When it comes to the stories of how our Fellows chose VFA, no two are the same. Each morning at Fellow Training Camp, we ask one Fellow to choose one of Venture for America’s “credos” that really speaks to them, and tell the story of why.
2014 VFA Fellow Dylan Gordon tells his story below.
There is no courage without risk
When Ms. Lucy handed me a standardized test in the first grade, I sprinted out of the classroom. That blue booklet, loaded with tricky, unnecessary questions, terrified me. What if I answered a question incorrectly? Would I be perceived as unintelligent? I begged to call my mom; I was simply too overwhelmed to carry on. It was around this time that I started seeing Dr. Strongin, a psychologist whose practice was located in my town. I hated our weekly sessions. Having to explain my fear of failure to another individual was an arduous and frustrating task. Listening to his generic, scripted responses was even worse. But I will never forget the last session I had with Dr. Strongin. I walked into his office, seated myself on the couch facing the clock, and waited for the typical “tell me about your week” icebreaker. That introduction never came, but what did come was a statement that has never left me. He said, “Dylan, Alex Rodriguez is the best player in baseball. But you know what? His batting average is only .333. How can you expect yourself to be perfect if Alex Rodriguez gets on base just one-third of the time?”
Nothing about this assertion was new to me. I knew Alex Rodriguez’s batting average like the back of my hand. Yet, I had never thought about baseball, or anything for that matter, in this light. I left the session with an interesting, new perspective, and most importantly, a framework to which I could revert. But that session did not completely heal me. I still feared failure more than anything, and I needed a way to resolve said fear. So over the next few years, I did what any other kid would do: I started to plan my entire life out. I figured that if I could execute the plan perfectly, I would never have to stare failure in the eye. I worked on the plan for years and witnessed its evolution from broad statements to polished details. By the end of my freshmen year of high school, the plan was complete.
The crazy thing was, I executed the plan to perfection. I was accepted into my first choice for college, majored in my desired disciplines, earned my real estate license while teaching tennis, and interned in the professional sports industry for two years. Having valued personal execution as the most meaningful aspect of my life, I was cruising. But I was only cruising on the surface; internally, I bottled my emotions, dreams, and desires in favor of flawless execution. This was my accepted mentality for as long as I could remember. But on the final day of my internship last year, I came to a startling realization that would forever change the course of my life: I needed to put myself before the plan.
And so I did. I started engaging in daily self-reflection sessions, which assumed the same format each time. Suffice it to say, I learned more about myself during these sessions than in any other time in my life. More importantly, I finally discovered my true passions and dreams: I wanted to build something from the ground up and create value in doing so. Yet, I would be lying if I told you that I was not scared about aborting my plan. I was petrified, nervous, and unsettled. In fact, I continued applying for jobs in the sports industry (part of the plan) to mitigate any risk of failure. Furthermore, I was dealing with skepticism from the people that knew me best. My friends did not understand why I was pursing another life route, and it took my parents quite some time to get behind my decision.
But this was about me, not a plan. It took me long enough to realize that, and I refused to revert back to my old ways. So when I look at the credo, I am immediately drawn to, “There is no courage without risk.” I just went for it. And even though this was the biggest gamble of my life, I am now okay with not knowing what the future holds. Why? It goes back to something I learned from Dr. Strongin, something that I dismissed at the time but now value greatly. That is, there are two options in life. You can either rise to the challenge or simply watch others accomplish what you didn’t have the guts to try. Thank you.
Mike Patterson is many things: a newly minted UPenn alum, a crazy-skilled programmer, and now… a VFA Fellow. We’re so excited to have Mike as part of the Class of 2014, and last week he wrote 
Smart People Should Build Things
Fellow James Fayal found himself having those days… well… everyday when he first started working full-time. But unlike the coffee-addicts out there, he wanted an alternative way to stay alert without the side effects (and thought some nutritional value would be nice, too). 
