ABC Paper - A Part

8/14/2019 ABC Paper - A Part

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AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DAVID WILIAM RICHARDSON 1

A Comprehensive Categorized Autobiography with Thoughts and

Reflection of

David William Richardson

David W. RichardsonGoshen College


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Abstract

This paper examines key events in five different areas of my life.

These areas are education, family, religious tradition, recreation,

and victories and defeats. Each event will be reflected upon in a

well-expressed way and brought to show how it has shaped my

thinking today.


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A Comprehensive Categorized Autobiography with Thoughts and Reflection of David William

Richardson

Education Family Religious Tradition Recreation Victories and Defeats

Soccer was the sport of choice for my brother and naturally I played it too. I played

Goshen Youth League soccer (GYS) from second to fifth grade, indoor soccer in the winter at

Elkhart Soccer Area from sixth grade into high school and Elkhart Flames for three years prior to

the start of four years of high school soccer at Bethany Christian High School (BCHS). Soccer

was a main form of recreation growing up in Goshen. My father filmed hundreds upon hundreds

of games throughout the multitude of seasons between my brother and myself. My father was

the parent that car pooled the other kids to the indoor soccer area in our 7-seat van and he was

the one that took me to countless soccer tournaments traveling as far west as Missouri. Soccer

was a fun activity that I chose to practice and play.

One particular experience that remains clear in my mind is a snap shot of time that took

place during my sophomore year at BCHS toward the end of the sectional final game match up

between Bethany and Northridge. The game was still tied after sudden death and so it went to

Penalty Kicks (PKs). All I had to do was kick it in the goal, a feat that had been done thousands

of times before this moment. When I went to kick the ball I leaned too far back and the ball

sailed over the goal. Although we didnt lose at that moment, it did lead to our loss a short time

later when another player missed. Had I made it we would have won the game instead of

continuing to be tied which led to our loss. I was devastated from that experience and cried on

the shoulder of one of my classmates.


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Things dont always go as we desire them too. Even a well experienced soccer veteran

like me still makes mistakes from time to time. This idea is expanded to include people around

me. I realize that even the most experience professionals are still going to make mistakes from

time to time with some being bigger than others and that I need to expect this from them and

shouldnt act surprised when it happens.

The classmate represents the support structures that result in a healthy recovery system.

Since then I have been sure to have close relationships with family, friends, and co-workers to

help with coping. I have a close relationship with my father and speak freely to him about

whatever is on my mind as I cope with different events. He is there to offer me advice, support,

input, and guidance. There are times though even with a close knit family that I had growing up

that I developed a narrowed view and sought to push them away.

An undiagnosed life-long illness started to negatively affect my grades and life plans in

January 2002. I dropped out of Purdue University in March 2002. The turning around point for

me occurred in August of 2002 when I was diagnosed and the road to managing my condition

was started. I had a plan for myself when I entered Purdue University in August 1999. I was

going to be an Air Force Pilot and end up retiring in 20 30 years. I didnt know I had this

condition until August 2002 and so I made choices and decisions that were very contrary to my

life plan. My life plan wasnt going to happen. My future dreams had ended and I knew it after I

was told of my condition. I returned to school through the support of my parents in January

2003 and earned my Bachelors of Science in December 2004. Still I had no dream and didnt

know where I was going to be in ten years. I realize now that failure to have a life plan

amounted to a rather short period in the restaurant industry for me. Now I do have a life plan

seeing myself in five, ten, twenty, thirty years from now.


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My life goals may change but the overall aims will not. This way I can remain flexible to

the changing seasons of life but still head towards where my sights are aimed through goals that

are going to take me where I am aiming my life. Flexibility is notably one of the largest lessons

that I learned from this entire experience. Ive remained more flexible in the way I think.

Things change and I need to flex to meet those changing needs. Being flexible allows me to see

that instead of flexing all I have to do is take a step to the right and realign myself with what I

know is right.

Early on in life I grew accustom to a very lousy habit. It wasnt until my wife with her

strong moral compass in regards to this lousy habit was able to flex me enough to the point of

realignment of my life choices. I thank God for allowing her to open my eyes to my own

transgressions concerning this manner. This led to a healthier physical, mental, and spiritual

state of being. Looking back I am able to see that I need to be open to changes in my own

character and I am never going to be good enough. I must constantly strive for self

improvement.

A little less than a year ago I was 220lbs. That was the most Ive ever weighed in my

life. November 2008 I made it a decision that I wanted to lose weight and live a healthy life. I

made small changes and over time these small changes bundled together ended up with me

dropping a total of 45 lbs in sixth months. My weight dropped to a low of 175 lbs but Ive been

doing weight lifting and eating plenty of protein combined with rest has led me to hover around

185 lbs. I can now fit into a multitude of pants that for many years collected dust. I feel healthy

and Ive rarely been sick this past year. Breaking a large task into smaller incremental steps may

lead to a successful outcome. Thinking of the class with 9 of 17 students failing and getting

them all to a passing grade is a huge task. Applying the same principle to this situation will

result in small changes to the classroom that over time will lead to a successful outcome. Instead


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of just thinking about it over and over again and no action is no more effective than not even

thinking about since there is no forward action.

When I graduated fifth grade my parents signed me up for golf camp at Maple Crest

Country Club. My grandfather whom was not present most of my life for his own set of reasons

finally started to warm up to spending some time with me in August. I was excited when he

invited me to go golfing with him at Maple Crest. I told mom and dad about it and they were

glad. That day never came to pass since a week later he died in a hospital bed from an ulcer.

The doctor received a call from the nurse to come in to help my grandpa but the doctor refused

and went back to his business and the next morning when he came in on his time my grandpa

was dead.

If something needs to be said then say it. If something needs to be accomplished then

start it because in this life you are only guaranteed death and the idea that there is all the time in

the world to finish it is quite foolish to believe. Holding a grudge on someone is bad enough but

holding a grudge on an innocent is of a warped mind. It leads to your own downfall like that of

what happened to grandpa. Waiting too long to change can be too late.

Speaking of late late is the hour upon which I returned to the inner sanctuary of church

where I had not been since the start of sixth grade. My wife suggested we attend Living Faith

Fellowship in Elkhart when we moved back to Goshen from Kentucky in February 2008. Ive

been attending church quite regularly for over a year and a half now. I had few sores on my

body that had been there for over a year. I prayed, and prayed to God to heal them. The next

day the sores were still there, the next week they were still there, the next month they were still

there and finally not according to my time table but with Gods, the sores were gone after six

months. In my walk with God I see now that God doesnt operate on mans time table but God


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operates on Gods time table. If I knew Gods time table I would be able to plan around it. That

isnt going to happen but something did happen when I ran my first marathon.

I found the sign up form for the Sunburst 2000 three weeks before the race in the

newspaper and I told my mom that I wanted to run in that race. I ran 8 miles on the treadmill the

Wednesday before Saturdays 26.2 mile race which was the furthest I had ever gone. I typically

jogged about 2 to 4 miles a day on a treadmill through the spring semester on up to the race.

Needless to say I didnt follow a prescribed training program. I finished the race in four hours

and 24 minutes averaging just shy of 6 mph over the entire race. I hit the brick wall shortly after

the half way mark. I felt so drained and my legs didnt want to move but I mentally forced my

exhausted body to move on and continue forward toward the finish line. As I was in this state of

pain I thought of every single offense that I perceived that was committed against me to motivate

me to continue on to the end. In the end, my father was waiting for me.

Life has our ill-prepared marathon races. This was indeed a factor in the decision that

brought me to Goshen College Transition to Teaching program versus the Indianapolis Teaching

Fellowship. I would like to think that I am preparing myself for the marathon of a first year of

teaching that Ill face.

One of the greatest turning points in life came to me in the most unsuspecting place. I

was in my car driving on US 33 heading toward Elkhart when I had a paradigm shift. Someone

had cut me off and at that moment unlike all the previous moments in which case I had become

upset, yelled, and cussed at the driver. Now I was fine. I realized that I control how I feel and

how I react. I no longer became upset when drivers passed me, went slower, or anything else

that may be considered offensive. I dont speed regularly anymore. I used to drive 5 to 10 mph

over the speed limit all the time but now I stick to it or drive slower than the limit. I felt like a


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light had turned on inside of me. It was the light of reason and logic and it is this same light that

I hope my students will experience some day when they have their moment of realization.

Experiencing marathons, missing a PK, learning about a life condition, returning to the

Lord, stopping a sinful habit, taking a front seat to personal health, experiencing death,

benefiting from a paradigm shift has shaped how I think today and to think that these sorts of

experiences will continue to happen which will help shape the way I think in the future. I

encourage you to continue to question me on life experiences that happened between now and a

year from now and how they shape my thinking.

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