Feb 17 • ✍️ Homework
Day 1 Homework
Struggle 1: California Wild Fires
I lost my home my sophomore year of college. I never thought my home would burn down. You hear about that happening to other people. It’s one of those things that exists somewhere in the background of life, like a news story you scroll past. Then one day it happens to you, and everything you thought was permanent disappears instantly. Memories, possessions, comfort, routine , all gone in a flash. It’s hard to explain what it feels like when your physical environment, the place you associate with safety and identity, is erased in 1 day. It forces you to confront how temporary everything really is. For a while, I felt like I lost more than things. I felt like I lost stability.
Contrasting Win:
That loss forced movement. I ended up transferring schools to study and play football in Nebraska. Then moved to Miami after graduation. That single shift changed the trajectory of my entire life. If my house never burned down, I might have stayed comfortable, stayed predictable, stayed smaller. Instead, I built insane connections with people I never thought I’d meet. I traveled around the world. I stepped into environments and experiences that expanded me in ways comfort never could. Losing everything showed me that sometimes destruction is just forced redirection. Losing everything is what forces you into the life you were meant to live.
Struggle 2: My dad has cancer
Watching someone you love go through chemotherapy is something that changes how you see time. The man I look up to the most, my Superman, forced into weakness and dependence. Some days he feels strong, some days he looks exhausted and fragile, and you realize how quickly strength can be taken away from anyone. Seeing him lose his hair, seeing good days and bad days, seeing uncertainty become part of daily life. It forces you to confront mortality whether you want to or not. There’s a helplessness that comes with it too. You want to fix it. You want to take the pain away. But you can’t.
Contrasting Win:
Instead of letting that reality make me fearful or passive, it became a driver. It made me realize that health isn’t something you postpone. Training hard, eating well, taking care of my body, it stopped being about aesthetics or performance and became about honoring life itself. My dad’s fight reminds me daily that I don’t have unlimited time. So I try to live fully — physically, mentally, and emotionally — because I’ve seen what happens when health is no longer guaranteed.
Struggle 3: Being misunderstood and called stupid
For most of my life, people underestimated me. In high school, I was a star football player — but that label came with assumptions. People thought that was all I was. That I was just another athlete, another dumb jock, someone who wasn’t capable of depth or intelligence. When I went to college, people were shocked, even my friend's parents couldn't believe it. Some literally laughed because they didn’t expect it. That kind of doubt gets under your skin. It makes you question whether people are seeing something real or just projecting limitations onto you.
Contrasting Win:
I used that doubt as fuel. I graduated college. I made the dean’s list. Maintained a 3.5 GPA. Not because I needed validation from others, but because I wanted proof for myself that I wasn’t confined to anyone else’s perception. Even now, when people look up to me or assume success comes easily, I remember being underestimated and called stupid. And that memory keeps me hungry.
Struggle 4: Unlimited potential, zero direction
I’ve always been told I have “so much potential.” And honestly, that can feel like a curse. When you’re good at a lot of things, it becomes hard to know what you’re supposed to pursue. You start questioning whether you’re truly great at anything or just average across multiple areas. It creates pressure too, like you’re constantly being measured against what you could be rather than what you are.
Contrasting Win:
Instead of trying to choose one perfect path, I decided to attack everything with intensity. Gym. Music. Business. Growth. Rather than limiting myself, I push toward maximum expression of whatever I’m doing at the moment. Potential stopped being something abstract and became something I actively build through effort.
Struggle 5: Tunnel vision / lack of empathy
I’m going to be honest, I don’t consider myself naturally empathetic. Because of my life experiences, I developed a mindset where everyone has their own problems, and I don’t believe those problems should necessarily mix together. I don't feel bad when bad shit happens to others or even when bad shit happens to me. When I go into tunnel vision, I disappear into my own world. I don’t text back. I don’t notice people around me. I’m not focused on emotional connection, I’m focused on execution. That intensity can make me seem detached or cold.
Contrasting Win:
But that same trait gives me laser focus. When I lock in, I move forward with extreme productivity. Instead of letting that lack of empathy turn into negativity or pessimism, I try to channel it into optimism and action. When bad shit happens, I don’t dwell in emotional chaos, I move toward solutions. And while I may not express empathy in traditional ways, I try to uplift people by showing them what’s possible through action and perspective.
Hooks for Struggle 1 (House Burning Down)
ChatGPT: People think losing everything destroys you — my house burning down is what forced me into the life I was actually supposed to live.
Me: I thought losing everything would break me, my house burning down just forced me into the life I was meant to live.
ChatGPT: I thought stability meant safety… until losing everything gave me more opportunities than I ever had before.
Me: I thought stability meant safety… until losing everything gave me more opportunities than I could ever dream of.
ChatGPT: When my house burned down, I thought my life was over — turns out it was the first step toward building something bigger.
Me: When my house burned down, I thought my life was taken away. Turns out it was the tragedy that granted me a life beyond my wildest dreams.
Alternative hooks I thought of:
One of the worst things that ever happened to me is also the reason my life expanded.
I didn’t rebuild after losing everything, I became someone new.
My life didn’t change when things got easier. It changed when everything burned down.
Concept Reel
Voice over:
“I stopped asking why everything was taken from me… and started asking what it was trying to move me toward.”
Visual Concept
Slow shot looking out at horizon on the beach, walking alone, calm breathing or reflective moment
Voice Over
When my house burned down, I thought my life was taken away. Turns out it was the tragedy that granted me a life beyond my wildest dreams.
Visual
Subtle transition to movement forward (walking, driving, traveling clips, training)
Voice over
“At first, it felt like a loss. Like life was falling apart. But looking back… that moment forced movement I never would have chosen.”
Visual
Clips representing new life:
Florida environment, World travel (Thailand, Germany, Switzerland, Caribbean Islands, etc.), meeting people / social energy, training / building
Voice over
“I transferred schools.
Moved to Florida.
Met people who changed my life.
I traveled places I never imagined.”
Voice over
“I thought stability was safety. Turns out comfort was keeping me small.”
Closing visual
FINAL LINE
“Losing everything didn’t destroy my path.
It forced me onto the right one.”
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Day 1 Homework
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