Hello family and friends – I hope you are all doing well. I have just completed the first week of my web development course and wanted to take some time to update you on what has transpired. After my email signature, I have created a short summary of my itinerary should it interest you.

Before I get started, I just want to express how grateful I am to have you bunch as my family and friends. As most of you know, the past two years have been very difficult for me. Now things are better, and they don’t show any signs of stopping.

Here are some highlights from my week:

I have many new close friends and more aquaintances than I can count

My body and mind feel healthier than they ever have in my life

My relationship with Nadine grows stronger and deeper despite my schedule

I enjoy studying and was referred to as “smart”. Weird right?

And finally, to top this week off, I give you the highlight. I met one of my heroes: Colonel Chris Hadfield a real life astronaut, the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station (ISS). He’s amazing. I was literally in awe for 90% of his talk.

Before I get too ahead of myself, I’d like to take on step back. I heard of a tech event hosted by the British Colombia Innovation Council (BCIC) on some online forum. I didn’t spend much time looking into the event. It seemed interesting at face value, so I put it on my calendar. Last night, I opened up my calendar before bed and re-opened the event. To my surprise, I discovered Chris Hadfield was the keynote speaker of the event. Giddy with excitement, I was determined to attend this event. One small problem: they sold out.

I emailed the event coordinators about getting on a wait-list for the event, and they assured me that if I arrived early on (i.e., before 7am) there was a high likelihood of being able to buy a ticket. So I did. Then, I experienced the most inspiring five hours of my entire life.

Many things happened during this event, but these are the most important:

I was allowed to ask Chris Hadfield a question during the QA period. I think the talk will eventually be available to stream online, so you can hear me fumble through it hopefully. I don’t want to spoil it here.

I got a chance to hear the man speak. He has so much insight about problem solving, and his passion about making the world a better place is infectious.

I schmoozed with several CEO’s including the president and CEO of the BCIC, 1-800-GOT-JUNK, and the CEO’s over several successful startups. I think the only reason why they gave me the time of day was due to my question. Using their words, “Are you the guy that asked the question?”. I exchanged contact info with all of them (got a total of about ten in total of people worth reaching out to) and they say that they are very interested in talking with me. We’ll see where that goes.

Got a chance to meet Chris Hadfield in the flesh. Like, he grabbed my shoulder… and here’s a selfie with him (the managing director of the BC Acceleration Network is the one photobombing us [also got his card]):

What a week. I feel so incredibly excited, inspired, encouraged, and grateful, I feel like I’m going to explode. After the event during my bike to my classes, I laughed hysterically and had to stop and take a few long breaths.

So much on the horizon. I’m lucky to be alive. Thanks mom. That’s it for now. Love you all.