Bruce Gilchrist:
CLASS OF 1982
DeWitt High SchoolClass of 1982
Dewitt, MI
Ferris State University - Arts & SciencesClass of 2006
Big rapids, MI
Lansing Community CollegeClass of 1984
Lansing, MI
De Witt Middle SchoolClass of 1978
Dewitt, MI
Westwood Elementary SchoolClass of 1976
Grand rapids, MI
Bruce's Story
Now in my third career as a higher education administrator (those who really knew me in high school should be laughing hysterically at this point because you know that "serious student" is not a term that would have been associated with me back in 1978 through 1982 and after all we did earn our nickname "The Brew Crew of 82"). Well a lot of things change as we grow older. I returned to school in 2003 to finish my undergraduate education and graduate with honors (Magna Cum Laude) in December of 2006 with a Bachelor of Integrative Studies degree. Currently working on my MBA with an emphasis in information security and digital forensics.
Where have I been and what have I done since high school?
1982 - 1985: Student at Lansing Community College working part-time at Lansing Community College and The Lansing State Journal. Graduated with an Associate Degree in General Studies in August of 1985. My LCC transcript shows that I lived by that misguided student motto of "C's get Degrees!"
1985 - 1989: Began My first career in higher education working at Lansing Community College. Was a computer technician maintaining personal computers used in the computer labs. Also taught typing on IBM electric typewriters and keyboarding skills on the original IBM PC.
1989 - 1995: Moved to my hometown of Grand Rapids, MI, and started my second career in Information Technology and Telecommunications.
1995 - 2003: The big city and career advancement was calling and I moved to the Detroit, MI area to continue working in Information Technology and Telecommunications.
2003 - 2004: Burned out (that Y2K thing burned out a lot of information technology professionals). Left my job and became an unemployed college student living in my parent's summer home in Big Rapids, MI.
2004 - 2006: Ran out of money and went to work part-time while finishing my bachelors degree. In 2006 I was inducted into the Golden Key International Honour Society and listed in Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges (quite an improvement from my LCC days).
2006 - Present: Upon graduation, began my third career in higher education administration. Currently work for Ferris State University as the Assistant Director of Enrollment Technical Services. Go Bulldogs! In 2008, my parents decided it was time to discontinue wintering in Florida and returned to their Michigan home (where I was currently living) to take up full time residence. After living most of my life in larger cities I was tiring of the Northern Michigan rural lifestyle and relocated to Cedar Springs, MI, which is halfway between my job and Grand Rapids, MI, s...Expand for more
o I now enjoy the best of both worlds with reasonable commute times.
I have traveled the USA, Canada, and Mexico extensively but have never left the North American continent (not counting short boating excursions on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans). Favorite Cities: Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City. Least favorite cities: San Antonio (probably due to associations with a former employer rather than the city itself), Las Vegas (too commercial), Anaheim/Los Angeles (way too expensive and crowded). Places I hope to see before I leave this world: Alaska, Hawaii, most of Europe, and Australia.
Most terrifying moment in my life: On a TWA 727 from St. Louis to Las Vegas that experienced an electrical fire shortly after takeoff! I remember boarding the flight and thinking "God this plane is old" -- I was right, it rolled off the assembly line the year I was born. This happened early in my business travel career when I was still a nervous flyer and the only thing that prevented me from losing my sanity is that I traveling with my boss at the time. He knew I was a nervous flyer and liked to make fun of me by saying things like, "Did you hear that? Was that a normal noise or did something just break?" throughout or air travels together. When smoke started drifting through the cabin, it smelled like someone was burning old tires, and the Captain left the flight deck to conduct an inspection of the electrical system in the tail of the aircraft, he turned to me and said, "Ok, I'm not kidding now, I think something is wrong with this plane." The look of sheer terror in his eyes was priceless and I was too busy laughing hysterically at how the tables had turned to even consider that this might be the big one and what might happen next. Needless to say, we landed safely or I wouldn't be here to write this amusing story. Ironically this was the event that put an end to my days as a nervous flyer. After many cocktails in the airport lounge I was finally able to grasp the concept that any landing you walk away from is a good one regardless of what goes wrong between takeoff and landing. I've gone on to log nearly 1,000,000 miles of air travel but unfortunately they are spread across five different frequent flyer accounts so I've never earned enough miles with any one airline to get the really good perks. I have however enjoyed several first class upgrades along the way and it's true that it really is better up in the front of the bus.
If you're interested (and a member) more information on my career and life in general is available in my profiles on LinkedIn and FaceBook.
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