Two Degrees

I graduated from the Fox School of Business at Temple University with a BS in Business Administration, concentration in Legal Studies. In other words, I got myself a worthy business degree, but this esteemed education did not prevent me from getting myself another type of degree—first degree aggravated manslaughter. So, what went wrong here? Well, first of all, just because everything seems right, we cannot assume that nothing is wrong.
I astutely recognize that even though I attended four years of college and passed every class with honors, I missed the educational value that such time should have accomplished within me. You see, attending classes, passing courses, and even obtaining a degree does not always equal retention. I may have earned myself a degree, but in retrospect I realize I did not learn myself the degree. I was there, but I wasn’t ALL there, and I took that time for granted. Before I knew it, my four years were done, and graduation meant that I was a professional scholar and eligible bachelor. The scholar turned to a pro soccer career, and I applied the advantages of bachelorhood to my social life. Ultimately, my degree meant nothing to me because the time spent under that degree was not used effectively or efficiently.
Much has changed since receiving my BS degree; and though that one took four years to complete, I earned another degree in a single night. However, this degree was conferred before the “education” began. The education is better known as incarceration. Now I possess two different degrees, and the felonious one has been the more relevant—not because of what I did to be under that degree, but because of what has been accomplished within me during the time under that degree.
So, what went right here? Well, for one, I have not allowed this detention to deter me from retention. And further, though I recklessly earned this “first degree,” I’ve learned to effectively and efficiently use the time under this degree. To be effective is to do the right thing. And to be efficient is to do things right. And lastly, similar to my prestigious college degree, this felonious degree does not define me nor refine me. It’s just a piece of paper that is used at this point in time to confine me.
So, what happened here? Well, I now have two degrees with polarized outcomes. And I realize that the “educational values” therein are only retained and gained according to how I chose to use these different times under the different degrees.
My education at Temple University: $100,000+. Turning my prison incarceration into a temple education: priceless.
(ED. NOTE: The author and professional athlete of Court House is serving five-and-a-half years in state prison after pleading guilty in October 2009 to manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. His blogs have been read by over 500,000 people in every state, 121 countries, and in 67 different languages. You can learn more at .)