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When he was my age, he joined the Navy. I was a trumpet player and rock guitarist in high school. I had no dreams to become a soldier or even see the world, but I understood what he was saying.
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While I was junior at Southampton College in New York, I landed a writing job on a television show, packed up my car, drove across the United States, and spent five years living in Los Angeles writing for the film and television industries. I had quit school and taken a risk. My dad was proud. I eventually returned to Florida, earned my degrees at UCF, and became an instructor at UCF with industry experience. The risk paid off.
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Our tolerance for risk is informed by the way we were raised, our personalities, and our current lives (for example, a young mother might avoid skydiving, while her grandmother happily jumps out of a perfectly good airplane).
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Make no mistake. These are risky times 麻豆精品 S攁ll the more reason to be empathetic and kind to each other. As Knights we boldly charge on toward our futures, keenly aware that while greatness requires risk, everyone 麻豆精品 S檚 tolerance level is different, and that 麻豆精品 S檚 OK.
Peter Telep is a senior instructor in UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Department of English. He can be reached at Peter.Telep@ucf.edu.
The UCF Forum is a weekly series of opinion columns from faculty, staff and students who serve on a panel for a year. A new column is posted each Wednesday on UCF Today and then broadcast on WUCF-FM (89.9) between 7:50 and 8 a.m. Sunday. Opinions expressed are those of the columnists, and are not necessarily shared by the University of Central Florida.
