I am done. I finished my last final today. No more graduate classes. I still have my thesis and a redesigned experiment, but the slog is over. No more weekly commutes to Fresno. I logged 30,000 miles alone commuting. My research took me another 4,000. I spent 240 nights away from my wife Therese and kids, but now it’s done. In December 2011, a thought occurred to me–usually that is a dangerous thing for my type of personality–but this thought, morphed into an idea. What if I went to school to get a Masters in Plant Science? I had taken Biology 24 years prior to that so I was clearly prepared to cakewalk classes like Advanced Plant Nutrition–NOT! But a graduate degree in farming? This idea led me to write to a professor at Fresno State, who, much to my surprise, found value in my crazy career path, that took me from playwright, to waiter, to standup comedian, back to waiter, to “food narrative” author, to beekeeper, to aspiring farmer.
Today I return to my wife and family to start a new chapter from T’s pov called “You Again…”. Goodbye Fresno. It’s been nice knowing you.#followyourdreams