“My Last Year Being Broke”

By Sean P. Mulhall

I’ve finally decided to enter the world of blogging, reluctantly dragging my feet as I do so.

I like to call myself a “writer,” but the only pieces I’ve had published were through the Grand Rapids Community College arts magazine and student newspaper, the latter of which, The Collegiate, I served as Editor-in-Chief for nearly two years.

While it was thrilling and rewarding to see my work in print, I felt like I was selling myself short of my true potential. I thought stepping down from The Collegiate and taking a semester off would allow me all the time and piece of mind I would need to produce a significant piece of writing.

Eight months later, I have produced nothing of substance. No short stories. No poetry. No scripts, for stage or screen. I have countless ideas, in my head, scribbled on napkins and even some on the wall of my apartment. Yet nothing finished. Nothing ready for the world to see.

Since graduating high school in 2006 I sold and did drugs for three years, which led to my three-year “sabbatical” in the Illinois department of corrections. With three years of parole tacked on at the end of my sentence, that leaves one year, the last twelve months or so, that haven’t been completely overshadowed by my terrible decisions or resulting punishment. And what have I done in that time?

To be completely honest, nothing.

The next year of my life is important for many reasons. At the end of this month I will begin my thirtieth year on this planet and I’ve decided to get my ass in gear. Four classes (12 credits) are all I need for an associates degree at GRCC. Two semesters, two classes each semester and I will be walking across the stage, away from GRCC and hopefully Grand Rapids as well. The destination is not set in stone.

I will travel, visiting long lost friends and places I’ve never seen and I will write.

No one can see what the future holds, but I can plan and hope to make the best of it. This is my invitation to you, the reader, to join me on my journey of self discovery and self improvement.