morning Sun, the guide-on in my hand fluttering in the refreshing ocean breeze. Magical is a good way of describing it; I felt truly inspired, and right where I belonged.
The subjects this time were in the field of agriculture. It was a little ironic I hadn’t taken any in that area while attending one university which actually includes the word ‘agricultural’ in its name, but I can see now that it would have been a waste of my time; I was meant to study the cutting-edge brilliance of ag’, not the archaic form that was wrecking the planet. This pass through the Bear Republic so well-known for its produce and other crops, I learned all there was to know about how to grow anything I wanted or needed, in any climate zone –the arctic and polar ones included.
Why get a technical certification in high-tech and sustainable agriculture when my first three degrees had been in computer science? Because I had no intention of becoming a programmer working on someone else’s dream, and what I needed for my life’s work had already been well programmed. What I needed, now that I knew all there was to know about the technology becoming available to myself and the public, was how to apply it to automate the growing of all the healthy nutrients myself and my people would ever need, regardless of where we set up camp… and Inisfree.
Armed with this surgical know-how, I could ensure that I and anyone who joined me would be well fed, and you know what they say; “An army marches on its stomach.” Good food is one of the greatest and most universally-acceptable motivators, and what I’d set out to do certainly demanded good food –the best food. I would grow and prepare it myself.
Becoming certified in this way also meant positive attention from potential investors. I’d had a very odd string of bad luck with some of the weirdest would-be angel investors and other venture-minded individuals you might ever believe. It was time to further market myself, bettering the statistical chances of my next round of pitches resulting in far more agreeable results. One person had tried to tell me that with a programmer’s computer-language certification, my income would be sufficient enough to cover the costs of these other things I wanted to do, but that never felt right, never worked out, and seemed wholly unnecessary; others had always stepped up to pay for what I needed on so many expeditions and other undertakings, and this time would be no different.
All told, I added another area of expertise to my portfolio, further refined my pitch deck and a number of formal presentations, and walked away feeling much more accomplished and on track. My dreams were becoming a reality; the visions had come through, their designs were now complete, and I’d met another big group of successful entrepreneurs who were willing to provide some next-stage backing. This was so much better than attempting cold-calls and making small-talk with randoms. This was professional startup marketing.
I’ll likely return to school again in the chapters of life ahead, and I certainly plan on starting a few of my own. I take ‘stay in school’ to heart, and have each and every year so far, even if it means studying on my own time and at my own expense. I love elasticizing my mind with the worthy learning that comes from attending the programs I have been fortunate enough to have discovered. One of my biggest hopes is that others will benefit from educational programs of my own… one day very soon. (And if you’d like to see what some of those are shaping up to be, check out Inisfree’s school and academy webpages. You might be very impressed at what you find.)
