"Always Bear In Mind That Your Own Resolution To Succeed Is More Important Than Any One Thing"-Abraham Lincoln

After struggling to find something to open my first entry on this blog with, I believe I that have found something appropriate in Abe’s quote. A resolution to succeed. This is exactly what this challenge is intended to be, or in my case, to start. A resolution to succeed.

I suppose before I get too far ahead of myself, I should introduce myself. My name is Dan Shelnutt. I am currently a
20-year-old junior at the University of South Florida, attending and living on the Tampa campus. I am an elementary education major, in hopes of someday (preferably soon) graduating and becoming the teacher that people like me remember when they are a decade removed from my class. I’ve had several teachers like that, and they have all had a very profound impact on my life. Perhaps the fact that I have such lofty aspirations is part of the motivation I have to going through with this challenge.

Family is a very big part of my life. I have been blessed with two parents that support me in every decision I make, including this one. It was actually my parents who pointed this out to me one Sunday morning while I was back home for the weekend. I have two younger siblings, a 19-year-old brother and fellow USF Bull, Will, and a 16-year-old sister,Molly. They are also truly remarkable people who have made their presence felt (or rather heard) in the halls of Newsome High School through their accomplishments in the school’s Show Choir. Molly became one of the few people to make the ensemble in only her sophomore year, and Will became one of the first members, and is still involved with the group as an alumnus. I personally chose instrumental music over vocal music, but music is music regardless of the medium.

So in closing, I will leave you all with this:
I am thrilled to be part of this challenge. The people that I am doing this with are all great people. We all have our own stories, from those that have kids and wives and 40-hour-a-week jobs to me, who splits his time between 18 hours of school, 6 hours of an internship and 20 hours of work a week. With all of our differences, however, there remains one common ground: We are all dedicated to making our lives better through this challenge.

Best regards,
Dan