How I got to Appalachian State is a really funny story
because I grew up in Northern Virginia. My parents, both educators,
my dad was an elementary school principal, my mom a kindergarten teacher. Never heard of Appalachian State
in any way, shape or form. And so then we took the, you know,
piled in the car and headed down. And and as soon as I crossed the mountain,
it was funny, they had a snowstorm. I remember crossing over the mountain
and just being like, in awe. It was just it was beautiful. And so we took the tour and walked around and I realized
this was a great place for me. Not only was it just just the right feel. But what really struck me for me
personally was that it was 6 hours away. And I knew that there was no hope
that I would be going home on weekends. I couldn't wait to get to college. I couldn't wait to get, you know,
away from home and start living life. And Boone was a dry county, which I didn't
realize when I put in my application. That was one of the things that I got
a lot of a lot of grief from my friends on, like how in the world did I end up
in a place that didn't have alcohol? But anyway, so I got there. And so it was kind
of a different environment. It wasn't
it wasn't anything I was used to. And it was a lot of fun. It was just
it was I tell kids now when I meet kids or parents that have kids or thinking
about going to school, that there is no better place in the world
to go to college than Appalachian State. So when I got
to App State my thought was business. I was going to be a business major,
go into marketing, sales... this is this is my future. And then I met Dr. Randy Edwards, and that changed my whole life because
I could not get through accounting. And he had every reason
and every right to send me on my way. So I, I realized after spending two years as a business major
that I needed to do something else. So I thought criminal justice,
that's the way. And that was actually the best decision
I could have ever made. But just it was the courses
I enjoyed a lot more not only the criminology courses,
but that also got me in the political science
realm that got me in history, sociology, psychology,
all those things kind of came together. And those are courses I really enjoyed. So when I decided to go into criminology
or criminal justice, originally, it was to be a lawyer. I wanted to go to law school. And as I continued my my ongoing struggles to make class
and to do my to do my assignments
and the academic side of college life, I realized that there was no way
I was going to law school. So what's Plan B? Well, Plan B for me
was doing an internship with a company
founded by former Secret Service agents. I met a guy playing
church softball named Tom Pokusa and said, "Hey, Tom, you know,
I know you work for a security company. Is there any chance that they would be
willing to take on an intern?" So fast forward now, it's late eighties, he said, "Well,
we're in the middle of hiring some folks so we can offer you a job at $10 an hour
and you can, you know, get on the phones and work on the hiring line."
And then a month later, they offered me my first full time job at $20,000 a year. And I thought I'd hit the lottery. It was it was great. And I spent 15 years there, worked my way
up to managing director before I left to start my career
and start a security program at Mars Incorporated, and in that process, I went on to travel the world and yeah. So I've run protective operations
in over 80 countries, and that's how it all started. So as I, as I've told people before,
I was the ultimate bad alumni. I was the guy that skirted
the calls...never sent...I think I sent money in one time to the Yosef Club,
I think I sent 30 bucks one time. And I was at the beach
and it was Labor Day weekend and we're watching App State and Tennessee
and I'm getting excited. I'm getting fired up. I'm starting to yell and scream
and get loud. Unfortunately,
we didn't win, but what did come out of that was my son-in-law looked at me
and he said, "I would love to go to a football game
down there." And I said, "Well, you know, I haven't been back in..." I couldn't even remember
how long it's been since I've been back. So I said I said, well, let me reach out. I'll make a phone call. We'll see about getting tickets called. Got this guy, Brian Tracy, answers
the phone and says he said, Well, we'd love to host you for a game,
you know? So I went down, I saw Texas State. We get there and again, the way the university had grown,
the growth of the university, I was just I was blown away, I mean,
I was blown away how amazing it looked. I got to meet Doug Gillin. I loved Doug's enthusiasm. I loved his vision. And then from Doug, I got to go up
farther and was introduced to Dr. Sheri Everts and immediately
meeting Sheri, I got the same passion, the vision and her vision for what
she wanted Appalachian State to become. When you make an investment,
you make an investment in the people. And for me,
it was an easy investment between Sheri and Doug and and Brian
and everything that was going on. So it was just an easy, easy
way to get involved, and and I was fortunate enough
that they welcomed me in. So when I got to meet Sheri and Doug and I got to be involved
more with the university, I got to be privy to some opportunities
and they asked me to be on the board. And that was something
that I never even dreamed of. I was blown away. It was an honor. I'm still every day,
I still just shake my head and can't believe that
I get to be part of part of that. You have all those people
with all this passion and all this excitement for Appalachian,
it was easy to get fired up. It was easy to be part of the team
and with the goals and what we're doing and going forward. I was just fortunate
that they let me be in the room. And one of the things
that's important to me is that each and every one of us
are blessed in many different ways. I am overly blessed. I think I've gone to that
well many, many times, and so it's extremely important
for me to give back. When you get to that point where you can
help, you've got to help. If we don't help each other out,
we're never going to accomplish anything, and it just feels right. And it's just the way I've always been,
and now I'm in a position where I'm fortunate enough
that I can actually do it. So I think that the highest honor
that you can receive as an alumni of Appalachian State is to receive
the Distinguished Alumni Award. And the fact that I am being given that award is is mind blowing to me
because obviously my path, my journey, my 19 year old self
would have never seen this moment coming. To be able to accept this award, to be able to be in the company
that I'm in. When Sheri called me and said,
"Congratulations, you're the award winner this year,"
I said, you're kidding. I read our magazine that comes out. I read these stories of these great alumni
and some of the things they've accomplished. And I just
I have a passion for Appalachian State, but what I've done doesn't compare. And I'm in awe of those people. I'm in awe of the predecessors
that have won this award, and I'm honored to be in that club. So I will not be... I'll be sitting in the back of the room
just in awe the whole time. I am truly honored.
