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CKoller
Signposts
Short Stories that illustrate a unique perspective of Passion: The signposts of life. This tab is meant to make one think about the decisions taken. Decisions guided by Passion serve to connect life events. This tab will drive this point home gently and strongly. You can never go wrong if you follow all your passions.
Serving a Sentence of “15 Years to Life” by CK
Every weekend, you could find a little girl buried in books at the local library. The subject of these books? Always animals. Her dream? Attend college for veterinary medicine. She spent her days caring for the neighbors’ pets. She approached stray dogs, hands outstretched with her body lowered to the ground, hoping to gain their trust so she could check their tags. She rescued cats, finding homes for many and keeping those not placed. She borrowed lab equipment from her science teachers to conduct experiments at home. She spent summers engaged in nature camps to explore animals' natural habitats.
She held a profound sense of love and respect for animals.
Fast Forward to Freshmen Year: One day laughter and screeching broke out on the school bus. The volume rose to a level that captured her attention, directing her to turn around. What she saw was horrifying. Someone had taken a fetal pig out of the biology class and was tossing it from student to student.
A girl known to be quiet: silenced the bus.
Heartbroken, she decided to withdraw from Biology. How could she support a program that couldn’t ensure dignity and respect for the life sacrificed? Fast Forward to Age Twenty-One: As a young adult, she needed a second job. As it turned out, a local veterinarian office was looking to hire a vet tech. She called about the position. They said no. She lacked the educational background of a certified vet tech program. She challenged the requirement. She got the job.
Fast Forward: One night she was visiting her mom. They were chatting in the kitchen when all of a sudden, her mother let out a blood-curdling scream. A Great Dane was dragging their cat out from under the car with his mouth. The girl ran after him. She reached the end of the street and faced total darkness. Standing very still, she listened. A muffled sound guided her to their location. She found herself standing in front of this very large-sized dog. Her cat was still in his mouth. She executed everything she learned about animal behavior. But that wasn’t all she executed…
Driving Home a Point: No, she did not become a veterinarian. But this passion was “meant” to lead her to this very moment in time. Yes, a different passion became her career. It also connected her to Air Force Officers who introduced her to an undiscovered passion that was also “meant” to lead her to this very moment in time. She trained six hours a day. She ran five miles daily, followed by weight training. This girl became a powerlifter.
She attacked him. Her second kick broke his ribs. He dropped her cat and ran.
Fast Forward: She helped Animal Control secure the dog. She ignored the receptionist who told her to sit and wait in the lobby with her cat. Instead, she barged her way into the back while calling out orders to their vet techs. She handed the Veterinarian her cat. “Muffy,” ten years old, lived to the ripe old age of twenty-five. Passion connects life events (i.e., signposts). Thanks to passion, an encounter with a dog left Muffy serving a life sentence of 15 years “more” life.
Back on Track by CK
A young girl had one dream in life, and that was to attend college. It was all she thought about. She was so excited when the first day of high school finally arrived. One step closer to college! She imagined her days filled with classes, and evenings occupied by studies and papers to type. One year later life was very different. Her dreams of attending college had vanished. She was on her own now and had no money for college. In tenth grade, she signed up for the typing class. Her dreams always included an image of a student typing papers. Therefore, for an hour a day, she would pretend college was still in her future.
Well, as it turned out, she was terrible at typing. She had the slowest typing speed in the class, which upset her greatly. One day the typing teacher asked her to stay after class. She was worried it meant dismissal from the class. Instead, another teacher walked into the room and introduced herself as the Office Specialist Student Business Program instructor. This woman explained that she offered a program for juniors and seniors and that it was by invitation only. The girl attended the program in both her junior and senior years. She learned shorthand and secretarial functions. She blossomed. She even claimed the record for the highest typing speed in the program, reaching 96 wpm! These achievements earned her a paid internship program during senior year. By the time graduation day arrived, she had secured full-time employment with the host employer of her internship program.
Fast Forward a Year: One day at work, a Division Manager approached her and requested that she attend all his meetings and scribe shorthand. She learned later that none of his other secretaries had this skill set. She was the only one. Fast Forward: One evening she was helping some of her friends from work plan a baby shower. Her job was to hand-draw baby shower invitations for each guest. Fast Forward a Week: The Division Manager approached her while holding the invitation. He asked her if she did the drawing. She was pretty worried. She told him she did draw the invitation, but not on company time. He laughed. He told her that he arranged lunch plans for her to meet his best friend who held the position of Chief of Graphics for the Army. That meeting produced an interview with the Chief of Graphics for the Air Force. Outcome: The girl switched series from a Branch Secretary to an Illustrator. The girl’s new boss signed her up for the Illustration program at the local “College!” He also paid for everything. A young girl who made decisions that were aligned with her passions (i.e., signposts) found herself “Back on Track.”
She Drew Her "Hero" by CK
A 12-year-old girl admired the skill of cartoonists printed in the daily newspaper. These cartoonists illustrated their talent in the ability to create characters, storylines, and a short new story each day for print. Inspired, she set out to create her character, her storyline, and her comic strip.
Spider: She rescued cats when she was young. So, it made sense that a cat would be the inspiration for her comic strip. Her logo showed a black & white kitten who had a distinct white splat on his nose, and a spider web embracing him. Each day She sketched a "day-in-the-life" of Spider. Excitedly, she intercepted the delivery of the newspaper so that she could tape her comic strip inside the paper for her mother to find. She felt like a real artist and hoped it would make her mom smile.
Fast forward to 17 years of age: Life doesn’t always proceed gently. At the tender age of sixteen, the young girl moved out of her family home and rented a room with two other teenagers. A year later, her roommate told her she was taking a drive to a nearby farm to get a kitten. The young girl excitedly asked if she could join her roommate, even though she had no intention of adopting a kitten. She could barely feed herself; it would not be fair. They arrived at the farm, and there was a buzz of folks all looking at the sweet kittens. The young girl casually looked across the sweet faces when all of a sudden, she stopped cold. There amid all the sweet faces was, “Spider!" She was in shock, stunned, and could not believe what she was seeing. She made a beeline for "Spider," and brought him home with her to the trailer.
Fast forward another month: The young girl came home to the trailer one evening after a day of high school and work. The trailer should have been empty. Instead, a man was sitting on the couch. Fast forward: A tiny kitten climbed up the bed and dug his claws deep into a man's back creating a distraction. The outcome: Spider and the young girl managed to escape through a bathroom window. A passion for Art served as a signpost guiding a 12-year-old girl to draw her hero. His name was Spider.
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