The “thirtysomethings” are typically the time in a lot of people’s lives where they are established in their career or chosen path in life. They’re perhaps continuing to do what they can to excel or move up in life. Then there are those of us who may not quite be there yet. Perhaps we’re established but starting something new. Or in my case finishing something I began 15 years ago. No matter the circumstance, everyone has their own story to tell, and this one is mine.

After I completed the summer semester online in 2015, I was on cloud nine. The “Interviewing & Information” class I took was a huge success. At this point, I had visited the campus of the university I wanted to attend in Alabama, met with some of my potential professors and been given a tour of the facilities in the journalism building.

I was so excited to take a few more classes online in the fall, finish up things at Disney over the holiday season and after Christmas return to Alabama to get ready to attend classes in person in January.

After a grave mistake on my part involving financial aid, come October I was no longer enrolled in the school, and I owed around $1200 for a class I was never going to see on my transcript.

I was devastated.

I didn’t have $1200 to pay off what I owed. Having made plans to leave Florida after Christmas, my lease at the house I was living in had not been renewed and was expiring at the end of December. My roommates had already made plans for a new place at the end of the year. The only thing I still had at that point was my job, my car and my stuff.

There was no time to have a pity party. Decisions had to be made.

I quickly realized there was only one option that really made sense.

Stay put!

So I did. I made the choice to once again put school on hold and stay in Florida. It was a bittersweet decision because I wasn’t completely distraught at the idea of staying at Disney because I still very much enjoyed being here, I just was very sad I had made such a stupid mistake that had cost me being in school.

Luckily, I was able to find a place to live at the last minute and things began to not feel so bleak. One thing that didn’t happen this time around was, I never stopped thinking about school. What I did forget about was that $1200.

At the end of 2015, I moved from the home I had lived in for three years. A couple of months later, I moved again… I was also quite busy with work and with traveling so I sort of forgot about school for a few months. About 8 months or so after the incident with the withdrawal I decided it was time to start looking into options once again for completing my education. I landed on the decision of searching for a program where I could get a journalism degree online and continue to stay in Florida while I finished my degree.

Have you ever heard the song, “Lost In The Wilderness” from the musical Children of Eden? If you haven’t I would highly recommend it. One, because it’s a great song. Two, because it’s sort of like what the next several years were like for me.

In the song, you hear how these characters from the Bible are wandering. Not sure where to turn. Never quite certain what they need to do or where they need to go. It’s a lot of back and forth with no results.

Little did I know at the time this is what it was going to be like for me.

In mid-2016, there were little to no schools that offered any type of degree online with the type of classes I was looking for. Journalism was very much what I wanted to study, and the pickings were basically non-existent.

After a few months of searching, I finally found an online program where I could get a communication degree with an emphasis on journalism. I was elated.

By this point, I had spoken with a couple of real-life journalists to get their thoughts on a plan of action I should take that would allow me to continue working full-time and do school as a side hustle. Most of them told me my degree was very important, but it didn’t necessarily have to be a journalism degree. As long as I was getting some sort of training in the field, it would speak volumes when looking to get jobs later on.

I couldn’t wait to get started again. By now, I was thirsting for knowledge. School had always been something I felt like I had to do, but for the first time, it was something I wanted to do.

Applications were sent in. Online requests via the magical transcript website were complete. Now I just wait.

Not long after the initial application, I received a pre-acceptance letter pending the rest of my transcripts and documents.

As the days went by, I would get updates via email saying this document had been received. That document had been received and so on. A week or so went by and I never got any more emails. A few more days go by and it happens. I get an email telling me to please submit my transcript from the university I had attended last year.

I immediately think to myself. “That’s weird, I sent in that request to them.”

A phone call was made. Reality was put into check.

Come to find out, my transcript wasn’t sent because my account was on lockdown due to an outstanding balance from the previous school year. I was reminded then of how I had made a mistake with my financial aid that last year, had no money to pay for the class I was in but was offered the compromise of getting out of the class without an “F,” still being charged.

My first question to them, of course, was, “May I at least have an unofficial transcript so I can begin classes at my new school?”

“No,” the representative said.

I then ask about maybe setting up a payment plan. I begin to panic and try to think of anything I can do.

The kicker here?

Since I had made no payment by the end of the semester of the class, the bill had been sent to a collections agency.

I hung up the phone and felt lost.

One might think a $1200 bill wouldn’t be that much of a struggle to pay off. Sadly for me, it was. At the time, I was living in an apartment that was too expensive for me, and I was barely making enough money to get my car payment and insurance each month. Not to mention all the other life expenses one must contend with.

For the next two years, I very much was wandering through the wilderness. Lots of life circumstances and problems occupied a lot of my time and in some cases drained my savings. I would do my best to save pennies here and there, sometimes literally, in order to start making some type of payment toward this debt. It always seemed as if it would never happen.

I yearned so much for an education I began taking free open online classes that were not really worth anything much, but it at least gave me a resource to read and study about the material I was interested in.

At one point I even tried to get on at a for-profit school here in Orlando but learned quickly it wasn’t going to be what I wanted it to be.

Everywhere I turned I would reach dead ends and even though I was making small payments on the school debt when I was able to it just seemed so far out of reach. I truly felt lost.

Then one morning in 2018 at a team meeting at work, an announcement was made that would get the gears turning and change everything for the better!

To be continued…

I begin this article the morning after one of the most stressful days I’ve had since I began pursuing my education again in the fall of last year.

I’ve just taken a mid-term MATH exam! All I have to say is, going back to school in your thirties isn’t easy. A lot of people do it and succeed. I have faith I will, but as I said, it isn’t easy.

More to come on that. First here’s a little bit of history.

There was a time when I was very focused on blogging about my school experiences after returning from some time away from the classroom. Now it’s time to begin that work again!

About eight and a half years ago, I packed up my college life in boxes, stored them at my parents’ house and packed my little Chevy Tracker to the roof to set out on a new journey working at Walt Disney World.

I had literally bankrupt out of school. It had come to a point where my schooling was so expensive, I could only pay for tuition with loans, had no money to pay for a place to live and my part-time job was only three days a week earning pennies.

This realization was no easy task. I had built my life in Mobile, AL. At this point, I had lived there off and on for 6 years. Four and a half of those years had been devoted to the University of Mobile. I had amazing friends who I still call my family. A lovely church with some lovely people had taken me under their wing and I was enjoying being able to help lead worship on Sundays with my friend John Michael and the rest of our crew.

I loved my life there.

Around the beginning of July 2011, I was in the midst of putting all the logistics together for my return to school in the fall of that year and came to the dismaying understanding that things weren’t going to work out the way I had hoped to continue and finish my degree at UM.

I was heartbroken. I had no idea what to do, and I didn’t want to move back home again after having done so for a brief stint a year or so before this.

Since my entire life to this point had been devoted to performing and entertainment, I started trying to think of a way I could maybe do that for a living for a while and perhaps save some money to come back to school in a few years or so.

Fast forward to the end of August 2011 and I was in Orlando, FL to begin my career at Disney.

My original intention had been to maybe work at Disney for a couple of years and then hopefully move back to Mobile to go back to school. The Lord definitely works in mysterious ways!

Spoiler alert… I’m still in Florida.

During my first two years of living here, I didn’t think about school once. I was very focused on literally trying to do all the things. For someone like me who had only been to Disney World a handful of times, I was in heaven. I spent so much time going to the parks and taking in all the other things there are to do in Orlando. Even after 8 years, there’s still so much I have yet to see.

Somewhere around late spring, early summer 2014, I had the realization I didn’t have much of a chance in advancing my career the way I wanted to without some more learning, or without a degree. I made the decision I was going back to school online for a couple of semesters and then I would move back to Alabama and attend a different school to finish my degree, but instead of in musical theatre, Broadcast Journalism.

I registered for two classes and kinda took on more than I could handle. At this point, it had been a few years now since I had been in school and I wasn’t prepared for taking online classes. I had never done it before. I had no idea what to expect but went in with a very positive attitude about succeeding.

From here, things get a little bit fuzzy for a few months. I do remember the next couple of those months were very rough for me. I had no idea whatsoever on how to manage my time and plan out my week of assignments. By the time the add/drop deadline had come and gone, I was panicking but still trying to push through two classes of work while also working a full-time crazy schedule at Disney.

During all of this, I was also making preparations to move back to Alabama to focus completely on school. Yea, 25 year old me was crazy and confused.

It all came to a head toward the end of that summer of 2014 when my mother was visiting me. I was in the middle of a semester of classes. I had packed up most of my stuff with the intention of putting in my two weeks at the end of my mom’s visit and then pack my car up and move back to Alabama.

In the midst of making those plans, I was still very happy with everything I was doing in Florida and I didn’t want to leave. Mama could tell I was conflicted and I remember us having a very specific conversation about if I was happy here right now, then I should stay and keep taking classes online for as long as I could until there were none left to take online. Eventually for a journalism degree, at that time, I was going to have to attend classes on campus.

So I didn’t leave Florida. I ended up continuing to mismanage my time and got very behind in those two classes I was taking — the add/drop date came and went. I ended up just quitting and failing both classes which I had been so excited to start just a month or so earlier.

For the next year and a half, I completely forgot about school. I was living my best life and enjoying every second of it. At one point I decided I was going to try and make my own career and do a blog and a YouTube video podcast of “news” shows. This was short-lived due to the time I didn’t have to devote to consistency.

Fast forward to spring 2015. By this point, a lot of things were beginning to change for me at work and I decided now was the time to start planning the move back home I had tried two years prior, and get serious about finishing my degree. The school I had attended in 2013 online, agreed to let me register again for classes.

I enrolled in an “Interviewing & Information” class. I had never been more excited to take a class in my entire life. I finished that class with a 97! I even went to the college up in Alabama and met with professors. They gave me a tour of their wonderful journalism building. I was so excited about this prospect. It was then decided. At the end of 2015, I was moving back home and starting classes on campus in the spring of 2016!

Or so I thought…

One thing important to note here is when you spend significant time away from something, sometimes you may forget details that are very important to know in terms of the logistics of being a student in a university.

This being said, I didn’t know as much at the time. My folly led to a grave mistake. As summer was nearing its end, I decided to register for my next round of classes that would begin in the fall. I didn’t want to overwhelm myself after such a great summer semester, so I only registered for 4 credit hours.

A few weeks into the semester once the add/drop date had come and gone, I was beginning to be worried because I had yet to hear anything from the financial aid office about my student loan. Upon a couple of inquiries, I learned I was ineligible to receive federal financial aid because I wasn’t registered for enough credit hours for the semester.

I had no money to pay for school.

Also… Did I mention this was also after the add/drop date?

Unfortunately, the only two options I had were to remain in the class, get kicked out because I couldn’t pay and then receive a failing grade. Option two was a compromise. The school agreed to let me out of the class without a failing grade, but I would still owe them in full for the class.

I went with option two.

Naturally, I was unable to come up with $1200 by the end of the year, so I was forced once again to put school aside. I also remained in Florida for a second time.

Within the next year, I discovered that due to this outstanding balance I had with this particular university, I was unable to get accepted to any other school because I was unable to obtain my transcript.

Eventually, the balance was sent to collections and then a long road through the wilderness began.

To be continued…

Listen to this episode of the Caleb Graham TV Podcast on Anchor.

Last year I took an MOOC course on Udemy called Dan Rather on Journalism & Finding the Truth in the News. I wanted to rework my original post about the course and share some more about a couple of the quotes that stuck out to me.

If anyone is interested in learning some of the most valuable information about the journalism craft from a leading journalist with a lot of experience, I would highly consider checking this out. Over a series of video lectures we receive the insight and knowledge that Rather has gained during his many years in broadcasting. The content throughout the series is something I would love to hear more of from other top names in journalism. Especially when it comes to television news.

In the beginning of the series, Dan Rather sets the stage with filling us in on what the landscape of journalism looks like in present day. Immediately we are encouraged to memorize the quote that I began this piece with.

“A free and independent press, truly independent, fiercely independent when necessary, is the red beating heart of freedom and democracy.”

Journalists are to be independent, knowledgeable and unbiased. Go after the truth as best you can. Even when it may not be within your comfort zone. Rather highly emphasizes the independent part. Specifically in regards to exposing the secrets of people in power. Or maybe, in other words, holding them accountable. This could be anyone from government, to CEOs of large companies, to A-List celebrities.

We are also given Dan Rather’s definition of news as information or truths that need to be told. Usually this news is something that people with power don’t want getting out. It is then the job of the reporter to find those truths and share them as a public service.

Freedom of the press as outlined in the Bill of Rights is what makes a democratic society thrive and succeed.

In the series, Rather mentions 2017. Even now as we are well into 2018, the media is in danger of losing not only its power, but also its credibility.

Why? I will use another direct quote from Dan Rather for that one.

“The main voice that’s challenging the continued ability of the news to speak truth to power is the public’s perception of just what news is and what it should be.”

The mainstream media in many cases has fallen into the trap of trying to always be politically correct. They don’t want to offend anyone. Rather uses the phrase, “go along to get along.”

The issue today is there is a major decline in unbiased reporting and ethics. We have different entities expressing different points of view instead of straight facts. Opinion shows are not news shows. They are points of view based on the host’s opinion of something a journalist reported on in the news.

What happens with these types of programs is we are left with different versions of the truth based on opinion. As a result, we are left with trying to figure out which is the actual truth.

Journalists are public servants. We should be in search of truth no matter how we feel about it. This is the news people want to read. They want to see facts and make decisions themselves. Journalists don’t make up the minds of the people. They do the best they can to provide accurate information so people can use their own convictions to decide.

This is part of why I am studying and pursuing a journalism career. I’ve mentioned many times how much people mean to me. My feeling is that it is my duty to be a journalist. To get out there and tell people the truth about things they must know about.

That’s where the passion comes in. It is my belief that without a passion for people as a whole, a journalist will not seem sincere. Nor will they be successful.

Certainly I have my own opinions. I have shared them in the past. Now it’s time to be apart of a new chapter of truth. Commit to a higher purpose and pursue what has been a dream of mine now for years.

I am excited for the journey and hope you will be right here following along with me.

For more from Caleb Graham visit CalebGrahamTV.com

I’ve been sitting here reading news stories and working on some writing. I wanted to stop and take a moment to share some encouragement for my first Medium post.

Over recent days we seem to always be reading and watching more and more horrific attacks or disasters in the news. They’re happening in so many forms across the globe.

Whatever your faith may be. Whether you pray or have other customs or beliefs you live by. I ask that we just take some time to reflect on all of the innocents that are lost every day because of these events. Because of accidents. Because of error. Because of natural disasters.

Because of terrorists.

No matter what the background. No matter if it’s an Islamic extremist, a Christian extremist, a Jewish extremist, a Buddhist extremist, an Atheist extremist, a school shooter, a bomber, crazy people keeping people imprisoned in their homes, I don’t care what the terror is. All of those people are terrorists.

It could happen to any of us.

Life altering circumstances happen to innocent people every day.

I challenge you to do your best, as I will try also, to live your life and enjoy what is around you. Enjoy the precious life we have. We only get one.

Don’t allow uncertainty and worry to govern how you live your life. That is when evil wins. Don’t allow that in. It is like a plague. It continues to spread into every area of your life. You wake up one day and realize you haven’t been living, but surviving.

I try my best to live and enjoy every moment I am given, because we never know which will be our last. I often put the hashtag #Living on many of my social media posts. It helps me to remind myself that I must cherish all of my moments. That I am enjoying the most of life that I can.

If you happen upon this and are in a place where you are forced to fight to survive. My thoughts and prayers are with you! If you have any joy within you, focus on that. It can be your weapon of survival.

To everyone. Take note of the blessings you have. However great or small they may be. Every day someone just like you loses the chance to live.

So let’s be grateful for this time. Honor those who have been lost, or struggle daily, by being the best we can be.

One of my favorite quotes is only five words. To me, it sums up exactly the way each of us should live our lives. I believe it is what helps us to both “live” and also “survive.” Especially in the environment we find ourselves at this time.

So I close with a quote from the Disney live action Cinderella film.

“Have courage and be kind.”