Day 4: Success isn’t measured by how long it takes you to get there

I thought it took me a long time to earn my “four-year” degree, at 10 years. Shortly before I graduated from Fresno State, over pizza at Popolo’s on Blackstone and Herndon, I asked my dad if he ever doubted if I would earn my degree. “Hell, yes,” he said, “especially when you switched majors in your eighth year!” (from business to journalism).

Last weekend, my family gathered to celebrate my brother Sean’s graduation from University of the Phoenix with his Bachelor’s of Science degree. Sean is four years younger than me, so he would have graduated high school in 1989. Twenty-five years later, he’s a college graduate.

I admire anyone who sticks with a goal and sees it through to the end, no matter how long it takes. The older we are when we achieve them, the sweeter they are and the more we appreciate them.

I’m proud of my little brother.