How I became Valedictorian

Dusty Kyle Brogdon
Jul 23, 2017 · 4 min read

I’m not going to start out with a great big back story and over glorifying the whole process, so I’ll skip right into what it took for me to become Valedictorian of my class. My Valedictory Speech on YouTube

Fight For What Dwells Within The Heart

First off, I was chasing my actual dreams. I wasn’t going for a psychology major or a business administration degree so that it would satisfy my parents or make me feel accomplished. I wanted to be a successful music producer, performer and artist. I wanted to be self reliant so that I wouldn’t have to pay a professional to record and produce my music.

In 2015, I found myself absolutely ashamed of myself for not going harder and making my dreams a reality. I had been neglecting putting in the work necessary to realize my dreams.

One of my close friends showed up at my house one afternoon and completely changed my life. He had started reading self help and success books, in which, I could notice a definite difference in him. Seeing what he had accomplished in his mind started a fire within myself. I began consuming knowledge and learning from great minds like Tony Robbins, Dale Carnegie, Stuart Wilde and so many more. They taught me that I must pursue my passion at all costs because if you don’t live your destiny, you’ll always regret it and there is nothing worse than regret because there is nothing you can do to change it.

Two weeks after my breakthrough conversation with my friend, I was signing up for audio engineering school. I was sick of the questions I didn’t have an answer to, I was sick of asking people for solutions that I should already know.

I never expected or planned on absolutely dominating that school. I just knew that I was never going to miss a single day. I commuted an hour there and back 5 days a week for an entire year. I went through the worst breakup of my entire life, and I was also still serving in the Georgia Army National Guard. Missing school days was all but promised by being in the military but thanks to some great, selfless men who fought to excuse me from my duties more times than I’ve ever seen anyone get excused from anything, I had perfect attendance.

Having perfect attendance wasn’t something I battled myself with, I battled every outside threat to it, tooth and nail — tire blowouts, broken hearts, depression, military duty, and sickness; everything.

While I was there, I wrote down every single note, I read the chapters before and after the actual assigned reading, I shared my notes with nearly the entire class. I had an email list of all the people who continuously asked for my notes so I just started sending them out every week regardless if they asked or not.

We became a family and we always had each other’s backs. When you’re in a place where everyone has similar dreams, the drive and desire to help one another is powerful because you know what’s at stake. Having a close relationship with your class is key because as we are all not perfect, others will more than gladly come to your aid in case there is something you missed along the way.

Something that you can’t plan for is having good instructors who care about you. That’s where the serendipitous luck comes in. It’s funny how luck always finds the ones who are going for the right things in life; the things that dwell within the heart. Having a healthy relationship with your instructors is something I’ve naturally been able to achieve throughout my entire life. I’ve always been respectful to my teachers, even all the way back to kindergarten. It’s very important.

I’ve always liked the expression, “Be the dumbest person in the room”. If there’s not a clear picture in my head, I’m just going to trace back to the roots so I can see the entire portrait. I need to know on a micro level, how this thing works or else I will not understand it. I don’t care what anyone else thinks, I’m going to ask the “dumb” questions. It’s the simple realizations that stack up to form the entire picture. Most of the time, everyone else is just as lost as you are.

Lastly, the one thing that I am not able to teach by words, it’s something that can only be learned through experience and by feeling the actual emotion. Loving the people around you might be the single most powerful key to succeeding. All the doors are flung open to a pure heart. People will pull you up to the next level, they will give you that recommendation, they might overlook a minor deficiency (or major) on something because, don’t forget, they are just as human as you are.

Karma is practical, kindness is practical. It’s not a secret ninja tactic, it’s basic human interaction. Be respectful of people’s time. Be overly grateful for their assistance and patience.

Gratitude is the most powerful weapon in my arsenal.

“When all is lost, the gratitude that you have flooded someone’s life with, will be your safety net if you ever fall.” — Dusty Brogdon

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