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Subject: Average Joe - Primo84

I am a penguin. Every day I boogie on down to the water, and eat fish. Once, while fishing in the deepest depths, I saw great Cthulhu... And he said to me "Shine, to thine own self be true. They can't tell you what to do once you've gone guru." Also, I should tell you, "slide".

Inventor of the Bombstache avatar!

PRIMOOOOOOO!

  • 03.16.2010 6:17 PM PDT
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Yowzerzzz

  • 03.16.2010 6:59 PM PDT

My YouTube Channel
Bungiepedia Page

"Sometimes life gives you lemons, and then you have to say 'f**k the lemons' and bail."

If you're reading this, you need to stop stalking me. If you can't stop stalking me, you might as well go here.

Posted by: martin1508
Why did you give up on your medical aspirations?
I tried not to go into detail about this, as it would have turned my Bungie-endorsed attention-whorish wall into an emo Bungie-endorsed attention-whorish wall.

Well, you asked:

I was never really sure about what I wanted to go into; however, one thing I was sure about was that I wanted to play football. I wasn't big nor talented enough to play football at a major university, so a small school would have to do. My older brother, who is my best friend, already went to Olivet, so I figured I'd be most comfortable there.

Anyway, my first year at Olivet wasn't so bad. It was a big transitional time for me and Amanda, but we made it through unscathed. I had mostly taken school-required classes my first year, to get them out of the way. I also took an introductory chemistry class just to brush up on things, and that's when I took a liking to chemistry.

I figured I'd take a practical approach to my career. Sure, I could do something easy that I enjoy and live paycheck to paycheck, or I could bust my ass and make bank doing something I hate.

I chose the latter.

However, even after I chose my major, I had no idea what I was going to do with it. Sure, my transcript said 'pre-medical,' but I had no idea what I was going to do. I didn't really have much guidance on this, as my dad had died my senior year of high school, my brother was busy with his own stuff, and my mom and just about everyone else was feeding me the "just do what you think is right for you" line.

...so I rode it out.

Things weren't so bad at first. I didn't like living in the middle of nowhere, but football and the occasional drunken night out held me together. I ended up finishing my sophomore year with a 3.2 GPA: not too shabby for a chemistry major who's unsure of them self.

Summer 2009: I find out Amanda is pregnant.

After the initial shock wore off, my plan was to attend Olivet for the Fall semester and finish off my football career right, then transfer to Wayne and remain a chemistry major.

Well, after receiving the news that I was going to be a father, the last thing on my mind was working out for the coming football season, which showed when I reported to camp. I was out of shape, and distracted (for obvious reasons), and it was hurting my play on the field.

And then my organic and analytical chemistry classes happened.

First off, for any aspiring chemists out there, DO NOT TAKE THESE CLASSES AT THE SAME TIME. Take organic first, then analytical. Needless to say, I struggled in these classes. Not only was the subject matter difficult, but between football and coping with the fact that Amanda was at home enduring her first pregnancy alone, I didn't have time or energy to put in the work.

So a few weeks pass by and I'm only averaging 3 hours of sleep a night. I'd have class and football practice all day, get back to my apartment, and be up doing homework that I didn't understand until 5am.

I was getting by, but just barely. I was miserable, and I couldn't even imagine how I was going to get through graduate school and possibly do this for a living.

At first I thought that I was just being lazy and I needed to just suck it up. But after I had a stare down with a bottle of Vicodin one night, I knew I was in trouble.

To make matters worse, I saw no sympathy from my teammates or coaches. Granted, I had gotten myself into the situation I was in, and I was in no way entitled to a free pass, but not only did I have to take the bad that comes with anyone's failing performance, but everyone seemed to have a real -blam!- attitude about it.

The fact that we were coming off an 0-9 season with no change in sight probably attributed to this.

Jump to Saturday afternoon: we were playing Concordia College, a scrub team out of Chicago that we had pounded 56-0 the previous year: our one guaranteed win. I invited all my friends and family to make the drive out and watch us ass -blam!- this team up and down the field; and sure enough, they all came.

We lost; and not only did we lose, but I had screwed up during a play early in the game, got pulled, chewed out, and saw little to no playing time for the rest of the game.

...all in front of my friends and family.

Amanda made the trip out too. It was the first time I had seen her in almost two months, and her baby belly had popped.

OH.MY.GOD. (-blam!- got real)

So I walk into class Monday, only to find that while I was wallowing in the spirit-destroying misery of our latest defeat, and the bone crunching reality that I was going to be a father, I had forgotten to do all of my homework.

I didn't even stay for class, I'd had it. I went back to my apartment, marched up to my room, and stared up at the ceiling, asking myself if I wanted to keep on like this.

I didn't.

So I called my mom, then Amanda, and told them what was happening. I had recently been more open with Amanda about my uncertainty regarding my future, so I had her full support right off the bat. Hell, she even had a "what took you so long" attitude about the whole thing.

She knows me better than I do.

It all took my mom by surprise, but she was supportive nonetheless.

Later that day, I walked down to the student administrative services office and filled out the appropriate paperwork, talked to my professors (who surprisingly showed a lot of support), then marched on down to the football complex to talk to my coaches and inform my teammates of my decision.

When I first walked into the building, I had a feeling I was going to walk out in tears, second guessing what I've come to think was one of the biggest decisions of my life. (so far) I ran into a buddy before actually talking to anybody else. I told him what was up; he was our All-American punter, who two years earlier had walked out of a Division I Football program to come play at -blam!- ol' Olivet: turns out his decision was a lot similar to mine. He told me that on the drive home, it'll feel like a huge weight had been lifted.

He was right; my teammates, who I addressed after practice, had all been pretty supportive and wished me good luck. I'm sure there were guys who were rolling their eyes and calling me a -blam!- under their breath, but they were heavily outnumbered.

My coaches sounded a bit more disappointed, but respected my decision and wished me good luck anyway.

The next day, I was packed up and on my way home.

About a month after I left, I found a job, applied to Wayne, and started doing all the things a responsible baby daddy should do.

I ended up choosing art as my major because I've always had talent for it, but I've always gotten the impression that art is a 'go big or go home' kind of deal. (Starving artist) After this had all occurred, my friends and family admitted that they never understood why I didn't choose art to begin with. Well, I've found that I'd rather do something I enjoy and be poor than make a -blam!- ton of money and hate my life.

I mean, what's the point of all that money when all you want to spend it on is a fifth of Jack and a 12-gauge?

Well, months later, I'm a daddy, and I can honestly say that I've never been happier in my life.

Things are great with Amanda and the baby; hell, I don't even mind waking up at 3am to change a poopy diaper. As cheesy as it sounds, I never thought I was capable of loving someone so much.

I like my new school 10000000x more than my old one. And even though I'm doing terrible in my required art history classes, I'm doing pretty well in my classes relevant to my major,

(Emphasis on ART HISTORY; they have absolutely nothing to do with what I'm going into and I hate that I have to take them, but hey, that's college.)

I made a huge decision on a whim, gave up something I love to be with someone I love, and did it all with no guarantee that it'd work out.

I'm glad I made the decision I did: my only regret is that it took 2 years to realize what was best for me.

When I was at Olivet, I was coasting, never quite sure of what I wanted or what my purpose in life was. My son put everything into perspective for me. I have a purpose now, and I couldn't be any happier.

Life is good.

  • 03.16.2010 7:09 PM PDT

Bungie-endorsed attention-whorish wall is now an emo Bungie-endorsed attention-whorish wall.

Just kidding.

Really good interview - I've heard a lot about you from playing with Scapegoat, True Underdog and company.

  • 03.16.2010 8:03 PM PDT

You say tomato; I say potato.

Posted by: Primo84
Life is good.
Ain't it though? Whether you knew it or not, life is always good even when it seems like it isn't.

As for an art degree, a real artist can revolutionize any industry. I'd suggest you learn a trade if you can, especially if you're an artist. A starving artist might just be the man who hasn't found the proper canvas. I'd love to get an art education. I might not have much potential for drawing, but my circuit building is my outlet. Not simply the cold calculation of signal conditioning, but of construction and skill.

Glad to see you up in the spotlight. Thanks for the shout out, too.
>.D

  • 03.16.2010 8:27 PM PDT

You will be missed.
My YouTube Channel
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"See what I did there?"
"I can hear you caring."
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Dont get too wrapped up in the Internet. It's already forgotten about you.

Yay for 5 years hanging around this place and watching the flowers grow! :)

Great interview, it was nice to learn more about you.

  • 03.16.2010 9:29 PM PDT
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Dude, props to you. You're probably not where you envisioned you would be a few years ago, but that is life; I have been through some major lifestyle changes myself in the last three years and never saw them coming. But hey, you're obviously very happy to be where you are right now, and that's good enough for anyone in the world.

Props to you. Life is good.

No... better than good... OSSIM. XD

  • 03.16.2010 10:06 PM PDT

Hey, I've heard of you.

Nice to learn some more about the members here.

  • 03.16.2010 10:39 PM PDT

Posted by: Top_Gun_2021
Posted by: Nerd Boi
Posted by: Top_Gun_2021
1st

And you are 20 too? And we practically have the same majors!?

That is scary. We should totally start our own business.
Primo_Gun_84 sounds like a sweet name for a fashion house. (Not going to live that down for a while <3)

Go Primo.


Not that kind of design idiot.
Hehe.

  • 03.16.2010 11:39 PM PDT

Does anyone even read these?

Awesome interview mate, I really wish I could connect back into BungieNet though. :(

  • 03.17.2010 1:02 AM PDT

Posted by: Halo53
Anyone else ever wonder what it's like for two elcor to do the nasty?

"Tentatively excited: Oh. Oh. Oh. Right there."

Yeah me neither.

Posted by: Primo84
Posted by: martin1508
Why did you give up on your medical aspirations?
I tried not to go into detail about this, as it would have turned my Bungie-endorsed attention-whorish wall into an emo Bungie-endorsed attention-whorish wall.

Well, you asked:

...
Thank-you for taking the time to write that out. I found it relevant (to a degree) to my situation and thus helpful even if only by a little bit.

Anywho nice spotlight!

  • 03.17.2010 2:27 AM PDT

Posted by: Primo84
Posted by: martin1508
Why did you give up on your medical aspirations?
I tried not to go into detail about this, as it would have turned my Bungie-endorsed attention-whorish wall into an emo Bungie-endorsed attention-whorish wall.

Well, you asked:

...


That's cool. I was just curious because I'm apsiring to become a physician. Good to hear that things are good for you now.

  • 03.17.2010 5:52 PM PDT

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