It's a long story.

For most normal people, it's a simple question.

A co-worker stopped by my office and asked me where I went to school.

Well, I said, it's a long story. Do you want the school I started out at, the school I transferred to, or the school I finally graduated from?

I don't tend to do anything easy in life. In fact, most all of my big life decisions I make tend to be disastrous, which usually ends up being a blessing after the fact.

I told my co-worker that I was on the five-year plan that involved going to three different colleges.

At 18, I thought I knew everything. It turns out, I had no idea what I was doing. It took a while for me to get it together, but I finally did, moved on, graduated, and started my professional life.

I failed at everything I could possibly fail at. I'm the perfect poster child for failure.

I went to three schools in five years. I moved seven times in 10 years.

I used to be insecure when people talked to me about college, or education in general. I didn't like visiting college campuses, because they made me nervous and anxiety-ridden. 

Now, I love talking about it.

I think it's okay to fail at life. Everyone does it. 

Just because you failed at something doesn't make you a failure. I went to school full-time, did not have a family of my own, and didn't have many responsibilities in life. And, I still couldn't graduate in four years or attend just one school.

I can't imagine the obstacles some people face when it comes to education (or other life things).

The moral of the story is if you ask me what school I went to, you're going to get an earful. And then I'm going to tell you to give my advice to your kid. That will take another few minutes of your life.

Just don't ask me about the house buying process. That disaster will take at least 20 or 30 minutes to explain.