Major Flukes in my Life

Sometimes seemingly accidental occurrences have great beneficial outcomes.

I was the starting fullback on my high school football team for four years, that included being State runner ups my junior year and State Champions my senior.  I was a good but not great athlete. In fact, I played running back one season in my previous five years in little league football.  I was a lineman most of those years.  However, my high school coach, who just moved from the local university to our high school my freshman year,  was exceptional at putting average players in positions that allowed them to be stars.  I was one of those players. I was outstanding because of my coach.  He put me where I could excel and make a difference.

I had a ruptured appendix just before senior year of high school. It took me all summer to recuperate.  Still I was determined to go out for football.   No one expected me to play, not the coach, not my teammates and especially not my parents.   The coach allowed me to join the team, but only had me be a backup for the first couple games.   By the third game, I was starting at fullback again.   I went on to have my best season ever, rushing for almost 1000 yards and winning the State Championship.   While I was a good student, I think overcoming the life difficulty helped get admitted to all the colleges to which I applied, including 2 Ivy Leagues schools.

When I was in college, I signed up for job interviews with visiting companies for summer internships.    I would usually check back the day before and make sure the appointment was still happening.  One time, I couldn't find the company I signed up for on the schedule.  I asked Career Services and they answered they are no longer coming.  The next day, I happen to be in my dorm room when the he phone rang.  (This was in the time of landline phones.)   It was the interviewer from the company I signed up for.   He said, "I'm supposed to interviewing you right now."  I said I was told you had cancelled.  He asked if I could come in the next few minutes. I answered, "Yes," and threw on my sport jacket, grabbed my resume and ran up to the interview.  He only had enough time to give an overview of the company.  I was impressed and it was obvious I had not researched the company.  After 15 minutes, he said, "My next interview starts in a couple minutes.  Do you have a resume?"  I said, "Yes," and gave him my resume.   I assumed that would be the last I would hear from him.   One week later, the interviewer called back and offered me a summer job.  I took it, ended up working their permanently for 27 years before retiring before retiring with full benefits in my forties. 

Early on, when I was working, I was an average employee.  My bosses boss asked me to take on an assignment that, truthfully, was undesirable.  However, our general manager wanted it staffed.  The position was a great match for me.  I was able to make the work important to both the general manager and the business.   As a result, I was promoted two levels, to the level of my boss's boss, in five years and offered an international assigned, which I declined at first for personal reasons, but later accepted.

While in college, I learned to play rugby in the offseason from football, which was my main sport.   I joined the local rugby team when I started working.  I met my future spouse through teammates on my rugby team since she lived in the same apartment complex.  We've been married over 30 years.

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