Contest by TomcoPDR: 10 year anniversary

[max_boost]

to Tomco for being such a great guy and his generous contribution to the members of Beyond.ca

[reiRei]

My life, growing and not growing in 10 years.
In 1998, at this very time, I was only 12 years old. Not very old, but old enough to see the world through travelled eyes. I was going into grade eight, and excited to be nearing high school.

10 years ago, you would've found me outside.. playing with the various neighborhood kids... especially the two kids I had considered my best friends. We were like glue, stuck to each other.

That summer we had endless sleep overs and late nights outside. We were kids then, and this was our time.

september came.... and so began grade 8. I was nowhere near being the popular kid in school, yet at the same time.. I was not the biggest loser in the class. I guess you could say that I was terribly mundane. Back then, I was a honda fan girl, I loved civics and wanted a Del Sol.

grade 8 came and went, and I was staring down the barrell of high school. I would find myself in Grade 9 at Bishop McNally the year after.

High School was a learning experience, both educationally and intellectually. I realized then that it didn't matter who I was before, it was who I could become that was most important. Still not the popular kid, still not the loser.. I settled into the life of being a band geek.

it was in my first year of high school that developed my very first high school crush. He was your typical jock, big.. muscular, on the football team... but he was a nice guy... little did I know that he would play an important part in my life later on. at that point in time, all I knew was that he was in grade 12 and graduating, and I was in grade 9... just starting out.

They say that you begin to grow and shape your personal identity in high school... and it was in high school that I began to grow and shape and create various identities for myself. When I stared high school, I began to watch professional wrestling, and I identified with two major wrestlers on the roster... Jeff Hardy and Lita... They were free spirited people who lived for the moment and who believed that the extreme always make an impression.. something that I carry with me until this day.

High school continued on, month after month, learning.. changing and growing. It was not until halfway through grade eleven that life picked up for me... or rather, hit the bottom. It was during this reporting period that I had found out that I was failing out of all of my classes. I was losing focus, and not doing as well as I should've. It was also at that point that one of my best friends had fallen into an unsavory lifestyle. He had left home, and began to live on the street.... at this point, I felt as if I had no point or reason to continue on.

At the same time, the winter olympics were going on in Salt Lake City. While watching one of the telecasts, I caught an athlete profile... it was for Apolo Anton Ohno. He was only 19 years old... going to school, and at the same time excelling at his sport. From his humble beginnings (the son of a single father, a hairdresser, falling into the wrong crowds), he turned his life around and became one of the worlds top speedskaters. I looked at his life and compared it to my very own, why was it that I could not focus enough and excell at just the schooling I had to take.. and so it began, I started working harder and harder in school.. and I even began going to the gym after school as an outlet.

.. as you can tell by now, I draw my inspiration from outside sources... but of course nothing would prepare me for what was to come.

grade twelve finally came along, and with the stress an anxiety came along an old friend of mine.. alopecia areata. Alopecia areata is a condition in which the body's immune system rejects the hair you have on your head. Being that I was a 17 year old girl.. and it was my grad year, this was a very trying time for me. Every month I would have to go in for steroid injections on my scalp to foster hair growth.. needle after needle after needle.. at it's peak, I had 3 bald spots that needed 10 injections each.

I got my driver's licence at the age of 16, but because I am a product of an asian home, I was too over-protected to get a job, nor a car... so my first ride was a 2002 Dodge Caravan... baller eh?

I got accepted into the Digital Graphics Communications program at SAIT in the middle of my senior year in high school. I was excited, I was going to school to learn about graphic design and print media.. something that had always interested me... it was a looming reality I had to face, I had to get a career and make money in order to make myself happy and live out my goals.

Design has always been an interest of mine, ever since I started assembling my own handmade magazines when I was younger I was always interested in creating my own look. In Grade 9, I began to delve into Web Design.. and the more and more I played with photoshop and Yahoo's page maker, the more interested I became.. and the more I realized that I had a knack for putting lines, shapes, colour, text and pictures together to create something really neat.

I graduated High School in 2003, not before hearing someone shout "Live for the moment" as I crossed the stage.. waving to the high school band and taking a bow for good measure.

.. I was done being a kid, it was time to become a college student.

I started DGC (digital Graphics communications) in September of 2003, I was not allowed to have the "year off", so I got pushed into school right away. Started college as a quiet kid who sat in the corner not talking to anyone but whomever talked to me, graduated as the girl who organized all the parties and knew everyone.... that would not last very long though.

Got a job for the Calgary Sun right before graduation as an ad builder. Basically assmbling ads for the various car dealerships within Calgary, in my first month of working I applied to get a lease on a 2005 Honda Civic DX....
... I did not get approved.

it would turn out that I would get my first car one year later in 2006, a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart. It is with this car that I've met some good people.. my significant other, and found a passion for the automotive world.. my car may be slower than most, but she's mine and I picked her.

Right now, I don't live the perfect life with the perfect job, i don't have the perfect body.. but I'm on my way to attain my ideals. Trying to get healthier this year by working hard at the gym and choosing to eat right.. I look back and realize which people I want to surround myself with... it's been a good 10 years, hoping for even more

[Euro_Trash]

Yikes I haven't told a 10 year old story for a looong time but I will, reserved for work tomorrow!!

Edit: Here we go

1998 – 11 years old
Living life like a normal 11 year old should be – building forts in the woods, mountain biking, soccer, skate boarding, snowboarding, etc. Would just be graduating grade 6, so moving from an elementary school to the world of junior high school.

1999 - 2000 – to 13 years old
See above, basically same thing. Began experiencing the party life in grade 7, and started hanging out with the wrong crowd. Started getting hard core into snowboarding and skate boarding and blew a lot of money on gear. Got drunk for the first time at 13 (off of Big Bear, oh yeah baby). Here I also told myself I was going to an aeronautical engineer. I am still pretty amazed I had that kind of vision at that age.

2001 – 14 years old
14 was a huge year for me. Got my first job as a dishwasher at Humptys (eventually moving to head cook haha). Even better, lost my v-card. Started my first “real” relationship with a girl a few years older than me. Helped me learn a lot about myself and women.

2002 – 2004 – to 17 years old
The high school years. Began experimenting with drugs (weed, E, morphine, overdosed multiple times). I was arrested a couple of times, and my parents were not too proud of their son, to say the least. Went through a couple of girls, quit doing drugs, started taking school more seriously. Ended getting some pretty substantial scholarships for engineering at the U of A. I was about a year and a half into a relationship which I considered “the one”. Also bought my first car, and joined Beyond (the beginning of my car obsession which will follow me for the rest of my life).

2005 – 18 years old
First year of university, in rez, what an eye opener. Realized what real partying is, and almost failed out of school. Learned how: 1. Long distance relationships blow. 2. Best friends aren’t always best friends. Biggest mistake of my life was also around this point: hooking up with ex girlfriend and knocking her up. Planned to drop out of school to do the right thing, we ended up getting back together, and then had a miscarriage at about 4 months. Rocked my world, and we broke up a couple days after. Made me reflect on myself and my issues, so starting taking things more seriously. While it was a very sad issue, I can't even imagine what I would be doing right now if I had dropped out of school that year.

2006-Present – up to 21 years old
Entered petroleum engineering in the co-op program, and started improving my marks. Began working in the oilfield and realized how it was the best career choice I could have made (for personal satisfaction and money, of course). Had fun with friends, and basically had what I believe to be the best few years of my life.

Life is only getting better and better. Best part: met the girl of my dreams in a petroleum engineering lab (nerdy, I know), and got engaged. She even promised one (of many) of my dream cars in the spring. Have an awesome job waiting for me when I graduate next April, and have enough money in the bank to be comfortable for my last school year. I think I went through a lot of crap (mainly my own extremely stupid decisions growing up – drug abuse, knocking a girl up, getting arrested, etc) but I think I grew a lot through all of that, and can only look back and laugh now. I am obviously still young with lots to learn, but tons of things to look forward to

Congrats on the 10 years too!

[ragu]

Reserved till I come back from work tonight!

[KuruptEX]

- 10 years ago i was out enjoying summer not a care in
the world did not have to worry about having a good job
or having a pretty girlfriend i was 11 at the time and all i
did was try to hustle my mom for a Tonie so i can go to
7/11 for a nice cold Slurpee lets skip forward 5 years...


- I was busy behind the grill at your neighborhood
McDonald's making your guy's food for you, and at the
same time attending high school not really enjoying my
job at all and just graduating (with not the best marks a
person can wish for),


- I Then started working At the walmart's warehouse
supply chain management getting about 14.00 an hour
so about 800 after taxes bi weekly so im young and
dumb i would go and spend the money blindly on clothes
car parts shoes and music cd's. so one day My dad sat
me down and had a man to man conversation with me
about how i need to go back to school and how i need to
look towards the future and stop wasting my money, and
he was willing to pay for my tuition but i turned my dads
offer down because im 19 im getting 1600 a month that's
alot for me at the time i kept working there for Three
years.


-Before i quit was getting paid 18.45 now im 21 and
realize how this job(warehouse job) is not getting me
anywhere so i just recently quit and all the money i had
saved up instead of putting myself through school im
helping my wife achieve her goals first, And Now Starting
September my wife IS Putting me through school (taking
travel and tourism at sait) and im also looking for a part
time job


Sorry If i didnt not put . , ? take it easy grammer police

[KuruptEX]

.

[Super_Geo]

10 years ago I was in junior high and..


... discovered the WD-40 flamethrower, which subsequently got me a week's suspension from school.

... realized that few kids did their weekly science vocab homework (which was just copying definitions out of the back of the book). Being a young entrepreneur, I would spend 15 minutes typing up the vocab list and then formatting it 10 different ways and printed it off 10 times. I'd sell them for $2 a sheet, which netted me an easy $20 a week (for 15 minutes worth of work... that's about $166k/year full time, bitches!). This quickly got me repeat clientele who began to depend on me for their weekly vocab sheet... until one day I got caught. As a result, till this day no one at Woodman Junior High can type out their vocab sheets.

... discovered how to make smoke bombs and dared my friend to light one in his church on Sunday while the rest of his family was inside. He got caught and wasn't allowed to play with me after that.

... tried making an old teacher think he was going senile by always taking stuff from his desk and hiding it in his filing cabinet during recess. I can't be certain, but I'm hoping it worked.

... got a slip from the office to change my home phone number and filled out one of my family friends' #s who spoke absolutely no English, and got my mom to sign it at 6am so she wouldn't realize what she was signing. From that day on I never got another call from the junior high about skipping school or getting in shit.


Man... the good old days... when the entire day was spent scheming...

[Mr_ET]

wow 10 years ago.

I was in my first year of Cegep in Quebec, had a 1988 Accord LX that was full of rust but everything still worked on/in it.

I was having fun with my friends going to clubs and all since I had just turned 18 and was mostly the guy driving everyone around cause no one else had a car.

Then dad got a heart attack and after he recovered we ended up moving to Calgary.

I was pissed to be moving again so after finishing the ''equivalent'' of my second year of cegep, decided to drive back to Quebec in my 98 Tercel.

Went through 5 years of University starting up in computer sciences and finishing up with a BComm in HR and MRK.

During that time also met my GF (call her my wife cause we`ve been together 8 years but I'm still not married lol)

4 and a half years ago came back to Calgary. Worked sales at Kramer Mazda for a bit, then Commercial road transport at Shell and now HR with MNP.

We also had 2 daughters and my oldest one is now a bit over 3 years old. The little one is 9 months in 2 days.

Joined Beyond 4 years ago and never looked back!

Outstanding idea Tom

[Kloubek]

Maybe this is too large - but it might be an interesting read if you're super, super bored.

Ten years ago, eh? I went to work for a sign shop. It was the closest thing I could find to my field in Kamloops, which is where I grew up. It wasn't really in my field - so much as it involved laying things out on the computer - which eventually led to my occupation as a web designer. Strangely enough, I opted not to take the optional web design classes during college, thinking I would become a computer animator. That was my passion at the time, but CGI was fairly new back then, and jobs in the field were reserved for only the best of the best - a select group I openly admit I was not part of. I probably wouldn't have made the "second best" group either - come to think of it.

I just ended a 3-year relationship with the college girlfriend I lived with, and was faced with my entire life ahead of me.

I had actually made a bet with my sister I would be a millionarre by the time I was 30. My ability to attain this position in life turned out to be equally as difficult as spelling the word correctly. It just didn't happen. But needless to say, I had and still have high goals and aspirations. Which leads me to my next job move.

I received a phone call from a local guy I met when I ran a BBS. When I first met him, I felt he was excentric. After some time, I realized he was literally borderline insane. That's no stretch - but at BEST he was the biggest sociopath I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. But I didn't actually realize it at the time; he had not done a single thing to me directly. So when he called me up saying he was head of a startup web design company and wanted me to be his lead designer, I jumped at the chance. I had recently learned html, and figured I knew my stuff. (Not so much - but I was still pretty young and high on myself.)

It was just shy of a month employed with this "company" before the investors caught onto his ways, and threw him to the curb - me along with him. Living paycheque to paycheque, I was relieved when only a week later we were picked up by a former design client.

After a month, and guaranteed job security from our investors, I went out and bought my 91 z28. I loved that car at the time. It was to replace my rx7 (yes - fear the rotary) gave up the ghost.

Things were wonderful. Little (I weighed about 155 pounds at 6' tall) geeky me managed to start dating a girl literally stopped traffic she was so attractive. Her breasts were naturally the size of medium watermelons. I was in heaven.

Life was good. Until everything fell apart.

The red flag should have gone up when I was told by one of the investors that I didn't have to work 40 hours a day if I didn't want to. Design work started slowing down. As such, I decided to take the investor up on his offer of not coming in one day. Instead, I spent it with my new sexpot to extend the weekend - as she lived a couple of hours out of town. I was told that stuff was going down in the office, and not to come in the following day either. Which was fine by me - under the circumstances.

The following day after that I came into work, to find my hard drive out of my computer. Apparently Mr. Sociopath set me up to make it look like I was surfing porn all day. (I guarantee you - I was not.) They did not let me look at the file of "evidence", and stopped my last (very needed) paycheque. I was fired for the first and last time in my life. I had been actually FRAMED for something. This was unreal.

I ended up going on welfare for a short while, as I could not afford to live. My credit card built up and my mortgage company was calling. I was literally a week away from losing my apartment. I tried selling my car for temporary living money, but nobody was willing to give me anything worthwhile for it.

At the last moment, I was hired by my current employer. It took me a couple of years to get my credit and finances back in check. Strangely, the hot girlfriend stuck with me through all that bullshit, but later ended up cheating on me in our bed with two separate people. The fact one was a chick made it that much more strange for me. I sucked so bad I was turning girls lesbian.
When I found out about the cheating - I threw her out of my apartment. Literally. (She tried to get me charged with assault, but it's a tough sell when someone picks you up and drops you on the ground outside the door.)

I fell into a deep depression - further exasperated by the hereditary link of mental disease which afflicts my mother's entire side of the family. I started abusing cocaine, and was in danger of becomming an addict.

My employer was taken over by a larger company. My option was $10,000 in Kamloops, or a free move and a job in Calgary. Being that Kamloops is not exactly silicon valley, I took the move and job. With medication, therapy, and the move I thought things were looking up. I quit the coke, and got things sorted out to some degree.

Calgary was weird. I had never been so far away from my family before - even if they were only a 7 hour drive away. I had never spent more than a few days in a large city! My first Christmas dinner was with Miss. Michelena. (The TV dinner, that is.) I knew nobody, and my only company was my two cats. I continued to struggle against depression, and leveled myself out eventually. Then I went on to build my life. I sold the condo I bought when I moved to Calgary for a modest profit, and got a great deal on my current place. Then of course, the property values shot up. This, combined with some savvy vehicle transactions, and I found myself debt-free, and living a decent bachelor life. I was on my way in life. I dated here and there, but never really developed a lasting relationship, or a large base of people to interact with.

This remains somewhat true even today. At least for the large circle of friends. But that doesn't really matter to me - because just over a year ago, I found the most wonderful woman, and the rest of my life with her flashed before my eyes. She is my perfect compliment, is the missing piece of my life's puzzle, and is the reason I type gay things like "missing piece of my puzzle" in open public forums.

We are planning on buying a home together in the next several months, and have talked about our future to quite some extent. My mental and financial states are solid. It took a while, but this past year has been a new beginning for me of sorts. I'm quite confident that this coming decade is going to be one for the books and I can honestly say the future has never looked brighter. Too bad it took until 33 to get here. I still have a ways to go for my million. But I'll get there - you all wait and see!

[03ozwhip]

10 years ago i just graduated high school and everything had started to look up after being in alot of shit from the previous 2 years(drugs, stealing cars, fighting) i just turned 18 and was dating a chick for a year and finally got my first car (1986 mercury Topaz)
i was living the life working at shoppers drug mart chinook for 7/hour and then i made a big change and went to Walmart working nights. i soon found out that it changed my life completely, my GF was cheating on me while my sister sat back and watched(she took her out and they partied together) while i was working.
i got totally fucked over because of being a nice guy all that time to her, taht i decided to finally move out and not have a GF for a while. moved out with one of my best friends and it was a gong show for a year and a half, fucking a different chick almost every week(not good at all i know now) but didnt really give a shit back then.
got rid of the Topaz and got myself an 87 Cavalier to be a little more cool......which is when i met my next GF, and moved into Lakeview with 4 other guys.
this was known as the party house as you could probably imagine and some of the guys that are on Beyond know it very well.
this is where i started levelling out again and was working with Icon Window Films, then eventually on my own as a sub contractor.
bought myself an orange lowrider toyota for this business and started doing a little more tuning aside from stereos. turned out it wasnt a good idea living with taht many guys and having a drop in party house so i moved into some apartments across from Chinook with another buddy.
im an asshole and was cheating on my gf at the time for quite some time with different chicks. my buddy kept bringing home all the chicks ALL the time and banging them and he isnt usually like that, so i was kind of intrigued on what was going on.
he said "i went to matchmaker.com" i told him he was a loser, and then secretly went on there and started a profile. the very first chick that i talked to was hot and a very cool chick, so i hung out with her, and eventually about that time decided to be with this chick instead of my GF(they knew about each other, so i made my decision)
right after that my roommate started being a fuckface and didnt pay his rent and moved out...i went back to my parents house for a few months, then decided to move in with my new GF.
my truck had since blown up and the business went to shit, i started working at Go Mango Fitness and driving myself an 88 Escort GT.
over the period of about a year or so i worked there and for Icon as a regular tinter for the summer as thats the busy time. got rid of the escort due to a hit & run and got a 93 Explorer, and started working for Pars Canada.
after gaining a little money over the year working there, i finally was able to buy a GOOD car, an 03 Mitsubishi Lancer OZ(hence the name) in 2005.
i started having loads of money with 2 incomes and started modding this like ive always wanted to mod a car.
took it to the DTP show in 06 and got beat out by a white ralliart, but ended up getting on the cover of the local "Urbane magazine" along with some others in the article.
turned out that i kinda wanted to get married from there, so i sold the Lancer back to the dealer and bought myself a JDM MR2 to cut down on costs and do something different.(when i bought JDM it was still fairly new and not hated on as much)
i loved the car, but have loved lowriders since i was 12. i finally coaxed my father in law to sell me his 88 Monte SS and the lowriding began.
at that point i was stuck at a job where i couldnt go any higher and had to make a change.
here i am today married for almost a year, trying to have kids,
i have 3 cars a good wife and a good job.
all i need is more money and everything would be perfect.
not bad for a guy that grew up dirt poor and started working when he was 12....

EDITED FOR THE LADIES THAT ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT MY TEXT

[Super_Geo]

Originally posted by 03ozwhip
10 years ago i just graduated high school and everything had started to look up after being in alot of shit from the previous 2 years(drugs, stealing cars, fighting) i just turned 18 and was dating a chick for a year and finally got my first car (1986 mercury Topaz) i was living the life working at shoppers drug mart chinook for 7/hour and then i made a big change and went to Walmart working nights. i soon found out that it changed my life completely, my GF was cheating on me while my sister sat back and watched(she took her out and they partied together) while i was working. i got totally fucked over because of being a nice guy all that time to her, taht i decided to finally move out and not have a GF for a while. moved out with one of my best friends and it was a gong show for a year and a half, fucking a different chick almost every week(not good at all i know now) but didnt really give a shit back then. got rid of the Topaz and got myself an 87 Cavalier to be a little more cool......which is when i met my next GF, and moved into Lakeview with 4 other guys. this was known as the party house as you could probably imagine and some of the guys that are on Beyond know it very well. this is where i started levelling out again and was working with Icon Window Films, then eventually on my own as a sub contractor. bought myself an orange lowrider toyota for this business and started doing a little more tuning aside from stereos. turned out it wasnt a good idea living with taht many guys and having a drop in party house so i moved into some apartments across from Chinook with another buddy. im an asshole and was cheating on my gf at the time for quite some time with different chicks. my buddy kept bringing homke all the chicks ALL the time and banging them and he isnt usually like that, so i was kind of intrigued on what was going on. he said "i went to matchmaker.com" i told him he was a loser, and then secretly went on there and started a profile. the very first chick that i talked to was hot and a very cool chick, so i hung out with her, and eventually about that time decided to be with this chick instead of my GF(they knew about each other, so i made my decision) right after that my roommate started being a fuckface and didnt pay his rent and moved out...i went back to my parents house for a few months, then decided to move in with my new GF. my truck had since blown up and the business went to shit, i started working at Go Mango Fitness and driving myself an 88 Escort GT. over the period of about a year or so i worked there and for Icon as a regular tinter for the summer as thats the busy time. got rid of the escort due to a hit & run and got a 93 Explorer, and started working for Pars Canada. after gaining a little money over the year working there, i finally was able to buy a GOOD car, an 03 Mitsubishi Lancer OZ(hence the name) in 2005. i started having loads of money with 2 incomes and started modding this like ive always wanted to mod a car. took it to the DTP show in 06 and got beat out by a white ralliart, but ended up getting on the cover of the local "Urbane magazine" along with some others in the article. turned out that i kinda wanted to get married from there, so i sold the Lancer back to the dealer and bought myself a JDM MR2 to cut down on costs and do something different.(when i bought JDM it was still fairly new and not hated on as much) i loved the car, but have loved lowriders since i was 12. i finally coaxed my father in law to sell me his 88 Monte SS and the lowriding began. at that point i was stuck at a job where i couldnt go any higher and had to make a change. here i am today married for almost a year, trying to have kids, i have 3 cars a good wife and a good job. all i need is more money and everything would be perfect. not bad for a guy that grew up dirt poor and started working when he was 12....

Sometime in the next 10 years please find the Enter button.

[nightfx]

holy wall of text

[Spoons]

Well lets jump in the DeLorean, fire up the flux capacitor, and lets go back ten years with Dr. Brown.

Well ten years ago would put me back at the age of nine. Good old elementary days where I thought I could do anything. If you were to explain how I was in my elementary days, look up the movies Dennis The Menace, or any movie of a prepubescent boy on the rampage.

I was the kid who when the teacher left the classroom would jump on his desk and yell "PARTY!" only to have the teacher come back into the classroom as soon as I jumped up. I was the kid who would sit in assemblies with the laser pointer shining it on my principles forehead, trying to be sneaking yet getting caught every time. I was the kid who basically tried to break every rule in the book. I was a shit disturber.

In the office at Monsignor Neville Anderson Elementary school, I had my own chair. That chair was mine... Russ Gaida was ballin' at the age of nine. Who could say they had their own area with an arm chair in an office? Fuck I had a better chair than secretary. It was your standard arm chair, you know boxy, not that comfortable, but all I could think is that the secretary didn't even have a back on her chair, so I must be the man. Anyways I was in the chair almost everyday. Everyday I would be called down to the office, sit down in my chair, and await what certain doom awaited me.

It certainly did not help that my mother was a teacher assistant. I couldn't get away with shit. I would be sitting there, then bam from out in the hallway I could sense that glare... that sense of that when I get home I am going to get my ass handed to me. You could say the least that my mom was not very impressed with me as a child.

One incident was that I tried to melt a hole through the bus shelter with a match. This girl (who oddly enough had a crush on me at that time) told on me... and soon enough I had my ass in my little groove (yes by the end of my elementary days I had an ass groove in the chair) awaiting. Over that incident I had to talk to a police officer, fire fighter, you name it about how I could blow my face off with fire. That day I learned or at least was led to believe that a single match could destroy me and a twelve block radius of housing.

I also made many harmless weaponry, for example a staple firing pencil, which I went to hit my grade six teacher in the forehead only to stand up, fist pump, and sit back down. That is where the irony of the next story comes to play.

This was my turning point in life (well one of many). A point where my dreams shattered right before me, I was pissed off at everyone around me for all the wrong reasons. When I was in grade seven I was hit my a paper slingshot in the eye. This caused eye damage in my eye, and I almost lost eyesight. To this day I have a heightened chance of forming cataracts, Glaucoma, you name it. At this age I had dreams of being a fighter pilot... this ultimately crushed them as it damaged my eye sight, and like that paper projectile, my dreams of being a pilot also soared away. I wanted to be a fighter pilot so bad... I was in air cadets and tried to do whatever to get me closer to that goal. Before the incident there was no doubt I would be one.

I have yet to forgive the kid who has done that to me... I don't think I ever can.

But well lets skip a couple years, dodge that touchy moment and reach the fine age of sixteen. Ah sixteen. The age where you are hornier than twenty grizzly bears in heat, and jerked off more than twice a day. Although I had grown up quite a bit, I was still the same old shit disturber. I was much more tactful about it this time, and outwitted many of my teachers. This is the age I discovered that magical liquid we call booze, and the wonderful plant we call pot.

I was sitting at my best friends house when his older brother came home (Ted Lam, currently one of Calgary's most successful car salesperson at Kramer Mazda... no that was not an advertisement placement) and he called me over. There he had a couple of beers, some weird Chinese alcohol, and a knife (to poke holes with, not murder). There we went outside to shotgun the beers, and take shots (of what I later discovered was almost 90% alcohol). I was hammered. I fell in love with my friend booze.

Next couple months I went to more and more parties, drank and partied harder, exactly what every high school student should do. I was at one party where my buddy offered me a joint. I was hammered and figured why not. Took some huge hoots, and boom... blitzed. All I could think was, "Oh my fucking god... THIS SHIT IS AWESOME!" Not only did it level me out, but I was just all around to lazy to cause shit. My shit disturbing days calmed down after that day.

But well with all that, my marks came down. I just barely graduated high school and ultimately just looked for the easy way out. I decided to go into trades.

Now I have a high respect for people in trades, but ultimately it was not for me, and was just my easy way out cause I could get in with my shitty grades. I got hired on with Syntec/Enerflex as a commercial apprentice electrician. For a bit I liked it, but something was always nagging at me. I quit my apprenticeship and decided enough was enough. Enough fucking around, enough doing shit all, enough not keeping a job for longer than 3 months because I didn't like it, I was going to do what I wanted to do. I went back to school.

I went back to school to basically retake my grade 12 year and a grade 11 course. I retook Math 30, Chem 30, and took Physics 20, Physics 30, and Math 31. I worked my ass off, and as much as I wanted to quit, I stuck through it.

And this is where I exit the DeLorean, hand Dr. Brown that note that says he is going to get shot by terrorists, and cool down the flux capacitor. I am currently admitted into the faculty of Engineering at the U of C and couldn't quite possibly be more happy with myself. I have the biggest sense of self accomplishment, and feel like for once I actually did some constructive, and not destructive. It was a rough bumpy ride is some parts, but I would not trade it for the world. What didn't kill me (which trust me, almost did a few times) only made me stronger.

And this is where I stand. I am Spoons... err Russ... Hear me roar.

[5fivespeed]

Your story is for the awsome. Seriously. ^

[JAYMEZ]

Hmmm 10 years...

- Started experimenting with girls and alcohol/drugs/sex. I think I dated every blonde girl I knew.

- Started getting in alot of fights and eventually started doing kickboxing and other contact sports. Also hanging out with the wrong crowds.

- Finally turning to a teenager , I stole my dads car with some girls and took it out all night , on the way home I crashed the car and had to make the worse call of my life.

- Going into HS I had grown up with asian friends for so long who all started to become more aggressive and experimenting with gangs , so I naturally with them , just did the same thing.

- I got into modeling , and did some crazy stuff around the world , it was fun at the time , but I had more passion in sports , so I just did that.

- I had my best friend commit suicide for no reason , I also had both my grandmas die with in 4 months of each other (Both live in the UK)

- In gr 10 , I dated Miss Teen Calgary , because I thought it was a cool thing to do .. it only lasted a few weeks before i got bored lol.

- Hmm some highlights of grade 10 would be playing against American football teams and winning , also I met alot of cool people that became great friends.

- Gr 11 , I met my highschool love , who I dated for 4 years and fucked up on her badly. She was a great girl , but I put my stuff first and kind of dragged her along..

- Gr 11 , started hanging out with gangs that we hear about all the time , I saw some of the worse shit in my life , some of the stuff I cant forget..

- Gr 11. I had 4 friends killed in a car crash , and it took a huge dent in my life , and I seemed really mad at the world , and you would never catch me smileing or careing about anyone... At this point in my life , I hated everyone , and for all I cared , everyone hated me.

GR 11 Summer - I went to a party with a bunch of my friends and we took my parents SUV.. I let a girl drive 1 block on my lap (ya i know) she totalled it , soooo i got in alot of shit from the parents!

Gr 12 - things started to get worse with the bad people in my life , I was many times in danger of loseing my life , and i had a few people i hung out with murdered and I was almost killed.

Graduation - My gf got me out of all this shit.. It was her or the stupid life .. I picked her.. So I went to MRC and joined Bach of Small Business and Entr.

- A year and a bit went by and me and my ex broke up , I was completely heart broken by loseing the girl I loved so much .. I ran away and went to Europe , then when I came back , I still couldnt stand Calgary , So i moved to Australia for a year.

- When I was in Australia , I lost 2 friends who I went to Elem/Jr High and HS with... Both different reasons.

- Living in Australia , I had time to find myself , I relaxed and learned to love myself and everyone around me. I met alot of girls who didnt know anything about me , and I was able to start a new life and I finally started to get over my EX gf and the corruption the bad people in my life had done to me.

- Moving back to Calgary , I met a new friend who got me a job at a nightclub , and I decided to do it , because it was something different and a great way to meet people.

- at that club I met some people I would never want to talk to again , and some that have backstabbed me as friends and some who have threatened my life... But I also found some people I know who I will have in my life forever.

- Fastforwarding a bit , I found that alot of the people I called friends I couldnt trust , and only a handful of people I will ever call my friends.. I also changed job and went to work at another nightclub... I thought I was making alot of cool friends , but quickly relized I was getting drawn back into stupid shit again .. I also was swung at by knifes and had a gun put to my head... So I thought it would be a wise decision to get the fuck outa that..

- Now I am here now.. I love my life and the people in it. I am almost done my Marketing degree and Bach of small business and Entr... I seem to have alot of oportunities in my life now and I look forward to everyday.. I have learned so much in helping myself , that I can focus on other people and help them.

[403Gemini]

Looking for a dip in the nostalgia world eh Tom?

Lemme grab my Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory CD and start writing.

1998 - Ending Junior High going into high school (Bishop Grandin) i had a part time job working for a computer shop that my dad knew the owner. I worked saturdays and really got into building computers... this job ended up killing my interest in computers when i became the "go to" guy for friends and family any time they had computer problems.... now i prefer to play "dumb"

At this point in time I grew up with 56k modems and knew how the internet work... something i think kids these days take to granted. it wasnt just "there" for me, it was a big deal to even have dial up. I also remember porn being free and easily to attain ... its still easy now, but you just need to know where to look *cough cough ask leo cough*

1999 - Began high school and from this point I was pretty much lost of what the hell I wanted with life. Lots of my friends from jr high went to different schools so it was a bit of a system shock pretty much loosing a huge group of friends... almost like moving to a new city and starting at a new school. Might have been for the better since i was a pretty big geek in jr high... ah who the hell am i kididng i still was in the first year of high school

2000 - I met "the ex" ... Does anybody remember that passat commercial where the guy gets a cell phone call and the voice says "Buy the passat" and a passat drives by, and the guy asks "Who are you?" and the voice responds "I'm you in the future... oh and when you see... <insert girls name, i forget what it was> ... run" (I literally just spent 10 min on youtube trying to find this, no such luck) - anyways, thats what i would do ... id call myself and tell myself to avoid my Ex. She was poison to me. She was 1 yr younger, grade 10 and me in grade 11... The first year of the relationship was great, which leads me to....

2001 - graduation year. I know theres high school drama... but i dont think it compares to me. Her best friend got jealous I hogged a lot of her time so she tried breaking apart the relationship by spreading lies (there was a campout and a group of us stayed in a tent, "the ex" wasnt there) and her best friend said "He slept with a buncha girls" ... while not a lie, it certainly is a far cry from the truth. We ended up going on a break after i finished high school because of this. I couldnt regulate the lies going into her ears with me being out of school and her in grade 12.

When I graduated and we went on a break rumors began to float around in my circle of friends that i was abusive to her and needless to say my friends stopped talking to me since they thought i was a monster. At this poitn I had no guidance at all in my life. Confused, and lost. I didnt know what I wanted to be, where i wanted to go so I went to St. Marys college and take some generic courses.

2002 - well throughout my 1 year at st marys college me and "the ex" were on again / off again. It really started murder my academics... so much that i skipped a lot of classes and was almost kicked out of school. I spoke w/ all of the teachers and got special extensions for my assignments. Thankful i worked my ass off for 2 weeks solid... however there was 1 assignment left that my entire mark on human kinetics was based on. This was a group of 4 project and I was soloing this. One of my buddies from college said he'd give me a hand since it wasnt fair i was doing it on my own. So we divided up the project. 2 weeks later after exams and everything was said and done i thought i was out... i get a letter asking for an important meeting with my professor and the dean of the school. Im thinking "Greaaaat what now..." turns out my buddy who helped me copy and pasted a bunch of stuff from a website. This was a dead give away when a paragraph from the project blatantly started with "In this test you will learn..." I felt like giving up. Naturally i was put on an academic suspension and they told me they were being generous. I made mention it was a friend of mine who was helping me, and when they interrigated me "Who was it? They will get the suspension as well" I said it was a friend from outside of school. No way im going to take down a friend who tried to help... i should have proof read what he put... and i had all the drama that year, not him. I made my bed, it was time for me to lay in it.

After that year I didn't go back to school , instead I got 2 jobs, 1 at A&B Sound and 1 at Staples. I worked my nuts off until...

Best part of this year is meeting my girlfriend while working at staples... I was so defeated and beat down I was ready to just join the military and flee. LITERALLY the week before I was going to sign up I asked her out and she said yes... well fuck now i had a reason to stay in calgary

2003 - at this point , doing retail for a year I decided this is NOT something I want to do for the rest of my life. I applied to Mount Royal and I figured my history would come back and haunt me... for whatever reason this was never mentioned to me when I applied. I got into introductory courses and decided to start fresh. Upgrading courses from high school, I started off slow while still working retail (future shop at this point).

2004-2006 Pretty boring years really, still with the same girl from 2002 so life seems to be stable there , just took general arts and science at mount royal... which I am pretty sure I am now qualified to manage a mcdonalds! woo hoo! hah. I ended up leaving retail and never looking back and getting a job at TD Canada trust as a bank teller.

I also got really invovled w/ beyond in this time, going to meets ALL the time, meeting folks off of here. My circle of friends diminished quite a bit, and i really only hung out with a handful of people from future shop. In 2006 I scored a job in the insurance industry.

2008 - I've been with the same company for 2.5 years now and its treating me well. Now I have an EXTREMELY tight circle of friends and find it difficult to trust a lot of people.

There is quite a few details im leaving out that only maybe 5 people who i talk to now know. Some of them just make me look pathetic, other things werent necessarily the most legal activities , but its in the past and its stuff i dont like the dredge up.

Edit: James, you and I have a similar time line for quite a few things, i think we should do beers... (a lot of it is stuff im leaving out hah)

[ThisPersian]

after reading all these, i think I'll stay on the side

its very interesting though, how everyones writing is a short story of how we pull ourselves through constantly, and to think there are people going through this shit who don't even realize it.

for those who haven't read the others posts, please do as you will gain another perspective into your own world

like i always tell people, life is like a movie on TV, when someone in the movie makes a stupid decision or does something wrong, you say "what a dumb ass, whys he/she doing that?"
but when in real life something like it, just as worse happens to you, you have no idea at all and you don't realize it, but once you look at it from another perspective it helps you think, and makes you much wiser

so great job on the thread tom, and good luck to all those who posted

[spikerS]

well, back in 1998 i was pretty fresh out of high school, and was still playing football, made a run on the stamps, but was only good enough to be on the practice roster. I was making close to nothing so i stopped after a few months. I was hanging out with the totally wrong people, who came so close to landing me in jail too many times to count without me even knowing it, and I knew i had to get away.

I did alot of searching in my early days from 19ish to 22. moved around alot, taking different jobs, some good, some bad, and was playing semi professional billiards. I came back from Vegas in 2002 as the North american amature trick shot champion. That was a huge highlight. I can officially call my self a master pool player after that, even though I am really no where near that caliber of play, I just did alot of trick shots.

It was at this time that I stopped my player attitude when i ment my wife. I fell completely head over heels for her. It was at this time I decided that I wanted to settle down and make a run at a "normal" life. I got a decent job, a hair cut, changed my wardrobe, and habits. We dated for a year, and i proposed on our 1 year anniversary. we were engaged for about 2 and 1/2 years, and we got married. Neither of our families are well off, and we had to pay for our weddings ourselves. Since i am such a good negotiator and bargain hunter, and my wife is a clos second, we managed to have a beautiful wedding with about 160 people at the reception. our entire wedding, including the wedding dress, cost me less than $3,000. and tomorrow will be our 3rd wedding anniversary.

Things are slowly starting to look up for us, we are looking to buy our first home here shortly, and have our first child.

And that is pretty much the highlights of my past 10 years.

[gen2teggy]

1998, just outta jr.high...best time of my life, crappy grades but lots of friends. Running around after school, catching gophfers playing SC and streetfighter till the moring.

1999, my mom tells me...we are moving to vancouver...i hang out with my friends for the last time and packed my bags moved to vancity. It was like a new place, starting school...it was so hard for me too fit in and make any real friends. The nerds didnt wanna be my friend LOL. Ya i was picked on alot...skiped school alot. I became EMO, i hated everyone. wasnt a great year for me.

2000, school was OK, wasnt picked on that much. Then mom and BF start up a grow op in the house we were in. This was a stupid time for me...i stole from my mom and sold some weed at school, but they seem to accept me and had friends (the worng kind of friends). Then one night, with me and my brother were at home...we get raided by other drug dealers...we were 14-15 at that time...we got beat up...guns pointed at the back of our heads...our heads kicked in. Me and my bro made it...we had to run too a payphone too call my mom(our house never had a phone). Not too long after that mom and bf break up (woot!!!) and were moving again.

2001, we moved to van-island...that was awesome, i had friends and family. Mom met a new bf that lives in vancouver (FUUKK) but for the mean time i was enjoying my time at that island. Everything was doing great...i came out of my EMO'NESS...then she does it again...starts up another grow op...(fukkkk) me and my bro didnt want the same thing happen again...we went too my uncles house in calgary and never went back.

2001-2002, back in calgary...and went too FLSH, Hooked up with some of my old friends...it was a great time...the ony thing i wanted too do more back in high school was party more LOL. Thats when i really got into cars. i would buy hondatuned, import mazs. I never went to grad...didnt get my GD...i needed a few more classes. I got a job at IGA...packing bags for 5.10 i think LOL
i was thinking of saving for a cheap honda i could soup up LOL a few months of that...i couldnt save anthing!! m paycheck was 500 or less...so fuck it...i went back to vancouver with my couzin.

2003-2004, back in vancouver...now im working for my mom LOL Something i hated her doing...now im helping her...my job was too watch a OP house...anything goes down its on me. i'd stayed in a house a few months...made a few thousand...and booked it back to calgary LOL. Came back...got me a 1990 integra...met this awesome girl (who i am still with now)...and started working again...but i didnt really wanna work...another stupid time for me...i started selling rock/crack. Bro was doing the same, but he gotten kidnaped from other drug dealers(got beaten up and let go in chestermere) i wish...i could have done more too stop them. He came out alright...he packed his bags and moved to vancouver...now hes a 3rd year tech(im proud of him). Yep i know, very fuking stupid...but i did it...did alot of dumb shit...i reget ALOT. karma got me back like a bitch..pbly still paying for it now.

2005-2006, still selling that crap...money i made i spent everyday or on my car...got super lazy...problems with my gf...She was the real reason i quit that bullshit...made alot of enemies when i got out...i stoped hanging out with the worng people...If she didnt make me quit i'd pldy be dead or in jail, Then my uncle gets me a job at sunridge...as a detailer. I had a real hard time waking up in the morning...i was late every morning LOL...they let me go 1/half in. Thats when my integra was rear ending (there is a thread here somewhere) i become a bit emo...but my gf and uncle picked me up....gave me a push...my uncle got me a job at brasso.

2007,
started the new job...as a detailer...slowly worked my way up too parts...now im 1year parts tech...and i love my job..pays great, great perks...everything was doing great till my GFs bro passed. everything got messed...gf and I were on and off ALOT...it was hard for us all to get on our feet.

2008
still at brasso, 2 years working 2 years out of the game...mornings are ez'er now...im not late anymore lol...stilll with the same awesome girl, it was hard but we worked things out.
its crazy too see how fast times flys...the people u meet..the things you do...thats pretty much my 10 years sum'ed up. i would never go back to dealing drugs...it was a waste of time. forgive my fobby'ness i kno it may be hard to read.

[el-nino]

I guess i will take my stab at this...
1998. Grade 11 at Bishop Grandin. High school was good. I was popular. I had friends in good places I felt untouchable. I cheated on every single girlfriend that I had. My nic-name was "the Virgin surgeon" I chose to only mess around with Virgins. Haha good times. I wasn't the smartest person and my grades were nowhere near good. My life consisted of drugs, sex, and Hip Hop.

1999. Grade 12 was good. Doing the same shit. I had a girl at the time. we did everything together. I also became depressed a bit. High school was almost done had no idea what i was gonna do in life. I hated my parents. I hated my family. I only had a few things that were mine. my girl, my friends and my music.
1999 was also the year I started my band. Music became my life.

2000-2002 was pretty much a blur. I did a few courses at Mt royal. Still did my music got a new girlfriend. I bought my 1st car - well my dad co-signed for me. having a car helped me Party. I Partied a lot. It was like I had a place to go to every night. Monday wings, Tuesday wings, Wednesday was boogie nights, Thursday was Cowboys, Friday was the Fox and Firkin and Sat was the Palace, Sunday was day of rest.
My body cant handle that life style anymore.
Life was good I still felt untouchable.

2003. I would say this year was the turning point of my life. I was born with a heart condition called VSD. pretty much a hole in my heart. My girl give me the altimatum to go the doctors and get it checked or shes leaving me. She is so Drama - as if she would have left me. Anyways, I went to the doctors to please her only to find out that my heart condition was just getting worse. They told me that if i don't get this fixed I would probably die in 7 years due to the massive muscle build that my heart has. a few months later i had open heart surgery in Edmonton and I was on track to living a healthy life. I quit drugs, i quit partying hard but i just couldn't kick the habbit of smoking.

2004. My band was doing fairly well. we were gigging at Bungalow once a month and would get the place packed. We created a good name for ourselves and even had a few Sony reps knock on our door. But when it came down to it my band never really wanted to pursue and share my dream of becoming a rockstar!
I was then asked to record my Vocals on a up and coming Reagge artist. It was my first professional recording experience. The track was hot. I remember that it took me a whole week to record 4 or 5 lines. I like to think that the track was so hot that i quickly got signed by a local record company. Me, not my band. That was a good feeling.

2005. I had to make a living some how! For the last 10 years prior I have been working for my parents company. I loved it and I hated it. I had the freedom to do whatever yet I was bossed around by my dad outside and inside of work. Anyone who works for there parents would probably agree with me saying that its not all fun working for Family.
My girlfriend pressured me to star a career. She was almost done Nursing school and we were ready to take our relationship to the next step - buying a home. We had a horrible experience with the bank we dealt with which in hindsight is kind of a good thing. My girlfriend found the mortgage course at Mt. Royal and signed me up. Since then I have been selling mortgages and love life.

2006. I worked my ass of this year. I sold enough Mortgages to put me near the top of my company. I quickly became a Managing Partner and now I have created an amazing work environment for myself and my team. This year is the year I also left my band.

2007. I bought my 2nd and 3rd property with my girlfriend and was slowly realizing that the money isnt that important to me as much as music is. I started to work on my solo album more and shying a way from selling mortgages. Its hard to balance work, music and life. I am much better at juggling these 3 things now.

2008. Biggest year of my life so far. The reggae artist that I originally did my first track with gets a recording contract with a major record label. This is good news for the Label I am under because we now have our foot in the door. Lets cross our fingers and hope that I get that contract soon. My album is near completion and we are confident that we can bring it straight to that major label and sell it to them.

This was good thing to write because a lot of things can happen in a week let alone 10 years. Thanks Tom.