Have you ever stood at life's crossroads, weighted by expectations and the unforeseen hurdles that dart across your path? My co-host, Garrett Polk, opens the floodgates to his personal saga, revealing the emotional resilience it took to aim for the title of first-generation college graduate amidst familial responsibilities and the poignant loss of his grandfather. It's a tale that will resonate with anyone who has faced the push and pull between personal aspirations and the demands of family ties.
As we peel back the layers of our experiences, the conversation transitions into a reflection on self-reliance. Garrett and I discuss the role of frequent relocations in shaping our independence from a tender age, and how this adaptability became our crucible for growth. The introspective practices of journaling and running emerge as sanctuaries of solitude and self-discovery, while we also ponder the intricate dance between environmental influences and the foundational lessons imparted by our parents.
Closing the chapter on today's exchange, I reveal the profound impact of my sister's disability on my life and the resilience it fostered within me. Together, Garrett and I navigate the tricky balance of retaining one's youthful spirit amidst the onslaught of adult responsibilities; a saga of maintaining self-belief akin to tending a delicate plant, demanding discipline and care. Join us on this intimate journey, as we reflect on the roots that ground us and the branches that push us towards our own unique destinies.
Have you ever stood at life's crossroads, weighted by expectations and the unforeseen hurdles that dart across your path? My co-host, Garrett Polk, opens the floodgates to his personal saga, revealing the emotional resilience it took to aim for the title of first-generation college graduate amidst familial responsibilities and the poignant loss of his grandfather. It's a tale that will resonate with anyone who has faced the push and pull between personal aspirations and the demands of family ties.
As we peel back the layers of our experiences, the conversation transitions into a reflection on self-reliance. Garrett and I discuss the role of frequent relocations in shaping our independence from a tender age, and how this adaptability became our crucible for growth. The introspective practices of journaling and running emerge as sanctuaries of solitude and self-discovery, while we also ponder the intricate dance between environmental influences and the foundational lessons imparted by our parents.
Closing the chapter on today's exchange, I reveal the profound impact of my sister's disability on my life and the resilience it fostered within me. Together, Garrett and I navigate the tricky balance of retaining one's youthful spirit amidst the onslaught of adult responsibilities; a saga of maintaining self-belief akin to tending a delicate plant, demanding discipline and care. Join us on this intimate journey, as we reflect on the roots that ground us and the branches that push us towards our own unique destinies.
We all start somewhere our roots. What defines us, shapes us and prepares us for the journey ahead. How we got here is just as important as where we are. What did it take to make it? What tools were needed on the path to success? What keeps us reaching further, like branches on a tree? Roots to Branches is a conversational podcast about the different paths that people take through life. Our goal is to find notes of wisdom in inspirational people.
Speaker 2:Today's guest is a little special. Since we're introducing the podcast, I've got my co-host and friend and co-worker here, garrett Polk. You know the part of this roots side of thing is all diving into who you are. How you got here is all diving into who you are, how you got here. What drives you and real quick, at least from what I've heard about your story so far and hopefully you can share more today is that got out of high school, spent a year at community college and then, or more, you spent a year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I spent a little bit of time a year off, I did like dual credit classes leading up to my high school graduation. And then, straight out of high school, I did like dual credit classes leading up to my high school graduation, okay, and then straight out of high school, I went to McLennan Community College in Waco, texas, and studied audio technology.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then about to graduate, about to graduate, one semester away. I had applied for a four-year university to go to the following year, which was Belmont in Nashville, tennessee. Your dream school, my dream school, man, not that the University of Texas at Tyler is not my current dream school I'm really happy to be here. There's that PR major. I was really excited to go to Belmont. It was always a dream.
Speaker 1:As someone who grew up with a heavy music influence, I always saw myself being in music, doing something in music. That's why I chose audio technology learning, the recording side, which has brought us here to a podcast Nice, you can't see it, but we're flailing our arms in the air in excitement. But that's that man. Basically, what had happened is I had had some personal family stuff come up and I just wasn't able to go and that caused a lot of discouragement in me.
Speaker 1:I had to take a year off to help myself. More than anybody in the world, I had to take a year off to help myself and I think I got a little bit content with being out of school, which for me personally not saying I'm not saying this goes for everybody. For me personally, it was dangerous. It was dangerous. I was giving up on myself, which was the hardest thing. I think I'm really hard on myself. I try to be really hard on myself but to try to keep myself disciplined and accountable. I act as my own boss. I set goals and one of my goals is to at least have a four-year degree and I'd given up on that pretty early.
Speaker 2:What brought?
Speaker 1:you back you were giving up.
Speaker 2:Something had to have changed.
Speaker 1:I just it was honestly it was the passing of a family member is what it came down to. It was really tough. It was actually my grandfather. He was a really, really strong role in my life, helped raise me just the man I wanted to be and I love him to death. He had a second grade education and he was a cabinet builder One of the smartest people I ever knew. But he had a second grade education and he cut himself short his whole life. He was a great man but he cut himself short. I think he would have had a lot more opportunities had he opened up more doors for himself. And I speak nothing but respect for this man. I hope it doesn't come across I'm disrespecting him. Very respectful. He, uh, he ran a great business, he was a carpenter and he was happy, he was content. But he and my parents both had always pushed me to to go to school and that created a goal for me. I would be a first generation, you know, for my family.
Speaker 1:So not only was that a goal for myself, it was a goal for my family yeah and so there was a lot of weight and after his passing I was just like he never got to see me graduate. He could have, you know, and that was. That was a big it was a big thing for me. It was a real wake-up call and I was like not only do I owe it to him, I owe it to myself. You know, I'm cutting again, I'm cutting myself short in my personal situation. You know, I'm not saying that not going to college is cutting yourself short, but for me it was.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah. You went against your initial goals for yourself. I did so I wanted to talk about. When I met you. You were far from giving up on yourself. You're, like we mentioned, know you're a content creator here at the radio station pr major, graphic design minor. You're an intern for a local music company. What first day I met you. I think the reason we instantly became friends is because you have this rare, very rare thing that I think you find in the eyes. It's an intensity, it's a fire that burns for growth, for progression, and instantly you had it. Is that something that you recognize in yourself?
Speaker 1:No, okay, inherently, I'm one of the laziest people on the face of this earth. It's a very difficult quality for myself. I'm one of those dangerous individuals who aspires but doesn't do, and I had to work against that very hard. Again, it took a wake-up call. It took me not giving into my nature and it's a push. It's a battle every day to get up and say man, I have so much to do. But at the end of the day, after I've done it, it feels better than anything in the world.
Speaker 2:It feels better than not having to show for myself is there a thought that you can use to pull you out of bed when that urge is, like, particularly strong? Is it? You think of the promise to your grandpa to finish your education? Do you think of some dream down the road?
Speaker 1:For me personally, I think of one saying every time I feel lazy and it's. No one else is going to do it, no one can do it for me.
Speaker 1:I'm the one that has to get out of bed. I'm the one that has to put in the hours, I'm the one that has to do late nights, early mornings. I have to do it for myself. That's the biggest thing and, yeah, it does go back to the commitment to my family of aspiring for more. That's what gets me out of bed is no one else is going to do it for me.
Speaker 2:And it's true, nobody will. You know, if you don't stand up and get what needs to be done done, it just doesn't get done. You know? That's that's I feel like when you come out of high school, and I actually advocate for people taking time off of college to realize that very fact right there, because in high school you know no child left behind, you can, you can really not hustle and you're on, you stay on pace with everybody else for the most part, and they tell you when to eat and when to exercise and when to think and when to not, and so you have to realize that very point right there. So we talked about asking this question every single time, every single episode. If you were a plant, what would you be and why?
Speaker 1:A bald cypress. You ever seen these trees? I have no idea what that is. Okay, so the reason I'm tying to this tree and I connect with it is because it's very tall. I'm very tall physically, I would say, but also they're very strong trees and they grow about anywhere. Man, I went to a town called Wimberley here in Texas and they're kind of known for bald cypress trees. In fact they have some of I may be misspeaking, but they have some of the oldest ones in the state at least. I think that's a safe statement to make.
Speaker 1:These things are huge, man. They are massive. It would take four people to wrap their arms around them. And they grow in the water, they grow on the shore, they grow wherever. But and they grow in the water, they grow on the shore, they grow wherever. But they're beautiful, they're massive and they're strong. They're really strong and they can withstand a lot. And also the thing I relate with to the most is that they'll grow anywhere. Moving around a lot as a kid, I think, made me how to do that. I think I've counted it. I've moved seven or eight times, something like that, back and forth to different locations and that made me had to be able to grow anywhere. You know you're in different soils, you're in different climates. You just got to be there.
Speaker 2:What's interesting to me is it sounds like and correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you feel like that moving from here to there that many times has strengthened you.
Speaker 1:Would you say Absolutely? I think it has. I think that it has. It's made me view relationships a little differently, because I've seen different relationships pass and go, but then also they're the people that have stayed in contact. Like um, I've got a lot of different mentors from all around the state that I still call you know, friend or or even mentor. Like I said, um, it also has just forced me to be consistent with myself, because I was kind of torn away from communities here and there. It made me have to build more confidence in myself.
Speaker 2:See, and what's interesting is, I know people and I'm sure you do as well, with the same experience of, for whatever reason, having to go from this town to the other, who talk very negatively about having to do that in their life, and so it's interesting to me that you think of it as a positive thing, like why is that? Why is it different for you? Is it not different for you?
Speaker 1:I don't think it's any different for me, because there are times it was hard. There was a lot of tears shed when I had to move away from friends, from family, from communities that I was a part of, but at the same time, it built a lot of self-reliance, which is a very, very important quality that I'm proud of in myself, because at the end of the day, it goes along with the no one else can do it man. It of the day, it goes along with the no one else can do it man. It's what encourages me to get up and notice that, at the end of the day, I have a wonderful community around me that I'm very thankful for, but I also have that because of myself. There's a lot of self-reliance there that I hold very dear to. I know that I can trust myself.
Speaker 2:You seem very self-aware. Is that something that you work on or is it something that just kind of happens? Do you meditate, do you journal, do you just contemplate reflectively, or you just kind of those things just kind of naturally notice them?
Speaker 1:I am a very thoughtful person when it comes to situations, I think things through a million ways. I think that's why I'm a PR major. Yeah, you know. I think that's why it brought me here. I cannot, I cannot, go through a situation without running it through a million times in my head. With that being said, I am a very off-the-cuff guy too, because a new idea pops in. I I think that I'm just a I'm I do journal a lot, okay, and I do. I like to go on runs and during those runs, I play instrumental music so I can think and I feel like that. Almost that bond between, like, active and mental meditation is a very, a very good thing for me.
Speaker 1:It's, it's me time, you know you know, you and I both have very busy schedules and we talk to a lot of people, but it's important to talk to ourselves. I think we neglect conversation with ourself a lot. I agree.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have to do that. I will fall apart in a week. If I go a whole week without talking to myself, everything will come crumbling down. So I completely agree, and I bet you got a lot to say. I think we all do. You know I really do, yeah. So you've talked a little bit about your environment growing up. I wanted to ask how you feel like which formed you more growing up? Was it your parents, your friends or your environment?
Speaker 1:I love my parents and I love my friends, but I think it would come down to my environment and situations that I had to go through. I've been forced into a lot of situations where I had to act older than my age, unfortunately, and that that that shapes you. I'm very thankful for my youth, but I I think that it was, it was cut a little short. Personally speaking, I feel like I had to grow up at a very early age and I had to step into some leadership roles when I was young, for my family and for my community. But I would definitely say that my environments have formed me more than anything, growing up in the situations that I've been through.
Speaker 2:Does that make you ever want to pursue that youth? Like to go get it back? You're 21, but do you want to go be 16, go be rebellious, go be dumb.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, in fact, I catch myself doing dumb stuff all the time that I'm just like this is something that a kid would do. Grow up, man.
Speaker 2:That's what I was wondering. Do you fight that urge? Have you found ways to indulge that urge of still maintaining youth, or you've given up on it?
Speaker 1:No, I don't think I've given up on it. I think that it's important and it's something that I'm trying to learn. I'm not a pro at this, but keeping my youth with me at all times, having a youthful wonder about things, is a way to cope with that. When looking at a new situation, view it with excitement, and you know that this is a little on topic, off topic, but I heard a quote recently that was anxiety and excitement feel very similar, depending on your mood, and so I think that that's something that where, if you tie into a childish nature of anything that you're anxious of, you can almost be excited for it, excited for the challenge, excited for the opportunity, and so I think that's one way that I try to keep in touch with my youth. That's a quote I actually heard from a professor on campus, from a class that a friend took, but that's really stuck with me. That's a way I think I keep my youth with me yeah, that's, that's awesome, and I'm so about that.
Speaker 2:Since you're such an introspective person, I think that you might be able to answer this next one Three words one word your girlfriend would use to describe you. One word your boss would use to describe you describe you.
Speaker 1:One word your boss would use to describe you and one word you would use to describe you. I think my girlfriend would describe me as consistent. That's nice. I like to pride myself on being a constant person. That's not saying there's never ups and downs in any relationship, but consistently being able to handle it has been a skill. If you ever want to learn patience, if you ever want to learn kindness, if you ever want to test your limits, get in a relationship. Yeah, love her to death and she's my better half. She truly is. But relationships will test you as a person, and so one thing I think that she would describe me as is consistent.
Speaker 2:Congratulations, because that's a really hard one, so that's awesome. What about your boss?
Speaker 1:Excitable. I think that I've told my boss and if they're listening, I think they know exactly what I've said. I want to exhaust every opportunity to see if there's something there. I think that if you don't exhaust every opportunity given to you, you are wasting your time, because every day there's an opportunity for something. What about the word for yourself? Resilient would probably be the word that I would like to give to myself Due to situations I've come through. I think, like I've mentioned, I've given up on myself momentarily. It took me coming back to that and realizing, man, I can face different situations and keep going. You just have to be the one to do it. And it doesn't take encouragement, it doesn't take motivation. It's about resilience, it's about discipline.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, so I wanted to ask you talked about how hard of a lesson it was to learn with resilience and to keep pushing. Do you feel like that's been the hardest lesson to learn so far in life, or what has?
Speaker 1:The hardest lesson to learn in my life would be believing in yourself. It's so easy to fall into comparison and to fall into envy and jealousy of other people's situations that you give up on yourself. You say, well, they had this, they were given this, they had this opportunity. I didn't. But if you learn to believe in yourself, you can make anything happen for yourself. That goes back to the only you can do it, that, that mindset of I don't know if we can say this Nike, just do it, man, like literally just do it, get up and and get it done. Believe in yourself. Believe that in the morning you're going to get out of bed and you're going to accomplish, even if it's just one thing, celebrate it. Know that you have the power to do it and believe in yourself.
Speaker 1:We talked briefly about and I believe this was in the introduction episode we talked about how, for some people, college is just a check mark on their journey in life. To me, it is a mountain life. To me, it is a mountain. To me. It was difficult to want to continue, but I did it, you know, and I had to believe in myself.
Speaker 2:If belief in yourself was a plant, how often do you have?
Speaker 1:to water it, man. It's one of those annoying plants that if you turn your back it's dehydrated. You know, it's one of those houseplants that you have to take care of like a pet. You've got to water it multiple times a day and you've got to be dedicated to yourself. You've got to take care of yourself in every moment. There'll be some mornings where I start out great and I say, hey, I'm going to roll out of bed, I'm going to go to the gym, I'm going to go to class, I'm going to go to work at the university, and then I'm going to go work at the restaurant at night. But after I go to the gym it's oh, that's a lot to do today, man, that's a lot. Drink some water and realize that you have the strength to do it and your future self, the growth that will come during doing those things. It'll be rewarding and you will see that your sacrifice and your efforts were not in vain. So water yourself all the time, man.
Speaker 2:Water that plant every chance you get and to keep with the plant metaphor, you have to feed a plant nutrients. It sounds like discipline is one of the nutrients that you have to give this belief in yourself plant. What are some other?
Speaker 1:Listening has become my favorite thing lately because I'm a talker. If you can't tell, I'm a big talker, Naturally. I mean we're podcasters, so and if you can't tell, I'm a big talker.
Speaker 2:Naturally, I mean, we're podcasters, so and the viewer can't see us.
Speaker 1:I have pretty big ears. It's a genetic thing. It's been in my whole family, which is funny because my family is a bunch of talkers and I think it was an ironic thing from whether it was creation or whatever you believe something out there was ironic with the way it designed my family and I think I'm starting to learn how to use my ears a lot more and realize that I have never learned a single thing from talking, but I've learned a lot from listening. There's a difference in discussions and stuff like that, but for the most part I learn from listening, whether it's I listen to audiobooks a lot. Sometimes when I'm running, if I'm not listening to instrumental music, I like to listen to audiobooks a lot. Sometimes when I'm running, if I'm not listening to instrumental music, I like to listen to audiobooks from different. I wouldn't call it self-help I don't. I don't like that, that title because I think it gets a bad rap but different, self-improvement type books learning how different people handle situations. I think listening has just been a big thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome. This next question I have if your life was to get turned into a movie, at what age would the first scene open?
Speaker 1:I think probably about 11. I think, probably about 11. I had some serious family stuff and I hope they don't mind sharing this. I had some serious family stuff and I hope they don't mind sharing this. I have a sister with certain disabilities that have caused a lot of attention in our family. We've had to give a lot of attention and to foster my amazing sister I'm so proud of, I'm so, so proud of her.
Speaker 1:Zoe, if you're listening, I'm so proud of you. She's one of those people who shares in that mindset of something that's ordinary to someone else is a mountain for me, which is good. You know her accomplishments are different from most people, but they're great for her and really, when her situation became much larger, we heavily focused as a family on bettering ourselves, and I think that's when the journey started of learning to believe in yourself. As a family, we had to believe in each other and believe in ourselves in order to handle, and I learned a lot of that resilience from my sister, a lot of resilience from my sister. I'm very grateful for the lessons from her and all of my family members have just had great stories that I've learned resilience from you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome. What scene two.
Speaker 1:Scene two would probably be at about 15. I had a pretty dramatic loss of a family member who was in a big incident. That was tough for us as a family and that was one of those things where I had to step up. I had to step into a leadership role and get stuff done. My grandfather not the one we discussed further this would be on my father's side. He passed on my birthday, not the one we discussed further this would be on my father's side. He passed on my birthday and I on my birthday. It was just, you know, getting things ready for what was next after that situation. It was, it was going out and doing some pretty difficult stuff and so, literally on my 15th birthday, I think scene two would start.
Speaker 1:Oh man, what stops you from giving up my lust for life lust? I have a huge lust for a wonderful life. I want to have something to give to people. I want my life to be almost an offering to my community and to people. I want my life to be almost an offering to my community and to people that surround me my future spouse, you know, and my family, my kids. One day, I think your LinkedIn bio is live a life worth telling your grandkids about. Yeah, that has stuck with me. I thought that was a great thing. I want that. That's what stops me from giving up, because I could have an ordinary life where, at the dinner table, I have no stories to tell. I want stories to tell where people are like I haven't heard that one before. You know stuff like that. That's, that's what stops me from giving up.
Speaker 2:I'm so curious on why you choose the word lust. You said lust for life.
Speaker 1:I love life. I love it so much. I'm very thankful for life. It is a wonderful gift that needs to be appreciated. I think it's underappreciated and I just I lust after having a wonderful life that people enjoy. My life isn't just for me. I think it'd be selfish to live life just thinking about yourself and what you can give for yourself, because there's going to be people after me. I'm not going to be on this earth forever. I want them to, not to remember me. I don't care about being remembered. I don't care about that. What I care about is having something to give them, even if my name's not attached to it have you?
Speaker 2:have you heard the? It's from kanye polarizing figure. But have you heard what he said about bridges? No, it's a. It really speaks to what you're talking about. Um, he said who designed the first bridge? We have no idea, but every day we use his design.
Speaker 1:Really yeah, well, yeah, we are, isn't?
Speaker 2:that cool, that's crazy. Yeah, because I'm on the same path of you. That's what I want as well. I want to do great, impactful things and be completely forgotten when I die and be remembered namelessly through the things that we left to this world. So, um, I always think of the bridge, of add something to the world. Like the bridge where it's, it's so impactful. The entire world will use it every single day and have no idea who you are. I think it's. I think it's brilliant, will use it every single day and have no idea who you are. I think it's brilliant. But, yeah, the word lust really caught me by surprise because, you know, christians describe lust as a sin, and so normally the word has a very negative connotation. But you don't seem afraid of that negative connotation.
Speaker 1:I think that in this aspect it's not sinful because it's geared outwards. It's not for myself, it's for others and people around me. Don't get me wrong. I am one to enjoy the spoils of a good life, but it's not about me. I try to not be about me.
Speaker 2:Well, not to make it about you, but as we're talking about life, not to make it about you, but to, as we're talking about life I wanted to know if you could, in a few words, explain what you hope 70-year-old Garrett feels looking back on his life.
Speaker 1:I just hope to look back and see a lot of growth and see a lot of, see a lot of again resilience. I want to see myself push and push and push and push until I cannot push anymore when they put me in a box. I want to keep just. I want to look back and be proud of myself. I really want to be proud of myself and I want to be proud of the things that I've built, hopefully, and then the people I share it with. I would love to be 70 years old and be surrounded by people who care about me and know me but, more importantly, that they know that I care and love them. I don't think it gets any better than that. It'd be pretty cool if I was on a boat. I think that'd be pretty great If I could be on a boat, surrounded by people, a boat that I own. But you know, yeah, that's just the icing on the, that's the icing on the cupcake or cake, whatever your preference is.
Speaker 2:So second part of that question what will it take to get there when you want to be in 70 years?
Speaker 1:What does it take? It's going to take a lot of watering, a lot of watering, a lot of watering, a lot of watering.
Speaker 1:I'm going to have to keep watering that plant. I'm going to have to keep taking care of Garrett. I'm going to have to keep pushing Garrett. I'm going to have to make Garrett do things he doesn't like. You know that's an underrated joy in life is pushing yourself. Nothing's better than hitting the five-mile mark after you set a three-mile goal. You know what I mean. No, because I don't run. Yes, yes, or for runners per se. You know what I mean. And that's, that's no, I don't run. Well, yes, or for for runners per se, or but yeah, or nothing's better than setting out to write a song but you write an album. You know you keep pushing, you keep going. It's going to take a lot of pushing. It's going to take a lot of taking care of myself and and my last question what can I do to help you get there?
Speaker 1:hold me accountable, man. If you see me doing anything out of character than what I've described today, call me for it, man, just call me out. I'm not afraid to be called out. I think it's an important aspect of relationships is to keep your friends in check and to hold them to a standard. It's very important to hold everybody in your life to a standard, even your parents, your friends, your girlfriend, most importantly above all else, yourself and boyfriend I forgot to say that Boyfriend, whatever, Whatever?
Speaker 1:your relationship entails for you specifically, Whoever it is in your life. Set a standard for them, but set standards for yourself and don't set standards for other people that you wouldn't set for yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all right, garrett, thanks for sharing your roots.
Speaker 1:Thanks, I'm Garrett Polk. Roots to Branches is brought to you by 99.7 KVUT. Ut Tyler Radio, a public service of the College of Arts and Sciences from the University of Texas at Tyler. This podcast is also made in partnership with Town Student Media. You can stream this podcast and following episodes on your favorite podcast streaming platforms. You can also follow our social media for news on upcoming episodes and highlights. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are not direct reflections of the views and opinions of UT Tyler or the UT system.