Glad I Don't Have To Be A Secretary...

While I have never taken a class yet with Mr. Rift Fournier, I feel like I already have.
My first encounter with him was on Sibley Day when I went to the Emerson Black Box to hear Mr. Chris Cluess speak about being a writer for MADtv, and all of his life experiences.

I have to admit the first time I met Rift, he slightly took me by surprise. The way he talked...he just didn't give a damn almost and I really enjoyed that.
So, when he came into class I had an idea of what to expect.

As he was talking, he started telling us where he had traveled and what he had done. He's traveled and worked all over the world and written for Orson Welles. I'm sure there's plenty of other things he's accomplished as well.
The only thing it made me think about was, "Wow, THAT'S what I want". To travel and experience life, while doing something I "give a damn about," according to Rift.
(I also find it interesting that a lot of successful people say that getting their dream jobs were almost by accident, it makes me really wonder if I'll ever get my own "accident").

It also kind of freaked me out when he asked us how far along in college we were and if we were positive about our majors. After a few head nods, he says confidently, "You'll change your minds". (Or a variation of that). It scared me to think I may actually change my mind, because I LOVE doing this.

I've come to realize that it's people like him, Penelope Trunk, and Gary Vaynerchuck that inspire me to keep doing what I want to do, despite what anyone else says.

Rift had the passion for writing, he said ever since he was little he had a desire to be a writer.
He's from a small town, so am I.
Hearing things about people's lives like Rift's gives me hope that I can be just like that, and that being from a small town doesn't mean anything.

The whole guest speaker topic usually really kind of bums me out when we're assigned to write about them because I feel like we're just paying attention to what they say formally about the media.
Rift took a different perspective. He still talked about the media, but applied to his life and added stories to tell us exactly everything he's been through.

I really appreciated Rift coming in to guest speak, and I feel like he'll be a good teacher and great mentor for the future.