d'arcy a. emery

March 2008

Today I find myself, in pursuit of dreams,... a student at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. Presently employed on a co-op work term with a really great bunch of people!!! Many have surmised that I'm going through some sort of midlife crisis. That is a substantial misunderstanding of me. On my part there is no catastrophic apprehension regarding the future, no dilemma as to what to do next. It is fair to say that I have awoken from a long slumber, and long private, seemingly dormant, confidence is again publicly visible.

From 1994 until fairly recently, July of 2004 it was largely a time for me to hold to my beliefs. The lines below pretty much sum up my then challenge.

Last, but by no means least, courage--moral courage, the courage of one's convictions, the courage to see things through. The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It's the age-old struggle--the roar of the crowd on one side and the voice of your conscience on the other.
--Douglas MacArthur

The more detailed version is that a long time friend had found himself wrongfully accused and then wrongfully convicted of murder. I stood by him the full nine years, ten months it took to win his freedom. Emotionally it was challenging, however I'm a better man for it.

With hindsight being twenty-twenty I can say that I would have done some things differently. I certainly would have kept a better emotional distance from some of the world's negative aspects. However, I am very proud to have risen to the test, and that achievement I would repeat.

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Coming to March of 2004 I could see that I would soon have to take up my old goals or pursue a new set. That revelation came on March 8^th when watching a PBS presentation of Wayne Dyer's book The Power of Intention: Learning To Co-Create Your World Your Way.

One of the key points Wayne Dyer made was that we only regret the things we don't try doing. He used an example from his own experience. When in high school he had a crush on a young woman, however out of fear of rejection he never asked her out. Decades later at a high school reunion he discovered that she would have said, "Yes" to him.

Learning from Dr Dyer I made a list of goals, things and circumstances I wanted into my life.

Also at this time on the PBS television show American Experience there was a documentary dealing with Prof John Nash, Jr of Princeton and his overcoming of obstacles and eventually sharing 1994's Nobel Peace Prize in Economics along with two others. Later I discovered that the movie A Beautiful Mind was made about him. It came as no surprise that during the CBS Survivor Thailand reunion show, Jeff Probst recommended, John Nash's Non-cooperative Game Theory. Probst suggested that any potential Survivor contestant study this theory as the key to winning Survivor.

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Presently my primary goals are to:

1. Get in touch with some people I've lost track of over the years;
2. Complete the computer programmer analyst course with an exceptionally high G.P.A. (So far, so good.)
3. Get my career started; and
4. Find the perfect woman to design a life with.

Along the side you may see a bit about a few passing and constant interests of mine. By way of example, the Sodoku link deals with an algorithm that will automatically solve Sodoku puzzles. As I've never solved one by hand and probably never shall, that is a passing interest.